Originally in Medium.com in The Polis, May 2, 2025
Religious speculation about the deporter-in-chief
How do you know you’ve got a friend in Jesus? Because you want to be with Him later and while you’re waiting, passing time till that happy day comes, you enjoy feeling close to Him. You search out places and situations where others who love Him like you do can get together. You find enjoyment and peace of mind in the company of people who feel the same as you do. These people are your friends.
Now turn the question around. How does Jesus know He has a friend in you? Well, I can’t know for sure, but it likely would be because He sees that you care about Him enough to take his teachings as a guide. He says He died for you, remember, and He didn’t do that so you could run around being dismissive of that fact. He laid out a set of principles about how to conduct yourself. To keep it simple He encapsulated it all in a single guideline, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Or even more succinctly, “Don’t be an asshole.”
So, now bearing this in mind, how do you feel about someone, let’s call him the deporter-in-chief, who rips an innocent man away from his family and sends him to a prison 2000 miles away? Is this someone friend material? Is this someone Jesus would want as a friend? Seems iffy to me.
But this someone might justify his action, even calling it a Christian act, because he is allowing the deportee to avoid the crimes he undoubtedly would have committed if he’d been allowed to stay with his family. So this someone, the self anointed deporter-in-chief, is laying claim to be as omniscient as Jesus himself. Actually, I think that’s violating another of Jesus’s no no’s. The false god one.
But now consider that the deporter-in-chief goes even further and admits the deportee is innocent and his being deported was actually a mistake. And let’s further assume that there is universal agreement on that fact from the deporter-in-chief’s overseers on earth, the deciders-of-justice. And these deciders-of-justice say, “Bring this guy you deported back.” But the deporter-in-chief says, “Sorry, guys, no can do. I’m not powerful enough to make that happen.”
So, in short, this deporter-in-chief, who proclaims he has the godly power of clairvoyance, doesn’t have the earthly power to undo his misdeed. Again, is this someone Jesus would want as a friend? To put the question to you as a human being, is this someone you would trust enough to have as a friend?
I can understand why you might want the deporter-in-chief to think you are his friend. He carries a big stick after all. But wouldn’t you always feel a little bit queasy in his presence. Isn’t it possible he could make a mistake about you too? Wouldn’t you feel it’s better to play along, so you maybe don’t get ripped from your family too?
What if he gets into a snit about something you’ve done that he doesn’t like and he starts calling you some demeaning name. Like maybe he calls you Little Mario when your name is actually Lillie Marie? Do you think that’s a sign that he doesn’t consider you a real friend? Would Jesus call Lillie Marie by a man’s name? Wouldn’t that be hurtful? Would the deporter-in-chief like to be called deportessa-in-chief? Of course, sticks and stones and all that. But you’ve got to wonder if his little “joke” with the misnaming might just be a prelude to him deporting or demoting or ostracizing you someday. You’re fired! in some form or other.
“With friends like that, who needs enemies” goes the old saying. But living without true friends or assuming that your friends are those you demand or bribe to be your friends might not pan out in the long run. True friends are forgiving and loyal, false friends will dance on your grave.
And while I shouldn’t presume to know how Jesus would react, I bet it would be with more charity and compassion than the deporter-in-chief is showing. I’m not a Christian, by the way, so I’m no expert in understanding the mind of Jesus. But I’ve got to think that He would say that the deporter-in-chief wasn’t the best example of His father’s work.