THE REBEL JESUS

I’m not sure if you’d call this a Christmas carol. I am pretty sure that if it is found in that category you won’t find it in many Christmas concerts.

In the mid eighties rocker Jackson Brown looked around, took stock of US policies here and abroad and his work took a darker turn in protest. “But if any one of us should interfere in the business of why there are poor they get the same as the rebel Jesus” echoes a Brazilian archbishop, Heldar Camara. “If I feed the starving, they call me a saint. If I ask why they’re starving they call me a communist.”

Partly brought on by a Georgia politician channeling Newt the Grinch. Remember when Newt suggested that poor school kids could do the jobs of the school janitors. Well, the gentleman from Georgia is complaining about the cost of free or low cost school lunches provided for low income students. I have to wonder if this POS has spent any time talking to the students or their parents to find out why the child needs to low cost or free meal. And I suspect that when kids have parents working two or three low wage jobs trying to hold the family together they already know that there's no such thing as a "free lunch." This from a member of the congressional millionaires (largely) club.

The Rebel Jesus

All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
While the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around the hearths and tables
Giving thanks for God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus
Well they call him by 'the Prince of Peace'
And they call him by 'the Savior'
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavor
And they fill his churches with their pride and gold
As their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worship in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus

Well we guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus

Now pardon me if I have seemed
To take the tone of judgment
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In a life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus

Jackson Brown