Lauren Boebert’s double-barreled blasphemy

I’ve long been a Boebert agnostic, neither a fan of her aggressive style nor a hater. Of course, I wish she relied less upon boorish stunts, such as having her entire family brandish AR-15s for a Christmas card. I wish our politics in general relied more upon the art of persuasion and less upon the panicky process of “riling up the base.” But I understand the power of performative posturing in the social media age and the pressure to play along.

So, I often gave Boebert the benefit of the doubt. She didn’t invent this political environment, after all. And she herself has been the target of incredibly nasty attacks, including baseless accusations that she once worked as an escort and had multiple abortions.

Just last week, when it appeared she was on the verge of losing her race, a guest on MSNBC, which openly casts itself as a pro-woman news outlet, mused that she would go on to a career in pornography if defeated.

(For the record, I wish that Fox News would stop plastering unflattering still-shots of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) across its coverage. These sorts of attacks — the kind that fixate on appearance and sexuality — are mainly lobbed at women in politics. Good men on both sides should monitor their respective halls for this sort of thing).

But Boebert, who is a self-professed “Christian nationalist,” lost my support, and I suspect the support of many Christians, this past June when she made the following “joke” in front of a live audience: “How many AR-15s do you think Jesus would have had? Well, he didn’t have enough to keep his government from killing him.”

For devout Christians nationwide, the line landed like a cinder block on a sidewalk. It was meant to be cute, but it came off as disturbing.

Boebert has never publicly addressed the criticism her comment drew, which is yet another problem. Her refusal to own the consequences of her carelessness indicates that she either doesn’t care about the criticism or doesn’t understand it. I’m not sure which is worse.

To be certain, the “joke” was appalling. More than blasphemous, it betrayed a galling ignorance of even the most basic Christian doctrines. And worse, it misrepresented the spirit and truth of the Gospel, which is the very heart of Christian life.

The suggestion that Jesus would ever wield a rifle betrays a profound misapprehension of his identity. The central claim of Christianity is that Jesus of Nazareth was not simply another spiritual master or political leader, but the Word made flesh, God incarnate. We believe even Christ’s teachings are secondary to his person. “Before Abraham was,” Jesus tells us in the Gospel of John, “I am.” He consistently spoke and acted in the person of God. This is what differentiates him from every other religious founder.

But Boebert’s “joke” reduced Christ’s nature to that of his earthly oppressors. It also implied that he was somehow in error when he allowed himself to be captured by the Romans. Both implications are repugnant to Christian belief.

It would be difficult for the most ardent atheist to outdo this blast of double-barrelled blasphemy.

We believe Christ allowed himself to be captured in the garden of Gethsemane in order to redeem the world through his passion on the Cross. Had he “fought back,” none of this would have been accomplished.

There was one among Jesus’s twelve apostles who was similarly disappointed that he would not lead a military revolution. He too reduced Jesus’s nature to that of an ordinary human by calling him “Rabbi” instead of “Lord.” He was likely a member of the Dagger-Bearers, which was the most militant wing of the Zealots. His name was Judas Iscariot.

Now I’m not comparing Boebert to Judas. But the commonalities in this instance should snap her into focus.

I point all of this out because it helps explain Boebert’s sluggish performance against Democrat Adam Frisch in Colorado’s third district. Like most people, I hadn’t been following the race closely, but I was not surprised by her struggles. Colorado has one of the sharpest Christian communities in all of America — I know because I lived there for over a decade. Had I been in Boebert’s district, I wouldn’t have been able to pull the lever for her unless she addressed her hurtful comments. It’s not the kind of thing a Christian could shake off easily, even in our amnesiac age.

It is my sincere hope that Boebert reflects on this incident and addresses it with her fellow Christians. We haven’t forgotten.

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Peter Laffin is a writer in New England. Follow him on Twitter at @Laffin_Out_Loud.