Monday, September 15, 2003
(9:47 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
That One Guy
I mainly post political things here, but I really don't think that Marx or Lacan or Zizek or whatever theorist I like most on a given day is the final horizon of my political thought: whether I like it or not, Jesus of Nazareth is. Whatever value I emphasize at a given time, somehow he turns out to be the best example of it. If I value speaking out forcefully against people who abuse their own religious traditions for petty power games, it turns out that I have a lot to learn from Jesus of Nazareth. If I value calling into question the power structures of a given society, again, I probably need to begin and end my studies with Jesus of Nazareth. If I value extracting the most liberating elements out of a socio-religious milieu and making them serve the people, instead of vice-versa, once again I keep running into Jesus of Nazareth.
I don't have this big emotional attachment to the guy; I don't sit and pray in front of a crucifix and cry crocadile tears; I don't passionately thank him every day for buying me my ticket to heaven (which I otherwise would never have been able to afford on my own modest means). I was introduced to him much against my will, in an environment that, unsurprisingly and unnotably, often seemed to be the exact opposite of an environment inspired by his life and teachings. For all my misgivings, though, I can't help but think that he was the most radical, the most consistent, the most demanding, the most giving, the most miraculous person ever to walk the face of the earth. He is, in a word, terrifying.
