The
Child That Christmas Forgot: How Would Jesus
Fare in the American Police State?
By
John W. Whitehead
“Once upon
a midnight clear, there was a child’s
cry, a blazing star hung over a stable,
and wise men came with birthday gifts.
We haven’t forgotten that night down the
centuries. We celebrate it with stars on
Christmas trees, with the sound of
bells, and with gifts… We forget nobody,
adult or child. All the stockings are
filled, all that is, except one. And we
have even forgotten to hang it up. The
stocking for the child born in a manger.
It’s his birthday we’re celebrating.
Don’t let us ever forget that. Let us
ask ourselves what He would wish for
most. And then, let each put in his
share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and
a stretched out hand of tolerance. All
the shining gifts that make peace on
earth.”—The
Bishop’s Wife
(1947)
December 19, 2019 "Information
Clearing House"
- The
Christmas story of a baby born in a manger
is a familiar one.
The
Roman Empire, a police state in its own
right, had ordered that a census be
conducted. Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary
traveled to the little town of Bethlehem so
that they could be counted. There being no
room for the couple at any of the inns, they
stayed in a stable (a barn), where Mary gave
birth to a baby boy, Jesus. Warned that the
government planned to kill the baby, Jesus’
family fled with him to Egypt until it was
safe to return to their native land.
Yet
what if Jesus had been born 2,000 years
later?
What if, instead of being born into the
Roman police state, Jesus had been born at
this moment in time? What kind of reception
would Jesus and his family be given? Would
we recognize the Christ child’s humanity,
let alone his divinity? Would we treat him
any differently than he was treated by the
Roman Empire? If his family were forced to
flee violence in their native country and
sought refuge and asylum within our borders,
what sanctuary would we offer them?
A singular
number of churches across the country are
asking those very questions, and their
conclusions are being depicted with
unnerving accuracy by
nativity scenes in which Jesus and his
family are separated, segregated and caged
in individual chain-link pens, topped by
barbed wire fencing.
These nativity scenes are a pointed attempt
to remind the modern world that the
narrative about the birth of Jesus is one
that speaks on multiple fronts to a world
that has allowed the life, teachings and
crucifixion of Jesus to be drowned out by
partisan politics, secularism, materialism
and war.
The
modern-day church has largely shied away
from applying Jesus’ teachings to modern
problems such as war, poverty, immigration,
etc., but thankfully there have been
individuals throughout history who ask
themselves and the world: what would Jesus
do?
What would Jesus—the baby born in Bethlehem
who grew into an itinerant preacher and
revolutionary activist, who not only died
challenging the police state of his day
(namely, the Roman Empire) but spent his
adult life speaking truth to power,
challenging the status quo of his day, and
pushing back against the abuses of the Roman
Empire—do?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer asked
himself what Jesus would have done about the
horrors perpetrated by Hitler and his
assassins. The answer: Bonhoeffer risked his
life to undermine the tyranny at the heart
of Nazi Germany.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn asked
himself what Jesus would have done about the
soul-destroying gulags and labor camps of
the Soviet Union. The answer: Solzhenitsyn
found his voice and used it to
speak out about government oppression and
brutality.
Martin Luther King Jr.
asked himself what Jesus would have done
about America’s warmongering. The answer:
declaring “my conscience leaves me no other
choice,” King risked widespread condemnation
when he
publicly opposed the Vietnam War
on moral and economic grounds.
Even now,
despite the popularity of the phrase “What
Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD) in Christian
circles, there remains a disconnect in the
modern church between the teachings of
Christ and the suffering of what Jesus in
Matthew 25 refers to as the “least
of these.”
As
the parable states:
“Then the
King will say to those on his right,
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father;
take your inheritance, the kingdom
prepared for you since the creation of
the world. For I was hungry and you gave
me something to eat, I was thirsty and
you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you invited me in, I needed
clothes and you clothed me, I was sick
and you looked after me, I was in prison
and you came to visit me.’ Then the
righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when
did we see you hungry and feed you, or
thirsty and give you something to drink?
