The greatest fallacy that exists in Christian America today is the belief that Jesus is a Republican.

This is a delicate conversation to have at USU. Many students here are Latter-day Saints. Many of them are socially conservative. And as this is a state-funded school, it is supposed to be free of religious influence. Oh, there is the omnipresent LDS Institute but that building is not part of campus (wink, wink).

Now, before some of you get your underwear in a bunch, this is not a Mormon-bashing column. I never accepted that moniker being thrust on to me. I don’t bash Mormons. I bash theocracies. If I was a middle-aged college student attending Mississippi State instead of Utah State, there is a good chance I would say something quite similar there to what I say here. And, I most likely would be called a Baptist basher.

This is the where the great fallacy comes in. Too many people in Utah, and probably Mississippi as well, want Jesus sitting in the big chair of government – whether it be federal, state or local. There are many problems with this. Morality is subjective. Religion has a horrible track record of running governments. This country’s Constitution was meant to prevent all sects, religious ones especially, from dominating the political culture to the point where oppression flourishes. This all leads us to the irony we get when Christian dogma is interwoven with government and makes me doubt Jesus’ Republican street cred. Jesus was neither a conservative nor a capitalist.

Consider what Jesus said: love your enemies; if a man takes your coat, give him your cloak as well; forfeit your riches to the poor; the rich have little shot of getting into heaven; be merciful upon the wicked; and, my favorite, judge not lest ye be judged. Jesus was a socialist. Deal with it.

The life of Jesus does not suggest he was a dittohead. He walked from town to town with no money. He crashed at people’s houses with 12 friends. He scorned the religious hierarchy every chance he could. He enjoyed a good wine from time to time, and if he did not have any around, he just made some out of water. And then there were the hookers. He really liked having hookers around. Does this sound like Sean Hannity’s America to you?

In no way is this column a mocking diatribe against those who are Christian in name and in deeds. I admire those who take the Light of Christ into their hearts and use it make the people and things around them better. A charitable heart and a contrite spirit can only improve humanity, if it’s sincere. Politics, by nature, is almost never sincere. As such, shoving Jesus into every political discussion reeks of opportunism. Social conservatives, who have been on a crusade to define the Republican Party and shape public policy by a strict code of Judeo-Christian values, risk not only destroying the GOP but also becoming completely irrelevant to the voting populous that has shown they do not want religion in their government.

This is my argument to my fellow Aggies, many of whom are half my age. A considerable amount of you are socially-conservative Republicans. In the next three decades, you will mature into a politically astute citizenry of the greatest, most prosperous country to ever exist. Many of you will vote. Some of you will have the chance to attain political standing and power. While these decades come to pass, this country will legalize gay marriage, dismantle all laws regarding gambling and alcohol, continue its expansion of artistic expression through the limitless avenues of communication that are invented faster than we can buy them and will see the Caucasian population be relegated from a majority to a plurality. If you grow older and refuse to adapt to these monumental changes then you will have little political power beyond the narrow scope of cookie-cutter Utah towns.

If your free will compels you to give your heart and soul to Jesus, then do so. On Election Day, leave him at home.

Harry Caines is a re-entry student from Philadelphia majoring in interdisciplinary studies. Unconventional Wisdom will appear every Monday. Comments can be left at www.aggietownsquare.com or sent to chiefsalsa@yahoo.com