Get thee behind me Satan

My four year old boys have a pretty distinct New Testament categorization.

"There are two Jesuses," they told me the other day. "The baby Jesus, and the one they nailed on a cross."

Sure they've skipped all the good words in between (the beatitudes still get high marks from this old atheist), but it's pretty much on the money in the way we deal with the lord.

We feel good about his birth every year about this time, and the rest of the year we ignore everything he said.

I find this particularly true amongst "loud" Christians. The Christians who are constantly proclaiming a worldview in which Jesus in control. You know, "Jesus told me to do this, and that," and "It's the Lord's will," and "I put myself in the hands of Jesus." The way I understand it is that we're on our own, to make our own decisions, and using JC's words as guide, we should be able to make a pretty good place of this old world. Jesus isn't whispering in our ear. He's pretty much hands-off to see just how responsible we are.

And so, it's pretty easy to distinguish the Samaritans from the Pharisees.

George Bush, is a Pharisee. He says Jesus told him to bomb Iraq. Not something I suspect Jesus would tell anyone. George Bush is just looking for someone to blame, and Jesus is convenient because George knows full well that he's not around to testify before Congress. I suspect that old George doesn't ever expect to meet up with Jesus.

Down here, all you have to do is destroy some videotapes and stonewall Congress and you can get away with war crimes.

If you buy that whole, "Jesus is waiting for me on the other side," you're not likely to lob bombs on innocent civilians and expect to pass muster with St. Pete. So I'm thinking George Bush doesn't buy the whole concept of heaven and an afterlife. Or maybe he's just listening to the wrong voices.

And that would make him a liar and a hypocrite, or at best, simply deluded. But what else is new.

Matthew 4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.