An open letter

To the man who jokingly said "I don't see how anyone can be a Christian and a Democrat":

Allow me to first say that I agree with you, but not in the way that you think.

See, at the end of the day a Democrat and Republican are not all that different.

They bicker and argue, one side saying we're right & they're wrong.

The other saying everyone is right, unless they disagree with us.

And either way, they are both capitalists profiting off of the common man being stirred up in anger against his fellow man.

I don't think the Jesus in whom I believe would be either of those.

But if the Savior of the World were forced into one of these broken, corrupted organizations let's see if we can figure out where he'd be...

1) Jesus was Middle Eastern, not white. So there's that...

2) He spoke against slut-shaming, insisting that only the sinless could cast stones and commanding that we, with our limited circumstantial understanding, "judge not lest we be judged".

3) He provided miraculously efficient health care at no cost whatsoever to those in need regardless of their social standing.

4) Despite having access to more than enough heavenly firepower to do so, when confronted with violence he turned the other cheek instead of standing His ground.

5) He said that everyone should pay taxes, with no mention of exceptions for tax havens, offshore banking, or ranching in Nevada.

6) The Christ in whom I believe commanded us to love others as ourselves; not just the straight, white, heterosexual, cisgender, property-owning, educated, married males.

7) He commanded the rich man to give EVERYTHING he had to the poor, and may have been homeless Himself.

8) Christ encouraged women to take ownership of their own spirituality and spent one of His last breaths tending to the financial/social security of His mother.

9) Some of the most powerful, important experiences of His life happened out in nature... and didn't destroy any of it in the process.

10) His only act of aggression was flipping a table and clearing merchants from the temple: this act was non-lethal, did not cause any recorded harm, and amounts to pushing a door-to-door salesman outside after he forced himself into your home.

So to sum it all up, he was a socialist and a pacifist who supported universal healthcare, the distribution of wealth, and human rights.

But none of those things matter. Both major political parties amongst the Jews at the time fought against Him, and I don't see how the Democrats or Republicans are all that different from the Pharisees and Sadducees. So you're right, I don't think Jesus would consider himself a Democrat; but that doesn't make your position as a Republican any less precarious.