Maybe I need a support group.
I am fed up and angry. I am also a bit embarrassed. Why? Because the political conversation in our country seems more and more controlled by the so-called “people of faith” on the religious right. I know those people; in fact I come from the “Evangelical” tradition. I used to say that I was an evangelical with a small “e.” I guess I was wiser than I realized.
So, what really bothers me? First, is the tenor of the conversation. What we have now is polarizing hate. The leadership of the religious right has resorted to vindictive and manipulative language and methods to get their way.
Second, is how being a person of faith is defined. Religious people have always been selective of the scriptures they emphasize. People of the Christian right ignore the parts of the Bible that make them uncomfortable.
Their selective reading of their scriptures is most clearly illustrated in their call for a “culture of life.” Are you for life? Then you try to pack the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. You interfere in the private agony of end of life issues with Terri Schiavo. But you say nothing about the 2,100 military men and women killed in Iraq. And, the Iraqi deaths reliably estimated at more than 30,000? Silence.
Is it a culture of life to suggest that our government “take out” the president of a neighboring country? How about calling God’s wrath down on citizens who threw out a school board that interfered in the teaching of science?
Perhaps the opinion makers among the Christian right have become too comfortable in their middle class affluence. They fail to hear the voices of the poor and oppressed when Congress makes a dishonest show of reducing the deficit. Congressional leadership wants to cut Medicaid and food stamps; programs for our most vulnerable. On the other hand they plan to cut taxes for the very rich. Where are the voices of outrage?
Let me guess. Each Sunday more and more U.S. Christians gather in huge auditoriums at churches that cost millions. Then they return to their middle class homes. God forbid that they be discomforted.
God sent the prophet Jeremiah to a king with a building program. What he told the affluent king is in the Bible. Here is what he said:
Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him.
He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 22:15,16)
2 comments:
Congrats on the blog. I've always been very confused by religious people, especially the ones you're writing about. Isn't the whole thing about religion to be open and accepting of all kinds of people no matter what because God created everyone? To me, it seems that very religious people are very open and accepting of only the people who think like them, look like them, have similar experiences as they do, and who have the same political beliefs. Overall, they are very close-minded, discriminatory, and hypocritical.
I guess I go back to the example of Jesus. He called a crooked tax collecter out of a tree so he could hang with him. He invited prostitutes to join his group. But, he stayed away from the religious bigots of his day.
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