I defended him. Jesus’ model, words and teachings have, after all, had as much impact on politics as any figure in world history and if we were to eliminate religious figures as political influences, what would happen to the entirety of the prophetic tradition’s call to justice or the model of Moses and the Exodus for those seeking freedom. Jesus was a teacher of a social justice par excellence, whose call to prioritize our concern for the poor, the sick, the prisoner, the hungry speaks to a radical alteration of the social order. He was an activist of courage, whose non-violent model for confronting those with economic and political power has the potential to change people, even while changing the social and political order.

The ways in which President Bush lived up to the model of his inspiration, the ways in which he did and did not subsequently prioritize the plight of the poor and the ill and to which he was willing to always seek non-violent resolution to injustice and evil will be a source of debate for generations to come.

But he had it right in 2000 in two ways. First: for countless millions, Jesus remains a source of political, social and personal change that can be radically transformative. And second: How wrong could it be to cite a nice Jewish boy as your most important influence?