We often discussed empathy at this website, for instance here. [1]And here [2]. Most of the time, we discuss the importance of empathy-based morality without invoking any supernatural beings, beliefs, or commandments. [3] This is not to claim that religion is always irrelevant to such discussions.
For the past day, I have repeatedly thought about Rush Limbaugh’s recent invocation of Jesus. [4] He claimed that Jesus would prefer that we lower the tax rates for rich people and that we dismantle the federal social safety net for those who are not rich.
This morning, coming out of a courthouse a poor-looking man smiled and said, “I hope you’re having a good day.” I thanked him and walked on, struck that an upbeat man of such modest means, a man I didn’t know, would take time to greet me. That reminded me of a recurring thought I have: If I were God, I would visit earth dressed as a poor person, and I would mingle with well-to-do people to see how they treated me. If I were God and I did this, I would repeatedly be reminded that rich people avoided me. They would refuse to live in my neighborhood. They wouldn’t eat my kind of food or dress like me. They would make sure that their children went to schools different than my children’s school. They would call me names when they are with each other. Many of them would push their legislatures to cut government benefits such that I wouldn’t have access to even the most basic form of health care.
[5]While driving home from court, I passed a man who looked to be even poorer than the man who greeted me. He was gathering trash with a shopping cart. That would be a great costume for God, I thought.
Mind you, I don’t believe in God. [6] I don’t believe in any form of disembodied sentience. But wouldn’t it be interesting to watch the God that who rich allegedly praise get dissed by the rich? That brings to mind the following passage from the bible [7]:
Matthew 25:40: And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Yep. Wealthy Christians have a duty to treat each poor person as if he or she were God Himself. What a drastic contrast from the classist garbage spouted by Rush Limbaugh, purportedly in the name of Jesus.
If I were God, walking around on Earth incognito, I’d be keeping an especially close eye on powerful loud-mouthed people like Rush Limbaugh.
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