When did we see you a stranger and
invite you in, or needing clothes and
clothe you? When did we see you sick or
in prison and go to visit you?’ The King
will reply, ‘Truly
I tell you, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters
of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me, you who are cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the
devil and his angels. For I was hungry
and you gave me nothing to eat, I was
thirsty and you gave me nothing to
drink, I was a stranger and you did not
invite me in, I needed clothes and you
did not clothe me, I was sick and in
prison and you did not look after me.’
They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did
we see you hungry or thirsty or a
stranger or needing clothes or sick or
in prison, and did not help you?’ He
will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever
you did not do for one of the least of
these, you did not do for me.’”
This is not a theological gray area: Jesus
was unequivocal about his views on many
things, not the least of which was charity,
compassion, war, tyranny and love.
After all, Jesus—the revered preacher,
teacher, radical and prophet—was born into a
police state not unlike the growing menace
of the American police state.
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When he grew up, he had powerful, profound
things to say, things that would change how
we view people, alter government policies
and change the world. “Blessed are the
merciful,” “Blessed are the peacemakers,”
and “Love your enemies” are just a few
examples of his most profound and
revolutionary teachings.
When confronted by those in authority, Jesus
did not shy away from speaking truth to
power. Indeed, his teachings undermined the
political and religious establishment of his
day. It cost him his life. He was eventually
crucified as a warning to others not to
challenge the powers-that-be.
Can
you imagine what Jesus’ life would have been
like if, instead of being born into the
Roman police state, he had been born and
raised in the American police state?
Consider the following if you will.
Had Jesus been
born in the era of the America police state,
rather than traveling to Bethlehem for a
census, Jesus’ parents would have been
mailed a 28-page American Community Survey,
a
mandatory government questionnaire
documenting their habits, household
inhabitants, work schedule, how many toilets
are in your home, etc. The
penalty for not responding
to this invasive survey can go as high as
$5,000.
Instead of
being born in a manger, Jesus might have
been born at home. Rather than wise men and
shepherds bringing gifts, however, the
baby’s parents might have been forced to
ward off visits from state
social workers intent on prosecuting them
for the home birth.
One couple in Washington had all three of
their children removed after social services
objected to the two youngest being birthed
in an
unassisted home delivery.
Had Jesus been
born in a hospital, his
blood and DNA would have been taken without
his parents’ knowledge or consent
and entered into a government biobank. While
most states require newborn screening, a
growing number are
holding onto that genetic material long-term
for research, analysis and purposes yet to
be disclosed.
Then again, had
Jesus’ parents been undocumented immigrants,
they and the newborn baby might have been
shuffled to a
profit-driven, private prison for illegals
where they first would have been separated
from each other, the children detained in
make-shift cages,
and the parents eventually turned into
cheap, forced laborers for corporations such
as Starbucks, Microsoft, Walmart, and
Victoria’s Secret. There’s quite a lot of
money to be made from imprisoning immigrants,
especially when taxpayers are footing the
bill.
From the time
he was old enough to attend school, Jesus
would have been drilled in lessons of
compliance and obedience to government
authorities, while learning little about his
own rights. Had he been daring enough to
speak out against injustice while still in
school, he might have found himself tasered
or beaten by a school resource officer, or
at the very least suspended under a
school zero tolerance policy
that punishes minor infractions as harshly
as more serious offenses.
Had Jesus
disappeared for a few hours let alone days
as a 12-year-old, his parents would have
been
handcuffed, arrested and jailed for parental
negligence.
Parents across the country have been
arrested for far less “offenses” such as
allowing their children to walk to the park
unaccompanied and play in their front yard
alone.
Rather than
disappearing from the history books from his
early teenaged years to adulthood, Jesus’
movements and personal data—including his
biometrics—would have been documented,
tracked, monitored and filed by governmental
agencies and corporations such as Google and
Microsoft. Incredibly,
95 percent of school districts share their
student records with outside companies
that are contracted to manage data, which
they then use to market products to us.
From the moment
Jesus made contact with an “extremist” such
as John the Baptist, he would have been
flagged for surveillance because of his
association with a prominent activist,
peaceful or otherwise. Since 9/11, the
FBI has actively carried out surveillance
and intelligence-gathering operations on a
broad range of activist groups,
from animal rights groups to poverty relief,
anti-war groups and other such “extremist”
organizations.
