This isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened, nor will it be the last. However, there's something that I find deeply saddening about all of this. When looking at Jesus in the gospels, he's someone who hangs out with the social outcasts and rejected. The people he frequently calls out are the pharisees. They're the ones who perpetuate oppression, according to the gospels, using their religious scriptures to justify it.
One example of the anti-Christian sentiment that I frequently think about is from the band, Bad Religion. Their emblem is a cross covered by a prohibition symbol. Their song, "Sorrow," includes these words:
When all soldiers lay their weapons down
Or when all kings and all queens relinquish their crowns
Or when the only true messiah rescues us from ourselves
It's easy to imagine
There will be sorrow
Yeah, there will be sorrow
And there will be sorrow no more
I can't think of words closer to Jesus' message than that, but when that is seen as an anti-Christian sentiment, it shows just how much conservative fundamentalists and many others who identify as Christian have corrupted the message.
All of this is deeply saddening.
When Jesus talks about Satan, there are also a few verses from the gospels that come to my mind on all of this. The first is Matthew 24:5, "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." Another one is Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Jesus addresses the wolf in sheep's clothing. It's unfortunate that he says nothing about the wounded sheep in wolves clothing. The last verse I'll bring up is from the Gospel of John. In the tenth verse of the tenth chapter, he says "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
When looking at Lil Nas X's video, it's clear that he's the one giving those rejected by society a place of comfort, while conservative fundamentalist leaders, like the pharisees, use their scripture to oppress and hurt. When I look at his video, I see it as an example of beating swords into plowshares. Although there are Christians, such as Nadia Bolz-Weber, who are doing similar things, the most recognized faces of Christianity are the ones behaving like the pharisees. The false prophets. The wolves in sheep's clothing. The ones coming to kill and destroy, rather than for people to have life.
Shalom!
