# Would Jesus be a Liberal or a Conservative? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 19, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679 "2010-04-19T22:44:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/1 "2010-04-19T22:44:03Z")
Would he he be pro universial health care or not? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/2 "2010-04-19T22:52:11Z")
Jesus lived 2000 years ago, in a society that was drastically different than ours. His beliefs would have been premodern, he would have been concerned with issues that we aren’t today, ignorant of issues that we find important, and his political beliefs probably wouldn’t be anything like either modern liberalism or modern conservativism. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/3 "2010-04-19T22:55:07Z")
I Caesar wanted to provide health care, Jesus would say to let Caesar collect taxes and provide health care. I imagine it didn’t come up. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/4 "2010-04-19T23:16:00Z")
I think he’d be more into political revolution, replacing what we have with a nice authoritarian theocracy. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/5 "2010-04-19T23:16:40Z")
I’m sure he’d cross the aisle as needed. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/6 "2010-04-19T23:16:48Z")
It belatedly occurs to me that the only way to frame the health care debate is as a legislator making the decision, not a voter, making my prior post irrelevent. Regarding Jesus’s likely opinion on a public policy framed to help the sick and needy, the whole ‘brothers keeper’ and good Samaratin thing leaps to mind. In the parable the Samaratin paid with his own money for the injuries of the other man to be tended. This would lead to believe that he’s not rigidly in the “everyone must pay for their own health care” camp. The next question is, would he impose a tax? He’s clearly not _opposed_ to taxes, per my prior post, but would he impose one? Here I’m afraid I can’t say; it honestly doesn’t seem correct to speculate from what he said people should do on their own, to what policies the government implement for the bettement of its people. And as for whether it should be a state or federal issue I’m going to completely bow out. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/7 "2010-04-19T23:19:43Z")
Jesus would not depend on the government, just the Father. As for political party, He would be on the side of God only, this scripture comes to mind: [QUOTE=Joshua 5] 13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” 14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord [a] have for his servant?” [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![The\_Facts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@The\_Facts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Facts)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/8 "2010-04-19T23:29:01Z")
I’m thinking the deceased schizophrenic jew vote leans republican. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/9 "2010-04-19T23:33:50Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Jesus lived 2000 years ago, in a society that was drastically different than ours. His beliefs would have been premodern, he would have been concerned with issues that we aren’t today, ignorant of issues that we find important, and his political beliefs probably wouldn’t be anything like either modern liberalism or modern conservativism. One and done, I agree entirely. If you asked Jesus what he thinks about Universal Health Care, he would probably say “what is ‘health care’?” ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/10 "2010-04-19T23:34:27Z")
Let’s see; The whole “Give Ceasar what is due Ceasar, and God what is due God” doesn’t bode well for the anti-tax crowd. “Give all you have to the sick and the poor” doesn’t bode well for the anti-healthcare and anti-welfare crowd. “What you do the least of my children” doesn’t bode well for the “The Government has no business helping people out - let people take care of themselves” crowd. The whole “easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” thing doesn’t bode well for the party of the rich. Conservatives support the status quo, the established institutions and traditions. Since Jesus came to change these things, I don’t think he’d be their poster child. On the other side of the scale, I can think of a few things he wouldn’t like about our modern day liberals either, but I think he’d be a lot closer to them than the Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/11 "2010-04-19T23:39:04Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Let’s see; > > The whole “Give Ceasar what is due Ceasar, and God what is due God” doesn’t bode well for the anti-tax crowd. > “Give all you have to the sick and the poor” doesn’t bode well for the anti-healthcare and anti-welfare crowd. > “What you do the least of my children” doesn’t bode well for the “The Government has no business helping people out - let people take care of themselves” crowd. > The whole “easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” thing doesn’t bode well for the party of the rich. > > Conservatives support the status quo, the established institutions and traditions. Since Jesus came to change these things, I don’t think he’d be their poster child. > > On the other side of the scale, I can think of a few things he wouldn’t like about our modern day liberals either, but I think he’d be a lot closer to them than the Republicans. Damn sandal-wearing long-haired hippie! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/12 "2010-04-20T00:02:51Z")
