Sheep, Robots and Jesus

I was wasting time flipping through the infomercials and "paid programming" early this morning and I came across a broadcast of preacher giving a sermon. Sometimes I like to watch these things just to sort of revisit my youth in the church and also because I often find it funny, though it usually isn't long before I have to change the channel in disgust. So this preacher is preaching a sermon about giving up "worldly desires" and "crucifying the flesh." Then she says, "Jesus said 'if you love me, you'll obey me,'" and it struck me that that sounds like something an abusive spouse would say to his or her partner. "Everything will be fine if you just do what I say. I don't want to send you to hell, but you leave me no choice." Last week I walked by this evangelical church in Queens and I could see that they had a painting of Jesus leading a group of sheep to pasture. This is a common image in Christianity - Jesus as the "good sheperd." I don't know why this hasn't hit me before, but I realized what a perfect image that is, but not for the reason it is intended. What could better express the blind faith and ignorance of so many followers of the religious right than sheep blindly following Jesus simply because they have been told they must. "Well, why are you following him?" one might ask. To which the response might be, "Because he said we should." "But why should I believe that he is the one to follow?" I want to ask. "Well, because it says so in the bible. That's how we know it's true!" As for Jesus as the GOOD sheperd, I am not so sure. What kind of a sheperd would say "Follow me, little sheep, or I'll send you straight to hell." That sounds like an abusive sheperd to me. Another thing that the preacher on TV said was that God didn't want a bunch of robots who just do what they are told. Of course he doesn't want robots. He wants sheep. After all, robots are smarter than sheep.