Politics & Church
Had a good talk with a neighbor of mine the other day. She's a pastor at a more progressive church in town. We talked about religion and politics. Also talked w/ another good neighbor friend a few weeks ago about the same topic.
In my former life as a cult Christian, I never could understand how someone could claim to be Christian and not be a Republican. After all, the Democrats were "evil" because they supported abortion. Besides, everyone in my white-upper-middle-class-mega-church was a Republican! Slowly, my eyes have been opened. I'm seeing the greed that permeates our society more clearly now and I see who's behind allowing this to happen more freely, even at the expense of the middle class or the poor.
I now see that while the Republican party is the champion of the unborn (and can therefore claim that moral victory), they abandon that child as soon as it IS born. It's the Democrats that are the champions of civil liberties and of the underpriveledged. It is they who seek to protect the rights of the poor. It is the Democrats who seek to protect the environment. The Republicans are or have become the party of greed and excess. They support corporate excesses and protect the "rights" of businesses(ie: corporations) at any cost - even at the expense of the middle class, poor, or environment. They oppose most social programs that would help that child they just fought to save!
So I feel like I've come full circle. My intinct is to say "How can someone who is a Christian be a Republican?". Don't get me wrong... I *understand* how they can... I just don't understand how it's justifiable. Anyone want to justify it, or at least explain it to me?
posted by chewie at 6:08 PM
4 Comments:
case in point:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/08/26/census.poverty.ap/index.html
The percentage of americans living in poverty keeps going up. Good thing the rich are getting a tax cut! WWJD?!
6:00 PM
I think Jesus would introduce an appropriation bill to raise taxes but increase spending to the poor. However, he may also add a rider to the bill to also increase the capital gains tax by 5%, which would of course upset Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth. They'll probably argue about on the Senate floor until Joseph Smith steps in. He may indicate that he found yet another appropriation bill hidden outside the backyard of the Washington monument that only he can translate. That bill may or may not have anything to do with taxes.
11:57 PM
Well I am a republican and a Christain, so I must be a greedy, environment hating, poor hating republican. I think the republican party can be split in two. There are compassionate republicans, usually christains, and then there are greedy, environment hating republicans. Yes, as Christains we need to help the poor, but often times the democrat's view of helping the poor is giving a homeless person 5 bucks to buy a big mac so they won't be hungry, but do free handouts solve the problem?
As seen they don't. My perspective would be to help a homeless person find a job, which I know from experience is a tough task. I think Jesus would help to teach the poor to help themselves. I'm not saying I have the answer to all our welfare and lower class problems, but we definately need to take another approach.
In conclusion, I can't really place Christains in a certain party, I think Christians can learn from both sides.
12:26 AM
Well, anonymous #2 - you can't seperate the kinds of Republicans when a church or community goes full force for a party. That's my point. When Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, or your local pastor are in bed w/ the Republican party then they are inherently supporting the greed and environmental-hating side of it as well as the supposedly "compassionate" side. The greater point is that NO political party should have a hold on a church. The minor point I was making is that if you look across the board, the values of Christianity line up better (although certainly not perfectly) with the Democratic platform/party. What things in the republican platform/party line up better than the Democrats besides 1.) Abortion and 2.) Homosexuality?
1:53 PM
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