Going back even further than Jesus, the ancient Israelites had subsidized health care for the poor enshrined into the Torah. The priests were the health care providers, such as there was, of the day, and if the priest cured you of an affliction, you were expected to make an appropriate sacrifice (the meat from which would feed the priests and their families, and which can therefore be considered payment to the priests for their services). For many afflictions, the Torah says things along the lines of “The one who was cured should sacrifice two healthy young rams, or if he cannot afford two rams, he should sacrifice a pair of doves instead”. The priests still have to feed their families, so if I can afford the rams, then I’m helping to pay for the health care of those poor folks who just have doves. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/13 "2010-04-20T00:23:13Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Let’s see; > > The whole “Give Ceasar what is due Ceasar, and God what is due God” doesn’t bode well for the anti-tax crowd. > “Give all you have to the sick and the poor” doesn’t bode well for the anti-healthcare and anti-welfare crowd. > “What you do the least of my children” doesn’t bode well for the “The Government has no business helping people out - let people take care of themselves” crowd. > The whole “easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” thing doesn’t bode well for the party of the rich. > > Conservatives support the status quo, the established institutions and traditions. Since Jesus came to change these things, I don’t think he’d be their poster child. > > On the other side of the scale, I can think of a few things he wouldn’t like about our modern day liberals either, but I think he’d be a lot closer to them than the Republicans. The whole “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” doesn’t bode well for the “use force to take money from other people” crowd. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/14 "2010-04-20T00:27:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Going back even further than Jesus, the ancient Israelites had subsidized health care for the poor enshrined into the Torah. The priests were the health care providers, such as there was, of the day, and if the priest cured you of an affliction, you were expected to make an appropriate sacrifice (the meat from which would feed the priests and their families, and which can therefore be considered payment to the priests for their services). For many afflictions, the Torah says things along the lines of “The one who was cured should sacrifice two healthy young rams, or if he cannot afford two rams, he should sacrifice a pair of doves instead”. The priests still have to feed their families, so if I can afford the rams, then I’m helping to pay for the health care of those poor folks who just have doves. Not only that, but they had built-in welfare. You were supposed to only take what you could get in one pass in your fields. Anything else was left to the poor to gather and eat. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/15 "2010-04-20T00:40:12Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > The whole “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” doesn’t bode well for the “use force to take money from other people” crowd. But it does work nicely for a representative democracy where people vote for their representatives who in turn levy taxes as they deem necessary. Good try, though. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/16 "2010-04-20T01:03:38Z")
I suspect his position on UHC would be “you can DO that?!” We are after all talking about quite a bit more than priests binding wounds and the other exceedingly limited care they had back then. There’s no way to tell if he’d be angry or not that people were turning to and getting healing from non-divine sources, though. > [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > The whole “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” doesn’t bode well for the “use force to take money from other people” crowd. Except that’s covered under the “render unto Caesar” part. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/17 "2010-04-20T01:06:19Z")
Al Franken’s [Supply Side Jesus](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK7gI5lMB7M) pretty well has it covered. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/18 "2010-04-20T01:12:23Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > The whole “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” doesn’t bode well for the “use force to take money from other people” crowd. Well except it does, because everyone pays taxes, even the tax collectors. And everyone benefits from their usage. You can argue that people benefit disproportionately, but you can’t argue that you don’t benefit from government services. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/19 "2010-04-20T01:12:43Z")
J.C. would be a modern day communist. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679/20 "2010-04-20T01:13:28Z")
In my mind the conservative Amish community is closer to the philosophy of Jesus. Let the political bodies/government be what they be. Do not fight political systems, particularly. If Caesar demands a tax, render it. But generally, live life with a goal to live peacefully on this earth. Be a good neighbor because God requires it; not because tax law requires you to take care of a neighbor. As for healthcare, don’t worry too much about diseases. Your kingdom is not of this world. Although Jesus healed the sick, he does not appear to be particularly overwhelmed with what a nice magic act it is do so…what’s the big deal, really, when this life is measured against eternal life, if you are ill? In short, Jesus was apolitical, not conservative or libertarian or liberal. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-jesus-be-a-liberal-or-a-conservative/536679.md?page=2)