Why nonreligious societies may be closer to Jesus’ vision

By Janet Marugg | FāVS News Columnist

As a child, I was Jesus’ biggest fan. I liked him better than church leaders and historical figures, and for me, church and historical leaders were the same. But Jesus was different in the way every powerless kid wants a hero to be — magical, saviorial, a safe bet. 

As a nonbelieving adult, I still like Jesus as a character — his head and heart aiming to help out the little guy like a true literary hero. Jesus shows us an inner strength so solid that he’s peaceable, a rare quality, even among his followers. I like the guy’s politics and most of his ideas for personal and societal management. 

One Jesus story will not leave me alone. It is a vivid scene (Matthew 25:35-40, for Bible readers following along). Jesus, while gathering his follower-flock, sets his final judgement criteria as this: his followers are those who do four things: 

1. Feed the hungry. 
2. Heal the sick. 
3. Welcome strangers. 
4. Be kind to prisoners. 

The Humanist side of Jesus

That’s it — Jesus’ Big Four for Final Judgment for individuals and nations. Notice that Jesus does not say anything about which God to worship or how. Here, Jesus is a humanist. It’s all about how human beings should treat each other and how society should be treating us back. 

Notice Jesus did not nod in favor to a race, or religion, or political party? He does not bait-and-switch his followers to make up cares for him about abortion or LGBTQ+ coupling. Humanist Jesus simply considers people universally, as human beings who are regularly hungry, sometimes sick, always strangers until we’re not, and prisoners to our days of breathing in the world — and to the day we’re not. 

I like to think that Jesus left God and god worship out of his Big Four for Final Judgment on purpose. The specific how-to’s of human-focused work in the world is for us to figure out. To Jesus, it’s not faith that God will save us that gets it done. Jesus gives the assignment to human beings. 

American author and humanist Isaac Asimov said, “Humanists recognize that it is only when people feel free to think for themselves, using reason as their guide, that they are best capable of developing values that succeed in satisfying human needs and serving human interests.”

There is a pleasant twist to realizing that the business of being ready for Jesus’ Final Judgment is the business of secular humanism. The more we leave faith out of things, the more we are living the faith. 

Secular democracies out-Jesus the religious

In his book, “Living the Secular Life,” Phil Zuckerman, professor of secular studies and sociology at Pfitzer College, exposes Denmark and Sweden as secular democracies scoring highest for passing Jesus’ judgment. 

Currently, secular democracies — those with the least religious affiliation and church attendance — are proving superior at producing the ideals we hold as moral: low rates of poverty, universal access to higher education, equality valuing diversity, human dignity guided immigration, universal access to healthcare, low prison populations, low recidivism, low infant mortality, maternal support including childcare, social support resulting in less addiction, less unemployment, less illness including mental illness, etc. 

Secular democracies are “out-Jesus-ing” church-going religious populations. So naturally, I am less-than-impressed when I hear talk of how religious America is. I’m thinking we should be more secular and humanistic to get the Jesus job done. 

A fun fact for trivia night is this: In the United States today, nonreligious people, particularly those identifying as atheists, are underrepresented in the prison population. 

Individually, U.S. states with the least religious affiliation and church attendance score consistently higher in Zuckerman’s research for reducing human harm and maximizing human well-being. Ironically, States where people leave God out of things are the places most ready for Jesus’ Final Judgment. 

There are plenty of good reasons to reduce human harm and maximize human well-being without the threat of judgment or punishment, but as a humanistic moral guide, Jesus’ Big Four for Final Judgment is not bad. Okay — it makes me salivate. 

I wish more people would use Jesus’ humanistic criteria to guide their actions. I’d like to see our institutions, our businesses, our churches, our schools, our politics and our governments be about the faithless business of human well-being, and as such, be more Christ-like.