If Jesus were alive today, he'd be at Burning Man
Today I found myself on the freeway stuck behind a minivan with one of those "WWJD" stickers (along with one of "truth" eating "Darwin" and some other equally colorful 'Christian' slogans) . . . and I thought to myself, "What Jesus would do is go hang out in the desert bein' a barefoot hippie who preaches peace and love to a bunch of freaky outcasts (much like he was said to do in life), and not go driving a smog-belching minivan covered in anti-Darwinism stickers around the city in rush hour" . . . which then led me to the thought, "he'd probably be hanging out at Burning Man."
Yeah, JC'd be down
Side Score: 12
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No way, man
Side Score: 5
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Desert, check. Barefoot hippyism, check. Peace and love, check. Freaky outcasts, check. Large intentional community receptive to oddball ideas and anti-authoritarian attitudes in which one can deliver "sermons" on whatever topic moves ya, check. Loving thy neighbor as a survival strategy, check. Abandoning worldly wealth and nonessential material goods, check. Yup, if Jesus were around today, seems like he'd head straight to Burning Man. Side: Yeah, JC'd be down
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"Burning Man is an annual experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and radical self-reliance . . . Relationships are created, neighbors meet one another, and our collective survival is challenged. This is not a spectator event . . . Burning Man is an exercise in radical self-sufficiency. You have to bring all you need to survive, and then some . . . Burning Man is a commerce-free event. There are only two things sold in Black Rock City: coffee and ice . . . Burning Man has survived and flourished through sharing, trading and the giving of the gift of yourself. We have found the buying and selling of goods is a distraction to connecting and creating relationships. Selling is a transaction-based activity. Other than the Cafe and ice in Center Camp, there is NO VENDING at Burning Man . . . You are responsible for removing all waste you bring in. If you forget something vital, your best bet is to make friends with your neighbors . . . For maximum enjoyment of the event, bring toys or costumes with which you can express your creative spirit . . . You can build [a large art installation] as part of your camp, or place your art on the open playa." -------- http://www.burningman.com/ Side: Yeah, JC'd be down
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Well, that's like in the "Burning Man" episode in "Lucy, Daughter of the Devil". But no. Hippies advocate random, indiscriminate sex and as much drugs as you want. Jesus advocates saving sex for baby making and discipline from temptations. Hippies actually do the exact opposite of "not giving into temptations". If Jesus were alive today, he'd be a co-host on Huckabee. Side: No way, man
I'm not entirely sure that's supportable. Some of the apostles had strong opinions on sex outside of marriage, but I don't recall anything on the topic that's directly attributed to Jesus. At no point in the Gospels does Jesus actually make a statement in favor of celibacy. (There's one ambiguous quotation in Matthew that, at best, reads as "if celibacy is your thing by choice, that's cool.") And while the sermons attributed to Jesus do include advocacy of humility and giving up worldly goods and suchnot, he's also the guy who's supposed to have turned water into wine when the already-drunk crowd ran out of the vino during the wedding at Cana. Really good wine at that, and lots of it. Side: Yeah, JC'd be down
I love that episode of "Lucy, daughter of the devil," Adult Swim is by far the most entertaining thing on tv. But it sounds like your concept of who that Jesus guy was comes from what you've heard from religious people. Jesus though says almost nothing on the subject of sex, and certainly nothing that can be taken to mean it's just for baby making. And he says 0 about any kind of drugs anywhere. Oddly, if you want to know what the bible says, you're probably better off asking an atheist since from my experience the religious have little concept of what it actually says. I would agree though, that drugs most likely would be out of character for him unless in moderation. Sex on the other hand; he hung out with a prostitute all the time and never said squat about abstinence. I'll bet he was getting some on the side. Either way, he certainly didn't dislike the girl or tell her to stop screwing guys for money, all the Bible says about it, he stopped people from stoning her, let her "wash his feet," and then she just kind of started hanging out all the time. Of course he probably never even existed. But if people want to pretend he did, they should at least get it right. Oh yeah, and about Huckabee. He made it very clear he wants religion in government during the primaries. He clearly advocated getting rid of the separation of church and state and becoming a Christian nation. Jesus on the other hand seemed to be for separation of church and State. "give unto Cesar what is Cesar's, give unto god what is god's" and all that. If that person existed, he probably couldn't be found at burning man, true, but he definitely would not be in with the religious right, they would remind him of the pharisees I'd imagine. Side: Yeah, JC'd be down
Burning man is not for outcasts. It's for self involved, LA wannabies with too much time and money. Jesus would be actually getting shot done. Like stopping the deforestation and desertification of the planet. He'd be helping people help people. Not helping people get high. Side: No way, man
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