Jesus’
anti-government views would certainly have
resulted in him being labeled a domestic
extremist. Law enforcement agencies are
being trained to recognize signs of
anti-government extremism during
interactions with potential extremists who
share a “belief
in the approaching collapse of government
and the economy.”
While traveling
from community to community, Jesus might
have been reported to government officials
as “suspicious” under the Department of
Homeland Security’s “See Something, Say
Something” programs. Many states, including
New York, are providing individuals with
phone apps that allow them to take photos of
suspicious activity and report them
to their state Intelligence Center, where
they are reviewed and forwarded to
law-enforcement agencies.
Rather than
being permitted to live as an itinerant
preacher, Jesus might have found himself
threatened with arrest for daring to live
off the grid or sleeping outside. In fact,
the number of cities that have resorted to
criminalizing homelessness by enacting bans
on camping, sleeping in vehicles, loitering
and begging in public
has doubled.
Viewed by the
government as a dissident and a potential
threat to its power, Jesus might have had
government spies planted among his followers
to monitor his activities, report on his
movements, and
entrap him into breaking the law.
Such Judases today—called informants—often
receive hefty paychecks from the government
for their treachery.
Had Jesus used
the internet to spread his radical message
of peace and love, he might have found his
blog posts
infiltrated by government spies
attempting to undermine his integrity,
discredit him or plant incriminating
information online about him. At the very
least, he would have had his website hacked
and his email monitored.
Had Jesus
attempted to feed large crowds of people, he
would have been threatened with arrest for
violating various ordinances prohibiting the
distribution of food without a permit.
Florida officials
arrested a 90-year-old man for feeding the
homeless on
a public beach.
Had Jesus
spoken publicly about his 40 days in the
desert and his conversations with the devil,
he might have been labeled mentally ill and
detained in a psych ward against his will
for a mandatory involuntary psychiatric hold
with no access to family or friends. One
Virginia man was arrested, strip searched,
handcuffed to a table, diagnosed as having
“mental health issues,” and
locked up for five days in a mental health
facility against his will
apparently because of his slurred speech and
unsteady gait.
Without a
doubt, had Jesus attempted to overturn
tables in a Jewish temple and rage against
the materialism of religious institutions,
he would have been charged with a hate
crime. Currently,
45 states and the federal government have
hate crime laws
on the books.
Had
anyone reported Jesus to the police as being
potentially dangerous, he might have found
himself confronted—and killed—by police
officers for whom any perceived act of
non-compliance (a twitch, a question, a
frown) can result in them shooting first and
asking questions later.
Rather than
having armed guards capture Jesus in a
public place, government officials would
have ordered that a SWAT team carry out a
raid on Jesus and his followers, complete
with flash-bang grenades and military
equipment. There are
upwards of 80,000 such SWAT team raids
carried out every year,
many on unsuspecting Americans who have no
defense against such government invaders,
even when such raids are done in error.
Instead of
being detained by Roman guards, Jesus might
have been made to “disappear” into a secret
government detention center where he would
have been interrogated, tortured and
subjected to all manner of abuses.
Chicago police have “disappeared” more than
7,000 people
into a secret, off-the-books interrogation
warehouse at Homan Square.
Charged with
treason and labeled a domestic terrorist,
Jesus might have been sentenced to a
life-term in a private prison where he would
have been
forced to provide slave labor for
corporations
or put to death by way of the
electric chair or a lethal mixture of drugs.
Indeed, as I
show in my book
Battlefield America: The War on the
American People,
given the nature of government then and now,
it is painfully evident that whether Jesus
had been born in our modern age or his own,
he still would have died at the hands of a
police state.
Thus, as we draw near to Christmas with its
celebrations and gift-giving, we would do
well to remember that what happened on that
starry night in Bethlehem is only part of
the story. That baby in the manger grew up
to be a man who did not turn away from evil
but instead spoke out against it, and we
must do no less.
Constitutional
attorney and author John W. Whitehead is
founder and president of The
Rutherford Institute.
His new book Battlefield
America: The War on the American People
is available at
www.amazon.com.
Whitehead can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
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