33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. – Matthew 25: 33-40

I was reminded of this little passage today as I reviewed these numbers:

Colorado Independent reports that “donations supporting Proposition 8 from Focus on the Family, one of its major benefactors and an offshoot lobbying organization totaled more than $1.251 million …”

…” This money was being funneled into the California campaign at the same time the organization was laying off 202 employees.

employees. “The Knights of Columbus, the Connecticut-based political arm of the Catholic Church” chipped in another $1.275 million .

. The Mormon Church donated nearly $190,000 , and it’s guesstimated that when you add in the amount spent by all Mormons individually the total climbs into the $20 million range.

, and it’s guesstimated that when you add in the amount spent by all Mormons individually the total climbs into the range. All told, individuals and hate groups like Focus on the Family, the Catholic Church and the Mormons ponied up $39.9 million to make sure that gays living in places they couldn’t find on a map if their eternal souls depended on it can’t get married.

Now, why would my twisted little mind put these numbers together with that little passage of scripture above, you wonder? Because it got me to thinking about what Jesus might have done with nearly $40 million if he were around today. See, that’s $40M that wasn’t spent

feeding the hungry

giving drink to the thirsty

providing shelter for the homeless

clothing the poor

caring for the sick

visiting those in prison

I’m not a mathematician by trade, but I believe the following statements are close to accurate:

$40M could provide three square meals a day for a month for over 65,000 people.

$40M could buy winter coats for four million poor children.

$40M could build a couple of schools. Because, you know, the children are our future.

$40M could operate middle-of-the-road quality youth homeless shelters for over 30,000 people for the two coldest months of the year.

I mean, that is the kind of pussy liberal bullshit that Jesus was always whining about, right?

But maybe you don’t believe in rewarding failure and bailing out losers. Okay, Mr. Get-Off-Your-Ass-and-Work-For-It Conservative, you’re a smart guy. How many productive, useful community projects could you get done if I gave you $40 million and a legion of poor people who are willing to pull their weight? If the answer is less than 100, you’re a pretty pathetic excuse for an entrepreneur.

So as I see it, wasting $40M on something as patently ignorant as Prop 8 is a bipartisan offense against common decency.

If the Bible is to be believed – and parts of it probably should be – there are things that mattered enough to Jesus that he pretty much never shut up about them. Then there are other things – like deficit spending, the proper way to groom a poodle, homosexuality and whether Van Halen was better with David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar – that we have no evidence he ever spoke about at all.

With that in mind, let’s review the rest of Matthew 25: