It’s Time to Tell the Truth: Republicans Aren’t Christians

From Forward Progressive, courtesy of a facebook friend:

As I’ve said before, whether you believe in Jesus Christ or not is not the issue, what he symbolized and his story aren’t really debatable.  He spent his life helping the poor, sick and needy.  He never once spoke about homosexuality or abortion.  He embraced those from the lowest runs from society by saying that those that much had been given much is expected.  He taught love, hope, compassion and forgiveness.  He warned against those who would manipulate the word of God for their own selfish ambitions.  He opposed greed and encouraged giving.

You know, the exact oppose of what Republicans stand for.

But that doesn’t matter to these people because they oppose abortion and homosexuality—again, two things Jesus never spoke of.

More here.

Like I keep saying, one may interpret or understand the Bible however one damned well pleases, so I don't have much of a problem, really, with Old Testament obsessed fundamentalist weirdos ignoring virtually everything Jesus said and did while still calling themselves "Christians."  If you want to heavily emphasize the genocidal, barbaric, adolescent aspect of old school God, while transmuting "love your enemies" into "bomb your enemies back to the stone age," go right ahead.  The Bible is a big book with lots of stuff in it; you definitely have Scriptural support for condemning homosexuals and people who get tattoos.

Having said that, however, I have to admit that, even though I haven't affiliated with a church in nearly twenty years, I continue to be a pretty big fan of Jesus.  I mean, you know, not everything.  But I continue to look to the Gospels as a source of inspiration and morality.  And, yeah, a great deal of what Republicans push directly contradicts the example and words of Jesus, if you're reading the Bible honestly.  This is no overstatement.  Republicans are not simply void of compassion toward the poor: rather, Republicans seemingly have CONTEMPT for the poor, anger, resentment, hatred even, finding ways to blame those in poverty for their own plight, even as they manufacture the circumstances which keep those people poor.  And don't even get me started on love.  I see no love coming from the GOP.  None.  It's all about what they hate, liberals, foreigners, immigrants, intellectuals, other religions.  Of course, they do love guns, and war, and pissing off liberals, but I don't think of that kind of love as having anything to do with Jesus.

So, while Republicans have a perfect right to self-identify with whatever religion they want, it does disturb me, quite a bit, in fact, to hear them speaking so piously about their Lord while at the same time behaving like the people who crucified Him.  Show me some love, some real love, not that "tough love" bullshit, and I might change my mind.  But until that happens, when you put the word "Republican" together with the word "Christian," the only meaning that can result for me is "lying hypocrite."

Prove me wrong.

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