Jesus Guevara
I was shaving this morning and found myself thinking of The Passion of the Christ… It was on the other night on TV, and I caught the second half of it, when Jesus is sent to be crucified. First of all, I’m not a religious type, and I’m not out to offend. Only to offer a point of view. I was thinking of how we have “records” of very specific details of the events of the crucifixion. Words that were said. People that acted in certain ways. Location of wounds.
- Pontius Pitate saying “Ecce Homo!” (Behold the Man!)
- Veronica wiping Jesus’ face with a cloth
- Symon of Cyrene being made to carry the cross
- and many others
These are so specific and at the same time, so mundane, that they clearly show that the people that witnessed the event were keen on recording everything that happened. It may be one of the best recorded events of antiquity. If they had cameras then, they’d be making sure the crucifixion was filmed from every angle.
And then, they would edit it.
But that’s for later.
So who was Jesus of Nazareth? I mean, if you met the dude on the street, who would he be? How would he be? Would he touch your face and cure your disease, or would he share a beer with you and talk about the hot Monica Belluci he’s been shaggin’?
Who knows?
Events may have been recorded to the best of the abilities of the people at the time… but then they Big-Fished the story. The 300d it. Every story that’s told is invariably changed. And I don’t mean a random change due to miscommunication, although that plays another role. I’m talking about change to fit the purpose of the storyteller. Changes like exaggeration, romantization, poetization.
And not only stories change. Purposes change as well… Small groups or societies formed to continue Jesus’ ideas or ideals, become something else as time passed.
How do we separate the chaff from the wheat? To me, if a detail seems completely mundane, chances are it’s true. If it’s too contrived or unrealistic, then not.
So here is my little abbreviated and abridged Jesus story:
Jerusalem. Around 33 A.D.
The Big Israelite Head Honcho’s been in power for way too long. And he intend on keeping it this way. Back then, first you got the power, then you got the money. The women, I don’t know.
Along comes Jesus, a young idealist, and he sees how corrupt and wrong the politicians in power have become, and he starts rallying the people to change all that. Let’s remove the crooked men in power and establish a better society.
Big Head Honcho doesn’t like to be threatened, and Jesus is making way too many waves in the desert, so he says “Off with him”. And so, they cut off his head. I mean… they nail him on the cross.
So, basically, Jesus was a revolutionary.
Who’s the bad guy in the story? Clearly, the Head Honcho and his minions. And the mob of Israelites, the people? Well, they were like any mob. Not bad or good. Just… Mobby.
Later on, Jesus’ posse went around trying to carry and spread his ideals of peace and equality. But then, not much later, the story wasn’t so fresh anymore. People began performing tradition rituals to remember the stories. And later, people began to rely on experts on those traditions to help them remember how to perform them. The traditions got codified. New events were added to the stories to help give credence to these traditions. The experts began to get paid for their work as experts, and so, they ventured into this most profitable of businesses: Religion.
The original purpose was lost. The ideals became secondary to the tradition rituals.
And people forgot, that Jesus, before being made into a god, was Che Guevara.
Posted: April 11th, 2007 under Religion.
Comments: 3
Popularity: 15% | 264 Views
Comments
Comment from Lea
Time: April 11, 2007, 6:07 pm
“Then, almost 2000 years later, a fanatic movie director decided to get all these codes, traditions and stories, summarized in the book which was later called the Bible, and made a movie which he claimed was the closest possible to what really happened to Mr Nazareth. Of course, he did not mention it was according to those codes, traditions and stories…”
Comment from The Infidel
Time: April 12, 2007, 8:39 am
I don’t have any problems with anybody in its own privacy worshiping a god. Everybody has the right to believe in whatever they want and follow the rituals they want as long as it does not infringe on the liberty of others. Jesus, Moses, Buddah, Mohamed may have been cool guys. But as our blogger pointed out, their message was hijacked by some crazy freaks and people wanting to make a buck, and was transformed into organized religion that suited their interest. The problem is when people try to impose their faith on others.. and I don’t mean only when some guy from one religion try to convert a guy from another religion. It is also a problem when a person tries to tell the another person of the same faith how to leave his life even when the advice was not asked. Organized religion is one of the biggest cancer in our society, because most people cannot keep it to themselves. Most wars and suffering in the world were caused throughout the ages by organized religion. Jessy Ventura said it all at when he was governor of Minesota. He proclamed that: “Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people’s business.”
Comment from The Infidel
Time: April 23, 2007, 5:13 pm
As Bill Maher said: Religion is a bureaucracy between man and god
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