Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Politics and Religion
Newsflash: Lauren Boebert does not resemble Jesus

Newsflash: Lauren Boebert does not resemble Jesus

Last updated on: March 9, 2022 at 3:32 pm by Kathryn Shihadah

Newsflash: Lauren Boebert does not resemble Jesus 2022-03-09T15:32:17-05:00 Kathryn Shihadah

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What can we learn from listening to the words of Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-3)? She claims to be following in the steps of the lord Jesus. Is she right?

Not long ago, Boebert appeared on Huckabee, a political commentary program on Newsmax, hosted by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R). She was as cute as a button, as fresh as a daisy, and dripping with feminine confidence. The audience hung on her every word and the host admired her openly.

One exchange between Boebert and Huckabee got more than a few replays. Here’s a snippet:

Huckabee: “It’s clear that you’re not timid and you’re not afraid to let people know that you are a Christian believer and that that’s what gives you your core values and your core strength. Do you find that people just want you to ‘tone it down a little bit, Congresswoman’ … do you hear that?”

Boebert: “You know, I think people would love it if I would tone it down. But, you know, we had our Lord Jesus certainly didn’t tone it down for anyone…And then they tried to cancel Jesus, but you can’t cancel God…We right now are charged to be bold in this time and God has given us a spirit of power and might and a well-disciplined mind and not a spirit of timidity. So I say get out there and be bold.”

Where is Jesus in this statement? Lauren Boebert seems to suggest that because Jesus was bold at times, she can be bold all the time. She is making a very, very dangerous assumption. Jesus was bold because he flowed in the perfect will of God. We need to operate in much greater humility. In fact (as I’ve written elsewhere), when looking at Jesus’ moments of boldness, we may do well to put ourselves in the Pharisee’s shoes, not Jesus’.

Yes, Paul reminded Timothy that God had given him “a spirit of power and might and a well-disciplined mind,” but the context of his remark was not an exhortation to recklessness.

boebert

“The Pink Mafia” by Dunechaser is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Huckabee and Boebert talked about Boebert’s support for the right to carry a weapon; she bragged about how the waitresses in her restaurant pack heat. They discussed Biden’s alleged poor choice in shutting down the Keystone XL Pipeline, but failed to address the elephants in the room: the damage it caused to the environment, or its encroachment on indigenous people’s sacred lands.

(Commercial: if you question “business as usual” in Christianity – or want to question it – subscribe to my newsletter, and we can journey together!)

Where is Jesus in this conversation? While the Christian walk is certainly more nuanced than “turn the other cheek,” it’s hard to imagine Christ walking around with a machine gun (or even a sword). At least some mindfulness in her application of the Second Amendment would be in order (for example, Boebert might have exhibited a little compassion by not tweeting a Christmas photo in which her young sons carried firearms, just days after a school shooting that left four dead).

As for the Keystone XL, again Jesus is missing. His deep empathy for the marginalized suggests that the conversation could have included something of an acknowledgement of the damage to the environment, the wounding of native Americans – if not a complete change of policy.

Lack of decorum

More recently, Rep. Boebert and her chum Marjorie Taylor Greene sat together at President Biden’s State of the Union speech, heckling him at inopportune moments – like when he was trying to talk about American veterans with cancer possibly due to burn pit exposure. One of the victims had been Biden’s son Beau.

Boebert later tweeted, “The left is pissed because I called out Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan that left 13 of America’s finest in a flag-draped coffin. They are mad because a speech was ‘interrupted’. Ask the … families who lost their loved ones how interrupted their lives are now.”

For someone who claims to emulate Jesus, this looks like an epic fail: her impertinence toward the President, her irreverence toward the memory of his son – followed not by an apology, but a doubling down on her position. Ms. Boebert may have forgotten that sometimes, Jesus clammed up, and that Ecclesiastes 3 exhorts us, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven…a time to keep silence and a time to speak.”

So as not to give any more oxygen to this woman who craves nothing more than attention, I’ll stop here…but much more could be said.

(If you are energized by challenges to the evangelical status quo like this, you’d enjoy my blog. Sign up for my free newsletter here!)

(If you would like to comment, please pop over to my Facebook page. All of my posts are there and open to constructive comment! I welcome your thoughts. And don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter!)

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED TO READ:

Straight talk about abortion and a woman’s right to choose

Disgraced Congresswoman Greene is Christian Nationalism’s new hero

Are there “strong Christian women” on Capitol Hill?

Are you smarter than Tucker Carlson? – race and the Supreme Court

The Beatitudes: what does God require of us?

Dear Conservative Christians: the world is complex and nuanced

FEATURED IMAGE: “The Pink Mafia” by Dunechaser is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

politics

women

lauren boebert

marjorie taylor greene

mike huckabee

second amendment

state of the union

Previous Post

March 3, 2022

Straight talk about abortion and a woman's right to choose

Next Post

March 15, 2022 This courageous man has a message for you

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion becoming progressive christmas exvangelical Gaza family injustice interfaith islam Palestine and Israel parable politics Ramadan rohr sexual orientation ten commandments Uncategorized upside-down bible women

Select a Month October 2026 July 2026 May 2026 April 2026 September 2025 August 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz