Thy Kingdom Come

 

hat I dream to see is a Christian populace breaking away from the corrupt version of Christianity we have today and embracing the original. They must not be called Christian, of course, as that would be defeating and confusing. The salt has lost its savor and is thus good for nothing but to be trampled. They must come out of Christianity in nearly every way. The shift must be a deliberate breaking away from the destructive constructs now encompassing the religion and a divorcing of the main foolish creeds. It need not break away with violence, condemnation, or hate, but with love and concern for all mankind with a realization that the current doctrines do not promote such.

             As I write this book, the 2016 primaries are selecting their new presidential candidates. Not only is it astounding that professed Christians align with a Republican party which typically hates the poor and loves war, but that they uplift Donald Trump of all people who embodies every terrible aspect to the extreme. My intent is not particularly to get into politics, but to address the current narrative of the primarily “Christian” Republican Party which is very anti-poor, unwelcoming toward travelers, and even downright hostile. They desire to wall-off migrators and to kill Muslims and homosexuals. They believe that the poor are all lazy abusers of the system gaining from what they have not put effort into obtaining. Jesus never really concerned himself much with the failings of the poor and in fact made it a priority to help them. He instead concerned himself with the failings of the rich and powerful to whom more responsibility is required. Now, I know that the Democratic Party is also far from removed from the corrupt influence of the wealthy, but it is at least promoting the values of Jesus. Fixing the political system is an entirely different topic and one I hope would arise from a growing populace uplifting the humanistic ideals that Jesus once preached.

             This shift toward the restoration of Jesus’ message would focus on community living, sharing, and concerning oneself with the welfare of friends, family, neighbors, country, and even the world as a planet and a people. Such people would come together not only to fellowship, but to use their skills and abilities in ways that exceed themselves for the greatness of the world. They would not merely sit in a pew to be preached at, but they would come together to solve any and all problems facing our world. Real problems. Problems that actually hurt people and destroy lives. Problems like hatred and intolerance of differences. Problems like gun violence, depression, and suicide. Such people who legitimately care about others and focus their lives solely upon them would be irresistible. In such a broken world where so many feel isolated, useless, lonely, and depressed, such an environment would be heaven on earth. People would come in droves to become a part of something so wonderful and the world would slowly improve from the bottom up.

             Yes, I am being very idealistic, but idealism can be intoxicating around other passionate people, and ideals become realities when enough people strive for it. If such a movement comes about as I envision, I hope the people first and foremost tackle education followed by the economic model which rules our world. In order for voters to make sound decisions, they must be of sound mind. In order to be of sound mind, the masses must be freely educated in the ways of logic, the scientific process, and social psychology, along with the current basics taught today. Once people are wise enough and educated enough, just maybe they can come up with greater ideas and solutions to the economic woes we face and actually have the masses back them without merely succumbing to whichever idea is most promoted and advertised. The people, as a whole, simply cannot grasp who or what to vote for to promote their best interests.

             The problem with the economy now, is that wealth derives wealth. This is a terrible situation because it guarantees that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and the merits of any one person become moot. A person starting poor has only the smallest chance of ever becoming anything more and nobody likes the idea of simply taking the money from the rich and redistributing it to the poor. There must be a better solution somewhere.

If the rich were to become part of this new fellowship, they should likely use their money entirely to the benefit of mankind and thus “save” many people. This would be great, but even as Jesus stated, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into this particular kingdom of love and generosity toward fellow man. I certainly agree. I cannot even find humble Christians who wish to make helping those in need a priority, and the rich likely did not become so via their generosity. Perhaps that can change, or perhaps we can find ways to get the rich to put their money back into the economy rather than sitting on it, but I do not foresee such solutions as being easy to derive.

It would be even more difficult to get people to vote in their own best interests when those with the money would advertise against such ideas. We need enough people who care to come together and make it happen. When we do, the kingdom Jesus spoke of would truly be among us whether by the power of God or simply by the power of a loving human race. It is clear that it comes down to us whether God exists or not. The kingdom which humanity finds itself within can be a great one if the humans so wish for it to be great. I hope they will indeed wish it. It is my Fool’s Errand to promote it.