This rebel Jesus was a menace to God and mankind …

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Or so the Roman court declared, and despite some dissent by members of the court, he was executed via the cross for the the high crime of treason. While our criminal justice system has made some progress over the original Roman system of justice — it’s hard to argue that all that much has changed since the days when the Romans laughed as Jesus died in agony on the cross.

Government, even in so-called representative democracies, is the sovereign with power justified by law. What happened — the lawful murder of Jesus Christ by the state — could happen even in our modern times. Law can not determine whether or not something is moral, only what is justified as force by government actions against the people.

Whether or not Jesus was a menace to God and mankind is debatable, indeed millions honor Christ for his organizing of the working man against the rich man. For confronting the Alderman and politicians, for raising his voice. Jesus, the son of God wasn’t afraid to confront power, with acidic attacks on power, confronting comfortable ideas with truth.

Did Jesus argue for the over-throw of the government, the treasonous acts that the Roman court claimed was supported by evidence? We may never know, as much is lost in history. But we do know that Jesus organized the carpenter, the weaver, the farmer, as a voice against the rich and powerful. His power, through the people, confronted old ways of thinking, put established ways of thinking at risk.

Phil Ochs – Ballad Of The Carpenter – YouTube

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Over 50 years ago, Phil Ochs captured the life and story of Jesus so beautifully in the Ballad of the Carpenter ...

Jesus was a working man
And a hero you will hear
Born in the town of Bethlehem
At the turning of the year

When Jesus was a little lad
Streets rang with his name
For he argued with the older men
And put them all to shame
He put them all to shame

He became a wandering journeyman
And he traveled far and wide
And he noticed how wealth and poverty
Live always side by side

So he said "Come you working men
Farmers and weavers too
If you would only stand as one
This world belongs to you"

When the rich men heard what the carpenter had done
To the Roman troops they ran
Saying put this rebel Jesus down
He's a menace to God and man

The commander of the occupying troops
Just laughed and then he said
"There's a cross to spare on Calvaries hill
By the weekend he'll be dead"

Now Jesus walked among the poor
For the poor were his own kind
And they'd never let them get near enough
To take him from behind

So they hired one of the traders trade
And an informer was he
And he sold his brother to the butchers men
For a fistful of silver money

And Jesus sat in the prison cell
And they beat him and offered him bribes
To desert the cause of his fellow man
And work for the rich men's tribe,
To work for the rich men's tribe

And the sweat stood out on Jesus' brow
And the blood was in his eye
When they nailed his body to the Roman cross
And they laughed as they watched him die
They laughed as they watched him die

Two thousand years have passed and gone
Many a hero too
But the dream of this poor carpenter
Remains in the hands of you

NY 8 Mile Points Along East Branch

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This should be helpful at locating various trail heads and locations along the East Branch Sacandaga River while using your cars odometer.