Cheeses, Christ and politics

Tired of hearing about the Evangelical voting block? Wish the Religious Right and Mitt Romney would just go away? Got a Mike Huckabee overload?

If churches really want to influence government, they should forget about registering voters and pushing candidates, return to simpler times and follow the lead of John Leland.

This eccentric Baptist preacher and champion of separation of church and state was so pleased when Thomas Jefferson was elected president that he persuaded the ladies of his Baptist congregation in Cheshire, Mass., to manufacture an enormous cheese as a gift. He intended to present it to President Jefferson in honor of his republicanism and his support of religious liberty.

The motto "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God" was engraved into the rind. This was a smart public relations move in 1801.

The completed cheese wheel was enormous--4 feet 4 1/2 inches in diameter, 15 inches thick and weighing 1,235 pounds. It required the milk of 900 cows. Jefferson's Federalist opponents thought the display was ludicrous and ridiculed the gift in the press.

As reflected in a poem inspired by the occasion, Leland offered a prayer:

"Elder J. with lifted eyes
In musing posture stood,
Invoked a blessing from the skies
To save from vermin, mites and flies,
And keep the bounty good."
(From The Complete Book of Cheese, by Robert Carlton Brown)

(Apparently leaders like to eat cheese. This started a tradition. Andrew Jackson and his fellow party guests finished off a similarly sized cheese in two hours. Martin Van Buren got a giant cheese, too. Queen Victoria received a 1,400-pound cheese as a bridal gift.)

Jefferson, for ethical reasons, insisted on paying $200 for the cheese when it arrived Dec. 29, 1801. He thanked Leland and the ladies for their "token to the great cause of equal rights to all men" and a proof of their "domestic arts, which contribute so much to our daily comfort."

The domestic arts! If that other Baptist— Paige Patterson— is looking for vindication for his new cadre of Baptist Homemakers at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, this could be it. A project like this could consume several semesters, and greatly advance the .... well, it would be tasty, anyway.

(Some of this via Metafilter)

• Furl • StumbleUpon • Technorati Tags: John Leland Mammoth Cheese, Christian humor, satire, humor