Radicalized by Jesus

By Deborah L. Richardson-Moylan

I grew up in a conservative home - or should I say, a Republican home. My mom worked on every local and statewide campaign. I held signs at polling locations and street corners for as long as I can remember. I canvassed neighborhoods, distributing pamphlets and cards with my mom driving and dropping us off on one street and picking us up on another. As soon as I could vote, I registered as a Republican and voted for Ronald Reagan. When I moved to my new town, I resuscitated the Republican Town Committee and became it’s chair. I was a delegate to the Republican convention in Massachusetts. I worked on Republican gubernatorial campaigns. I was all in. I never considered that I would be anything but a Republican for the rest of my life.

But something began to change in 2016. When faced with a choice between Trump and Clinton, I chose to support a third-party candidate. I changed my voter registration to “Independent.”

But none of these changes were for political reasons - they were spiritual. I found that I could no longer tolerate some of the stances of conservative politicians and those that supported them because I had been radicalized - radicalized by Jesus.

It began in 2016 when so many fellow evangelicals were supporting Trump, seemingly ignoring his history of misogyny and abuse of women. It appeared that just one issue, abortion, was sustaining their consistent support of this man. I had made a post on social media supporting a third-party candidate, and the vitriol that came at me from my fellow evangelicals was shocking. I took to my personal diary, and wrote the following:

I’m mad. First I’m angry about stupid social media and how people choose to use it to pick ignorant fights. Secondly I’m mad about all the people - “Christians” - who use pro-life as the be all and end all on how they choose a candidate. Really? Because I’d like to know where they are in the slums and impoverished cities - where girls feel they have no out - and then they’re left alone. Or better yet, where are they all on their high horses when those that they support continue to perpetrate violence against women and demean women. And where are they all when little 8 year-olds are being molested? And their spirits are broken, wounded and damaged so much that they never see themselves as worth of any respect EVER - do you think legislating abortion does anything to change that? - Selah

Until we change the foundation - to the root of the problem we will never solve this problem. What about the lives of those already born? They matter - they need to be reached, taught, loved and valued so they can choose life - for themselves.

Granted this was an emotional tirade, but there was a shifting happening in me. I could no longer continue on the road that I had been on. I took a dramatic left turn.

Recently I have been preaching through the Gospel of Mark. Our congregation took well over a year to work through each and every chapter and verse. What I realized through this process was just how radical Jesus was, and how I just loved that about him. I had to be careful to not make each sermon seem like a political statement, but it was all right there in the gospel of Mark: care for the oppressed, care for the outcast, feeding of the hungry, uplifting women, and care for the people that the current administration has been disparaging. Jesus went in to locations that were considered unclean and ministered to people - he never disparaged anyone. If anybody were to come under his judgment, it was the religious elite. He cast out demons, healed people, and resurrected the dead - all to announce that the Kingdom of God was among them.

If we profess to follow Jesus, we must spend time with him (through prayer and scripture), learn from him, and then do what he did. I can not fathom supporting the current administration’s immigration policies, voter suppression bills, or anti-trans bills as followers of Jesus. Now we are at war - and innocents are being slaughtered. How can one read the gospels, the biographies of Jesus, and come to the conclusion that these behaviors and policies are acceptable?

I have bucked the trend - most people become more conservative as they grow older. I have done the exact opposite, and I surprise even myself. But the Jesus I know and follow is the One that informs my politics - my politics do not inform my faith. For the foreseeable future, I intend to remain radicalized by Jesus.

“The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” - Jesus

(Mark 12: 29-31 NLT)