Who Would Jesus Mock?

... And we've got a situation with 10,000 baby boomers a day signing up for Social Security, going into the Medicare system. And I just want to remind everybody when all the old hippies find out that they get free drugs, just wait until what that's going to cost out there." -- Mike Huckabee, Presidential Candidate for the Republican Party
This astonishing remark by a presidential candidate shocked me into wondering what year it was. Didn’t we get over fear of hippies, or should we all buy hard hats, baseball bats and get down & dirty, just like it’s 1969. What the heck was a hippie, anyway?
Mike Huckabee is a Christian minister. He really wants us to know he is and lets us know at any opportunity possible (vanity?). But his remark seems so un-Jesus-like, it made me wonder what aspect of Jesus’ teachings inspires Mr. Huckabee. Does he think Jesus would enthusiastically privatize medical care and limit coverage based on a formula constructed by insurance providers to make bigger profits? Hmm, that’s a strange notion and hard to reconcile with what I remember about Jesus and the Beatitudes, my main inspiration in Christianity. I turned to Wikapedia.com for help:
The Beatitudes imply that people not normally considered blessed on Earth are in fact blessed by God/Reality and will experience the Kingdom of Heaven.
[…] In the Beatitudes, however, Jesus explains that the reality of things as seen from God's perspective is that it is the powerless who are the inheritors the future. It is the meek, the poor, those who suffer loss, those on the bottom of the social ladder, who will rule in the rightside-up kingdom of God. Jesus is attempting to jog his listeners' assumptions regarding security and hope, showing them that the kingdom of God is for those who hope in God and not in the power structures offered by the world. Though not specifically referenced and explained with much less poetry, these same themes are strongly espoused by the Apostle Paul in his letters to the Colossians and to the Ephesians.
Gosh, maybe Jesus meant the hippies! Weren't they outside the social system, ostracized and mocked for not subscribing to the consumer culture? And what about bombing for peace, like we’re doing right now to millions of Iraqis? Is the message of the messiah "Who Would Jesus Bomb?"
It seems Mr. Huckabee wants to resurrect the “hate hippies" routine and bask in the glorious (and deep) shadow of Richard M. Nixon, who believed everyone who didn’t love him unconditionally was a [expletive deleted]. Us & them, black & white, a very predictable and delusional world where diversity is seen as a threat to democracy and the American way of life (which was, er, what? My family didn’t eat pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Are we bad Americans?). Back in the day, most long haired, tree hugging peace seekers who looked for an alternative culture to rampant consumerism could quote Jesus as well as this “minister” guy.
Sorry, the Jesus I grew up loving wouldn’t ridicule anyone. As a parent, I’m outraged that a prominent politician is gleefully mocking anyone over medical care. It is especially offensive that this "Sheppard" leads his flock into hate thoughts.
Huckabee's remarks debase the teachings of compassion, and instead attempt to conscript our minds to intolerance. Rather than dwell anymore on Mr. Huckabee, let’s instead take comfort in what Jesus said, via Matthew:
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall posses the land.
Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice for they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Words to comfort and heal, to provide hope. That's what Jesus was about. I hope Mr. Huckabee takes time to think about his words before preaching.
And that’s really what it’s all about.