In my latest post at Common Sense Concept, I use a recent Stephen Colbert sketch to respond to some common misunderstandings about Jesus.

The video in question can be seen here, and involves Colbert joking about how Jesus is really a liberal democrat. The underlying sentiment: Conservatives and libertarians are “anti-poor people.”

The Colbert Show is obviously a comedy show (and is indeed reliably funny), but I felt compelled to respond to the video because (1) such an activity is fun in and of itself, and (2) plenty of Christian liberals take its underlying messages seriously.

As a sample, here’s an excerpt of my response to one of Colbert’s jokes about the frightening possibility of a “socialist deity redistributing my loves and fishes”:

Jesus saw the loaves and fishes like any good capitalist would: as an opportunity for creativity and production. It is precisely because Jesus did not rely on a materialistic, mechanistic system of redistribution (*cough* socialism! *cough*) that he was able to accomplish so much good for the poor (not to mention this wretched sinner). Let’s not forget; if ever there was someone who knew how to overcome scarcity, it was Jesus’ Dad.

To read the full post, click here.

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