Conversations with Jesus: In this episode Jesus meets Karl Marx

22/01/09 | Posted by ellen

Over a coffee in Starbucks Jesus and Karl Marx discuss collapse of capitalism, Babel (the tower not the film) and hope.

 revolutionary Jesus

Once upon a time the world had one language, everyone understood each other and shared common values. As the people moved across the world they found a place to settle and hatched a plan:

So God scattered people from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel — because there God confused the language of the whole world. From there God scattered us over the face of the whole earth.
Genesis 11. 1-9

Jesus: You must feel slightly vindicated when you see capitalism collapsing as it did toward the end of 2008?
Karl Marx: To be honest I am quite surprised that it lasted as long as it did. I wasn’t sure that it would stand up to the battering it took during the depression in the 1930’s and have always been surprised that America attempted to maintain it throughout the 20th century and that so many other countries were willing to comply.
JC: In my experience empires come and empires go…
KM: But, I guess that once an edifice has been built people will do anything to sustain it as well as ensuring that nobody finds out how poorly the foundations are being maintained. Bit like the Tower of Babel aye?
JC: Too right. For goodness sake what a remarkably bad plan that was from the start. How do people get so caught up in such badly flawed plans? I mean, haven’t they seen any films, read any stories or been told any jokes about men who think they are better than God or who try to control environments or who try to manipulate or oppress…don’t they know that their efforts are futile? Hasn’t that story been told enough times yet?
KM: Seems like people will never learn!
JC: Never say never Karl…there’s always hope. I never give up hope!
KM: Hope is far too bourgeois (and overrated). What people need is to name their oppression and fight for equality. Until every person is able to have control of their own means of production hope is futile.
JC: Blimey Karl you are such a revolutionary! But, I have often wondered why you have such a downer on hope. Surely, people need hope in order to make sense of their own reality.
KM: Hope is weakness, it keeps people passive, stops them from being able to fight against oppression. People will put up with extra-ordinary pain and suffering if they are given hope. That’s why I think religion is such a repressive thing. It gives people false hope. Creates an artifice around oppression and allows it to be tolerated.
JC: I agree, any religion that does that should be broken down, stripped, shamed and challenged. I’m with you on that. In fact I would give my life in order to see that level of inequity shamed…I would give my life over and over again until that sort of religion was wiped out.
KM: Really?
JC: Yes, indeed. I am not the religious type. If people find themselves worshiping a religion it’s the whole Babel thing all over again! I, like you, am more interested in setting people free, breaking the bonds of oppression and ensuring that equality is universal. However, I happen to think that people need some faith, hope and love to make that happen. Without faith hope and love you simply replace one oppression with another.
KM: What about reason?
JC: Reason is relative!
KM: Jesus, you are joking aren’t you? Don’t get me started!!!!!

It was clear that Karl Marx and Jesus were not going to see eye to eye on this one…but time had caught up with them both so they had to hurry their mini biscuits and drink the last few drops of fairtrade coffee. They parted with a shake of the hand, Jesus saw Karl to door then returned to have another coffee and a chat with a young woman who needed some help filling in her child benefit form.

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