Metamorph

According to Justin Pope, there are many different Jesus figures in American history. There’s Jesus the distant symbol, and Jesus the gentle friend. There’s Jesus the pacifist and caregiver, and Jesus the gruff, muscular warrior. There’s black Jesus, and white Jesus. Homely and handsome, capitalist and socialist, stern and hippie. Hard-working social reformer, mystical comforter. (He omits the “Buddy Jesus,” a winking, good-natured fellow from the irreverent but deeply religious film Dogma.)

Pope has been looking at two new books: “Jesus in America: A History,” by Richard Wightman Fox, and “American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon.” This is all of great interest to me as I continue my Religion and Non-violence class here at UC Davis.

Gandhi is one of the most interesting historical figures of all time: weaving together life experience (especially colonialism) and Hindu, Christian, Enlightenment, and other traditions and texts, he developed a unique way of changing the world. His political and spiritual beliefs were inseparable; his body became the locus of conflict as he fasted, declared lifelong celibacy, pared down to essentials (gradually shifting down into a loincloth; his body became a national obsession in India particularly during his fasts-unto-death). One of the most interesting things to me about Gandhi, though, is his fascination with Jesus, whom he saw as the best example of a non-violent fighter.

“I kept running into Jesus when I was trying to study Hindus and Buddhists,” says Prothero quoted by Justin Pope. Indeed one of the most interesting things I learned from our Muslim brothers and sisters following September 11, 2001, was the reverence in which they hold Jesus (the word is always followed by “may his name be blessed” in Islam).

As the release date for Mel Gibson’s “Passion of Christ” looms, and Jews in the United States and elsewhere brace themselves for a wave of anti-semitism, we might do well to explore a little further what our own image is of Jesus.