If Jesus was living as a U.S. citizen today, do you think he would be a socialist living in an OWS camp on welfare and food stamps?

He probably would not like our current form of capitalism. I do believe that he would support a free market though. I don't believe he would have wanted people to force others into doing things.

People like to say that Jesus would be on the left because the left care about the poor. He said give away your riches, not give your money to the government to give to the poor.

As for the render to caesar quote, I can't give my money to Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Hamilton etc as they are dead.

Jesus taught charity through free will not force or redistribution. This was to avoid one feeling entitled and to promote generosity and self worth. Not to mention thanksgiving and grace. Old levitcal law commanded that farmers leave a margin of crop unharvested so that the starving could eat. Jesus would continue evangelism. And when he returns he will establish his millenial kingdom here on earth.

I think He would have been a Theocracist. Ever looked at the words to the Lord's Prayer?

'THY Kingdom come, THY will be done' means what it says. I don't think Jesus was a big believer in human systems of government. Call it a gut feeling.

Christianity abhors idleness in the poor and the rich.

I don't know if he would be working as a carpenter. In his last three years of life his job was evangelization and spreading the good news of salvation and his coming kingdom. If he were physically alive today he would be doing just that. He would not be working towards any political end.

no

You really do not understand that Jesus does not need to have anything from you or our government. "Render to Caesar" is a pretty well placed theme there. Jesus' caste is more of What is God;'s Being God in the resurrected Flesh What can we give him now? Certainly not a bedraggled Government that was once the Best in the World.
What the Hell are you thinking?????
Instead of a carpenter he might be an automobile repairman. an Mechanic of such extraordinary abilities he could dix one so well it never needed repair again and ran out of gasoline less often than is common/

I don't know what he would do but as God I know he would be able to make it on his own. He wouldn't need big government.

First of all anyone who has read the bible knows that Laziness is one of the 7 deadly sins. therefore to be sinless he would not allow himself to live off of welfare and food stamps if he could help it. Another thing is not all people are trying to cheat the government with food stamps(I am not on them) but some people do actually need them… like old people and young mothers who have no support from family who are going to a community college and working as may jobs trying to make there way. so don't judge people.

This question is moronic because it tries to apply 19th century political philosophies to someone who lived in the 1st century AD. People living in Jesus's time would have no conceptualisation of 'socialism' or 'capitalism'.

However, to try to form some semblance of an answer to the question- Jesus is quoted extensively in the Gospels as viewing the accumulation of wealth for its own sake as inherently corrupting and anti-Christian. So, whilst he may not have been a socialist per se, I imagine he would be disgusted at capitalism if he saw it

I diasagree. He was making a point that the rich are too attached to material wealth and therefore were much less likely to find the kingdom of heaven. When that rich dude asked how to get to heaven Jesus told him to give away all his riches. But that was a test to see if he was willing. Obviously we know that he was not willing but if he were I'm sure Jesus would have let him keep it.

Jesus placed no demands on the existing system nor did he sit around waiting for handouts.

"He who does not teach his son a trade, teaches his son to be a thief". -Ancient Jewish Proverb.

Possibly.If Jesus was alive today doing the same mission as two thousand years ago, we know what would probably happen.

He’d probably be in jail, in some godawful hellhole like Guantanamo. He would be a marked man, hated and mistrusted on all sides for speaking up for the victims of violence and injustice, for the poor, for the gays, and all who are considered outcasts in society.

The historical Jesus was a real troublemaker. He freely associated with sinners, prostitutes, and even Samaritans and Gentiles. There’s Jesus, going around casting out evil spirits in his own name, violating the rules of the Sabbath, entering the city like a king, causing a riot in the Temple, and letting people get all worked up thinking he was the Messiah who would kick the Romans out. No wonder the Sanhedrin and Pilate kept a suspicious eye on him.

Jesus was more of a Che Guevara of the first century

Is it even safe to ask in which alternative universe lost their resident idiot?

If Jesus had wished to kill tens of thousands of people like Che, he could have done so back then. The rest of your crap makes less sense.

You know nothing about Che other than what you have been fed. Was he ruthless? Yes, no doubt. He was a revolutionary. Was he a doctor who administered to the poor? Yes, no doubt.
So save your sorry and mindless crap for someone else more on your educational level. which is that of a slug.

Not me. I am not the one who worships a mass murderer. He could have worked with the poor without being a mass murderer.

Very much so. The Che comparison is a bit of a stretch, but I agree with every word before that.

How does what you wrote explain why he would be a socialist?

He would move to Canada. Free healh care you know. Not that he would need it.

if Jesus were alive today, he'd prob be starving to death in Africa and humanity would do nothing at all about it.

The question states being a U.S. citizen. If you want to create your own question, feel free to have a go at it. :)~

oops! sorry!

if Jesus were living as a US citizen today, i think he'd be a black mentally ill homeless dude ... and he'd prob be starving to death and humanity would do nothing at all to help him ...

[edited to correct misspelling of word "starving"]

That was racist of you to use a negative "black mentally ill homeless dude" stereotype, Mark. :)~

no way, Paladin:

there are "black mentally ill homeless dudes" and
there are "white mentally ill homeless dudes" and
there are "black mentally ill homeless chicks" and
there are "white mentally ill homeless chicks" ...

I just picked the group with the greatest stereotypical potential to rile up narrow-minded thinkers who like to think of Jesus as a white Republican ...

My sense is that if Jesus comes back to earth, he'll come as a black person because:

(i) he prob was dark-skinned to begin with, and

(ii) way too many of the whites in the world are racially prejudiced against dark-skinned people , and he'll figure that the whites will learn something (or absolutely nothing) if they are challenged to think outside their little boxes of preconceived notions and prejudices.

I really don't think Jesus would come back as white.

Now that i'm thinking about it, in fact, my sense is that Jesus would come back as a black woman!!

When jesus comes back he will be the same as he left. A jew. Maybe with dark skin, maybe not but saying that someone is BLACK cos of a tan is freakin RETARDED. There is no reason to think he would return in a different form. One could argue it counterproductive. If the antichrist is going to pose as jesus why would jesus want to make it difficult to know he was the true christ? Next time you form a thought, play it out in your mind.

oh really? please show me a picture of what jesus really looked like, so i will recognize him on the street.

and why couldn't jesus come back looking like anybody he wanted?

Christian humanity has sent millions of tons of foodstuffs to Africa.

there are still untold riches being accumulated by so-called christians that are not being used to end sickness, suffering, starvation and strife in Africa (or elsewhere in the world) ...

How much do our send over there?

Once again, your an ass. You said yoursef "so-called christians" accumulating wealth. That would indicate that they are not REAL CHRISTIANS. Dude you don't even know what you are saying.

many people consider themselves to be christians but they are not - they just call themselves this because they feel it relieves them of any responsibility to actually ACT like christians.

But, all the same, he would probably try to bring people together and view Occupy Wall St.ers and Tea Partiers as the same fundamental people who love America and Freedom.

He wanted people to better themselves and their society. OWS does neither. He wouldn't be a bleeding heart liberal pansy accepting everybody's BS.

He did not promote dependence on government.

not hardly

No,it would be contradicting God when he condemned Adam for his sins,He will win his bread with his sweat.
Or contradicting the bible teachings condemning Sloth,Envy,all those things that the OWS preach.......funny they use Jesus as a political platform,many of them being Marxists,atheists,etc,very convenient.

The first apostles of Jesus were fishermen. They earned their keep.

Very true indeed.

No, that would be libtards.