Kill for Jesus!

Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo (whose last name is an anagram for "acned rot") likes to earn the occasional bucket of ink by making outrageous statements in front of microphones. His most notable outburst: Calling for the nuclear annihilation of Mecca and Medina should Muslim extremists ever set off a weapon of mass destruction within our borders. Tommy, who considers himself a good Christian, thinks that Jesus would applaud a mass slaughter of the innocent.

Recently, Tom the Toon had it out with Hillary Clinton over her claim that the Republican anti-immigration bill "would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself." Tom's reply:

"Hillary Clinton doesn't know the first thing about the Bible. Her impression, her analysis, her interpretation of both the law and the Bible are certainly wrong."

So. What lesson do we draw from all this? According to Tancredo, Jesus loves the idea of killing millions of innocents to avenge a wrong done by a handful of fanatics. Meanwhile, we should consider Hillary an inferior interpreter of the texts written by a people who became history's most noted migrants.

Let me clarify my positions: Although Hillary may have overstated the parallel, she was not out of line to suggest that the Samaritan story, and perhaps the biography of Jesus himself, might offer interesting points of reference. (Jesus was an immigrant. Remember the escape to Egypt? His family probably stayed with the huge Jewish community in Alexandria.) That said, I think our borders must become less permeable, and I remain no great fan of Hillary Clinton.

But at least she isn't a theocratic thug. Whenever goons like Tancredo offer Bible lessons, I feel happy to remain caught 'twixt Gnosticism and Agnosticism.