Don't Get Mad, Get Even!

I sometimes give Mary a hard time about my being happy when she’s happy, but there’s a lot of truth to it. If I’m doing something that makes her unhappy, even if I suppose that what I’m doing makes me happy, my exclusion of her feelings robs any happiness I might be seeking of its authenticity. On the other hand, if I’m doing something that makes her happy, the genuine happiness I derive from hers far outweighs any indulgence of my own selfishness. From the butterfly effect to string theory, cosmological web-of-life worldviews all emphasize the importance of maintaining a dynamic balance of self and other. In my studies of Jesus and the religion that evolved in his name, I have come to understand his Christological revelation to human consciousness to be that true happiness is composed of self and other. This insight is the common denominator of all the great religions and faith traditions of the world: the ethic of mutual reciprocity. Simply put, the Golden Rule of doing to others as you would have them do to you.

I have accused the Bush Administration of being the antichrist, and while it is not alone in its immoral and evil actions it does perfectly illustrate why I feel justified in making such a judgment. The evangelical Christian question, “What would Jesus do?” has profound implications when applied to the terrorist attacks of September 11. Go to your own Bible and look up Jesus’ take on “an eye for an eye.” So, terrorists strike. The Bush Administration retaliates in kind and then goes on to escalate it to an imperialistic preemptive attack and occupation. While piously pronouncing that God has ordained him President, Bush manipulates the Christian Right with claims of a rigorous prayer life that supposedly guides his actions. Bullshit! Even a literal interpretation of Scripture cannot reconcile such atrocities with the way of the Christ. And is anyone happy? I daresay not! Our warring world still awaits a genuinely Christ-like response—not of retaliation—but of mutual reciprocity.