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Supply Side Jesus

Posted on September 19, 2003 in Journalists & Pundits Myths & Mysticism Reading

I bought Al Franken’s book last night (even here in Orange County they are selling fast). Naturally, I found the comic strip buried inside the cover early on and read it with glee. Michael Bowen of The Gutless Pacifist found it online.

Word is that the National Review has referred to it as “low, stinking satire”, a chorus that I will undoubtably hear when our current affair discussion group meets next month.

The point that the Review doesn’t like to address is that Franken is dead on: there are two Jesuses out there. There’s the one who hates the poor and preaches that by giving large donations to carefully selected charitable organizations (e.g. Schwartzenegger’s $2.5 million gift of a house to the Archbishop of Los Angeles) the rich will enter heaven before the slime crawling on the street. The cartoon shows the other Jesus, the Jesus who preached the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Chapters 5 to 7) and does not belittle Him. Instead, He is shown as the suffering victim of greed and the People as being bought off by the distribution of a few shekels to the crowd by Supply Side Jesus who desparately wants to live out his full life without sacrifices.

I draw that for Franken, there’s another name for the Supply Side Jesus and it is Barabbas.

Barabbas channels through many conservative columnists and the entire editorial staff of the National Review. His robber spirit lives.

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