Such “Christianity” misrepresents Jesus, for sure, as a cursory reading of the New Testament would make clear. In addition, I’ve heard about other pastors in recent news who have multi-million dollar homes. Also, I’m thinking of Benny Hinn and others (a few years ago I stumbled across a televangelist whose last name is “Dollar”!). I’m thinking of Joel Osteen and his prosperity gospel as well as the various similar televangelists of the past, such as Jim and Tammy Bakker. Yup, that’s happened with some large segments of contemporary Christianity, especially those with high profiles in popular media.
Re: Jesus as a symbol for prosperity theology Yes, that’s a drawback of memes, but, still, careful communication is needed, especially if one is attempting to discredit the views of a specific sub-group of people. It seems to me that Rainn Wilson’s meme has some truth in it regarding guns, but we should be careful not to generalize. I don’t think many of these people turn Jesus into a symbol for gun rights rather, it’s more of a case of taking seriously Jesus’ teaching about sin and the fact that power can easily corrupt those who hold it. Why? Because of the Dutch experience with Nazi occupation. My Dutch cousins, after they did their stint in the Dutch military, had to take their rifles home. Incidentally, the US isn’t alone in this. Also, there are lots of Christians who hold to just war theory and limited use of violence if needed, i.e., by the military and the police (I would belong in this group), and not all of these people are for gun rights.Īlso, there are lots of American Christians (and others) who take the threat of tyranny from government (their own or other’s) seriously, since that’s part of American history and its founding ideals (i.e., the seeking of religious freedom from overbearing, persecuting governments). It should be noted that there are lots of Christians who are pacifists (think of Mennonites and Quakers, for examples). But he should make for some people clear-to avoid overgeneralization.
Is Jesus a “symbol that stands for gun rights”? Yes, perhaps for some people, so Wilson’s meme might get some traction there. But also amazing is how some people-e.g., Dwight Schrute, uh, I mean, Rainn Wilson-can paint the views of others with an overly wide brush. Yes, it’s amazing how Jesus Christ gets misrepresented over history. Despite its age, Wilson’s tweet sums up misrepresentations which appear again and again in the media. It’s had an afterlife as a popular meme on the internet.
I AM JESUS CHRIST MEME SERIES
This is an old tweet from actor Rainn Wilson, who starred in the long-running TV series The Office as Dwight Schrute. The metamorphosis of Jesus Christ from a humble servant of the abject poor to a symbol that stands for gun rights, prosperity theology, anti-science, limited government (that neglects the destitute) and fierce nationalism is truly the strangest transformation in human history.- RainnWilson August 3, 2019
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