Conservatives appear to be operating from some new-fangled Bible if they bother to read one at all these days. Just take a look at the immigration/trafficing stunts of late. Republican Jesus is not the Jesus that most of us are familiar with.

You've heard of the Jefferson Bible, right? You know Tom Jefferson, the good Christian founding father? Well, mostly Christian. OK, more deist than "traditional" Christian. Overall, Tommy J. believed rational thought should guide one's views of religion. He was an Enlightenment guy. As such, he decided to slice up the New Testament, quite literally, with a razor blade. He cut and pasted the Gospels, leaving only the "simple teachings" of Jesus while removing the miracles, mysteries, and superstitions. He didn't care for the resurrection story and redacted it, too. He thought his version would be a bit more simpatico with a world built on reason.

He left in most of the words of Jesus. “The doctrines which flowed from the lips of Jesus Himself are within the comprehension of a child." -T.J.

Like some of the words from Matthew 25:

“...‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ... ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."

To view current GOP rage over immigration and the current actions taken against immigrants - the bussing, the chartered planes, the railroad cattle cars (can they be far behind?) - makes it apparent that today's GOP, too, has their own Bible. Very different than Jefferson's, the opposite really. The mysteries, the miracles - all back in (and taken literally.) The actual teachings... mostly gone. The Greatest Commandment ("Love your neighbor as yourself") is gone. Republican Jesus, it seems, has gone Old Testament on us, and he may be packing.

Jim Moore has covered issues along the southern border for decades. He doesn't see a lot of Republican concern for the Least of These.

Will white, male evangelicals continue to dominate public policy? Josh Houston, a lobbyist for Texas Impact, joins the Outlaws to discuss the intersection of religion and politics in Texas.

Texas Outlaw WritersBy Texas Outlaw WritersOct 08, 2022