Whether It Is Brian Or Jesus, We Have No Right To Impose Martyrdom On Others

 

There is a moral to be learned from the cross, whether you prefer the story as told in Monty Python’s Life Of Brian or the more traditional telling of it. In neither case was the person who was about to be crucified thrilled by the prospect. Brian yelled “Get me down!” Christ was a little more profound when he — knowing what lay before him — said “My Father, if it possible, let this cup pass me by. Still, let it be as you would have it, not as I.” (Matthew 26:39) You see, being an enlightened human being (for human HE was, though He was also God), Jesus appreciated the miracle and gift that is life, and really didn’t want to trade it in for pain and death. And yet I suppose he knew that a life that was not in accordance with higher principles was no life at all.

It takes an incredibly enlightened person to realize that. To realize that life is sweetest only when one lives uncompromisingly. That it is better to live a short existence as one with the universe than to live a long life out of tune with it.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Enlightened ones do not necessarily have to face crucifixion. If the burdens of an unjust world are not placed upon them, people of conscience do not have to choose between sacrificing their lives or their values. It is only when the evils of the world become great that those with integrity and courage are forced to rise up in order to defend their moral convictions.

That’s why enlightened people become teachers. Not only because they wish to share a great joy with others (the good news, as Christians would call it), but also because if they are able to awaken enough other people, they won’t have to bear the burden of acting morally on their own. Unfortunately for Jesus, the instruction he was sharing with his disciples and the world at large was a bit heavy for them at that stage of human development. I’m sure it must have been frustrating to know that those he chose to be his apostles were so uncomprehending as to his true teaching. His frustration is demonstrated when he returns from praying to God that the burden of martyrdom might be lifted from him, only to see that his followers couldn’t even stay awake for him for an hour.

The truth is, the burden COULD have been lifted from Jesus, if those around him had only bothered to share it. What is heavy work for one is lessened by the help of another, halved again by the help of two others, and so on. So that a burden, if lifted by enough hands, is no longer a burden at all but a joy. If some follower of Christ had had the ear of Pontius Pilate, or had the ear of the wife of Pontius Pilate, or of someone who had some sway with Pilate, he — by having the courage to speak up — could perhaps have changed the verdict placed upon Jesus.

A million different scenarios could be written where a person courageous enough to act upon Christ’s teachings might have prevented His crucifixion. A thousand people — each of them lifting in some tiny part the cross which Jesus was forced to carry — would almost surely have changed the outcome. Christ speaks to this when he says “Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:29–30) He’s not asking anybody to undertake some tremendous burden, he’s asking everybody to partake of some small part of it. Many hands make light work. Ask any cook, and they’d most likely to tell you that a little help clearing the table would be more helpful than praise from those sitting on the couch watching the game.

Now there will be some Christians who will object to this notion. They will say Jesus had to suffer and die that his role might be played out. But if people had been capable of taking up their cross and following in Jesus’ example, even if only slightly, such a sacrifice would not have been necessary. Jesus’ message would have gotten through to the masses without him having to sacrifice his life. It was they, his own followers, who demanded that sacrifice. Through their lack of willingness to stand up and share the burden, they placed it entirely upon His shoulders.

I see this playing out in all aspects of society today. I see it on Veteran’s Day. People are quick to utter their appreciation for those who served, without lifting a finger to help them in any meaningful way. They offer them their gratitude in the same way they offer their god praise and prayers. They venerate veterans so that they do not have to do anything to lessen their burdens. They worship the warrior so that they do not have to work to prevent war.

I see it too on election day, where they performatively vote for their candidates and feel as if they have done some great task, wearing their “I Voted” sticker like a medal. They behave as though the politicians they vote for are more than mortal men so that they can place the burdens of running the country entirely on their shoulders. Voters need only vote, and to hate those who vote against them, those people who worship other gods. Voters want to believe their politicians will work miracles so that they won’t have to work at all. In this way, they do nothing and yet can consider themselves God’s chosen.

Martin Luther King would have been of little value were it not for the fact that the people themselves had risen up and were willing to participate in the movement. Even then, Dr. King was made to pay the ultimate sacrifice. Too many of us abandoned the cause after that, permitting King’s dream to be too long deferred, too imperfectly realized. Because it was easier to worship him than emulate him.

How much could be accomplished if the masses realized that in lifting a small part of the cross they might lighten the burden upon those willing to carry it, if necessary, alone. Thus we have people like Julian Assange, who was imprisoned for years for the burdens of witnessing the truth and protecting journalistic integrity. We have people like Aaron Bushnell, who are willing to die a most painful death in order to bring attention to those being burned alive and in other ways slaughtered with the help of each and every taxpaying U.S. citizen.

