Was GOP Senator Ted Cruz Heckled by Jesus?

Republican Party

Was GOP Senator Ted Cruz Heckled by Jesus?

By Mike Victor Oct. 11, 2013   33 Comments    

Sen. Ted Cruz R-Texas pauses while heckled by a man identified only as JC while speaking at the Values Voter Summit, held by the Family Research Council Action, Friday, Oct. 11, 2013.

A Friday morning summit of religious conservatives in Washington took a bizarre twist when a tall, bearded, Palestinian man dressed in a white robe and a yamaka, later identified only by his initials "JC" with which he used to sign into the event, repeatedly stood and heckled Sen.Ted Cruz (R-Texas) as the Senator tried to deliver red-meat lines to the right wing faithful about the horribleness of the Affordable Care Act (which he repeatedly referred to as "Oblamacare").   When Cruz called Obamacare a “disaster” and a “trainwreck” that violates the Constitution, JC stood and said in what others described as a clear, calm, commanding voice:

Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Some of those in attendance immediately recognized the line as Matthew 5:25 and felt the heckler was part of the presentation, advocating the delivery of their "adversary" (President Obama) to the "judge" so actually applauded.  

Not sure how to respond himself, Cruz laughed, nervously, muttered "that's right - I think" then continued his diatribe against the president and healthcare reform.  He said he agreed with radio talk show host Mark Levin who called the law a “direct assault on religious liberties” as well as a massive expenditure which would threaten the wealth of those in the room, to which JC rose and said,

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.

His last words were drowned out by chants of "USA! USA! USA!" and when security approached the heckler he was able to still them by simply raising a finger.

Cruz engaged the heckler, as he had dozens of others.  "Buddy, I appreciate your memorization of some random biblical passages.  That's especially impressive if you work for President Obama who we all know owns only a Quran."

The stranger said over raucous laughter:  

   

Bear not false witness even against thine enemy.

To which the audience booed loudly and the security again tried to lay hands on him.  

”Is anybody left at the Organizing for America headquarters?” Cruz jokingly asked.  "You do a very good Jesus impersonation, but you came to the wrong convention.  We are here to talk about Christian values:  shrinking government by cutting off unnecessary, wasteful nutrition assistance to poor mothers and children, sealing our borders so illegals can't use our schools and hospitals, and making sure tough sentencing mandates keep our prisons full and our streets safe."

To which the stranger replied:

Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.  I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink.  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.  Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

At this point security managed to grab the man's garments and pull him from the room, more for his protection than to stop his heckling.  The crowd was turning ugly, especially the Southern Baptists who had been acting strangely disinhibited after the sparkling water they had ordered for the event had earlier been turned into some sort of alcoholic beverage, a sweet wine that no vendors were able to identify.

Civil rights and LGBT rights groups who had bashed the conference for being “anti-gay” witnessed JC offering no resistance as he was pulled from the room.  When one of the group started to shout "FASCISTS!  FASCISTS!  FASCISTS!" JC silenced them by raising his hand and saying:

           Forgive them for they know not what they do.

Security released the stranger after he promised not to re-enter the hall.  However, several minutes after Cruz continued, his talk was interrupted again by sounds from the lobby:  shouts and the sound of glass shattering and something heavy hitting the ground.   Witnesses later said that the stranger had at first kept his promise to remain calm, talking quietly among the protesters, but then grew furious when he saw a table full of books by Pat Robertson entitled Pray and Grow Rich with an image of a Nordic-looking Jesus on the cover.   He overturned the table and many others, saying they were defiling this place.

When the owner of a stand selling pamphlets on how to survive the End Times pulled a concealed handgun, JC calmed visibly, put his hand on the man and - with the gun pressed against his chest - said,

Put up again thy gun into its place: for all they that take the gun shall perish with the gun.  

"He was so calm," the vendor said.  "It almost hypnotic.  I mean, he touched me and all my rage just sort of disappeared.   I put the gun away and started cleaning up my stuff.  Then I felt silly and just threw it all away.  I don't know if I will come to these things again.  It's just getting too weird for me."  

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who was crossing the lobby in time to see the stranger turning over the tables, shouted out at him to stop.   When the stranger disappeared - literally according to several witnesses - Paul swept his hands over the scattered DVDs and books comparing Obama's Dreams of My Father to Hitler's Mein Kampf and said this just showed you how far the left would go on its “war on Christianity.  Some people just really want to get attention, I guess," he said, stepping past a dozen posters of President Obama with a Hitler moustache now sprawled over the lobby floor.  "It's getting harder and harder to be a true Christian these days."  

Although most of the attendees were convinced that JC was some liberal imposter, a few were not so sure.  "I think it might have been Jesus," said a conference attendee who asked not to be identified.  "Stranger things have happened.  Bleeding paintings.  Clouds.  Grilled cheese sandwiches.  It's not how I imagined the guy, but who knows?"

Cruz was not available for an interview, leaving immediately after his speech to make sure the government stayed shut down. 

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