And yet there are those who would not move a finger to lighten the load of those with a greater compulsion to act upon their values. They could not perform the meagerest performative action, refusing to vote for those who were aiding in genocide. Even worse, they scolded those whose consciences would not permit them to do so.

The burden you lay upon people of conscience by doing absolutely nothing to prevent perhaps the worst of all imaginable crimes is not a light one. The refusal to vote for a political party in its abetting of genocide was merely the most obvious action people of conscience would take. That we could not stop a genocide with our vote — as if we were given any real hope of that — makes us ask ourselves what actions our consciences now prompt us to take.

This is not a light question which we ask ourselves. The cost now demanded of people of conscience will take them from the comfortable lives they had hoped would be their lot. But the cost of doing nothing in the face of great evil, they know, would be greater still. And so each of us must ask how far we feel comfortable in carrying the cross. It is a burden that would be light and easy if others realized how just a little courage and effort might help change the situation. It would be far preferable to saying afterwards what brave and selfless heroes were those willing to bear a burden that was everyone’s to share.

Maybe those you claim to worship don’t want to be worshipped. Maybe they just want a helping hand. Maybe they just want you to do a bit of the lifting. So that the cross is no longer a burden to them but a joy for all. If I may repeat the words of Gil Scott Heron:

“You alone have the wisdom to take this world and make it what it
Needs to be, wants to be, will be. Someday,
The day you understand
That there ain’t no such thing as a Superman.”

The Church Of The Market: An Exercise In Sarcasm

     The lesson to be learned is this: no matter how well-intentioned you are, your attempts to make the world a better place are futile. Worse than futile, because your foolish meddling will actually make things worse.

     The world is what it is and the iron-clad laws are firmly understood. Nothing you can do will change it. Any attempt to help the plight of your fellow man will only deprive them of the most important quality they posses: their animal urge to survive by whatever means necessary. It is only the threat of being swallowed by the economic abyss that will compel humans to be the creatures they are meant to be. Receiving a handout or a hand up will never help them learn the essential lesson of life, that we are each alone in this world.

     Fortunately there is hope for all of us, a path we can take that can and will lead us to a golden future. Here is the good news we can all take to heart: Each of us, acting individually and selfishly as consumers, can change the world! Yes, you the consumer have the power to change corporate America’s behavior. You can save the rainforest and increase wages for underage sweatshop workers in Bangladesh simply by making the right choices when shopping. All you have to do is vote Coke or Pepsi and the giant wheels of industry will turn at your request. The world is constantly improving as a result, daily becoming more and more perfect because of the choices you make while at your local Walmart.

     You see, there is true magic in the world, the magic of the marketplace. More powerful than Harry Potter’s wand or Gandalf’s staff, it is capable of sprinkling fairy dust on your purchasing decisions and making dreams come true. Behold the Dinamita Dorito. 

How else to explain such a thing than with words like magic or miracle? And would a world without Live Wire Mountain Dew be one worth living in? Such things would not exist if it were not for our participation in the only vehicle of social interaction that matters: the free market.

     Now the free market being a thing of magic, there is no way to try to explain it, we can only accept its magic and wonder in its miracles. One only has to witness the glory of ultra high definition 3D television to realize that it is the one true path for humanity to follow. Any attempt to undermine it or balance it with other forms of human organization would be unpatriotic, wrong-headed, naïve, hypocritical (Have you never eaten a Dorito?) and contrary to the will of God.

     Indeed, even to question the God-given right of the free market to determine the path humanity might take is a dangerous practice. Thoughts must take a back seat to the material marvels of market forces. For ideas are merely ideas after all, while 3D televisions are AWESOME!

     So put aside the thoughts that only serve to disquiet you. It’s best not to think about how, if we all are voting with our dollars, it means billionaires get billons more votes than most of us. It’s best not to consider that things like 3D television or the 30^th permutation of a drug whose patent has expired exist not because we as consumers asked for it but because they make money for the producers. And never for a moment let it enter your head that those with the most power do not truly believe themselves in the great and holy market. Do not allow the idea to take root in your thoughts that the priests and prophets of the golden bull might themselves forget their religion if the opportunity to earn a quick buck came along at the expense of the freeness of the market. After all, it is the integrity of the system, not a love of money that compels our financial leaders. Their morality is beyond any suspicion we lesser mortals might possess, the proof being that they are rich and we are not.

     Such thoughts would cause the whole of our existence to come crashing down around us, and it would be you who is to blame. The free market needs your undying belief and, upon occasion, your sacrifice. For a great and giving thing the beast may be, but like any god it too requires sacrifice of its followers. So while there is nothing we Americans profess to love more than Freedom, sometimes it is necessary to abandon the lesser freedom for the greater. So let us abandon free thought for the sake of the free market. After all, faith requires it.