Religious activist David Barton is traveling the political
"swing states" lecturing ministers on the role churches should
play in the election. Barton's lectures are notable for three reasons.
- The Republican National Committee is financing the tour.
- Barton is the deputy chair of the Texas Republican Party.
- Lectures are off limits to the press, raising questions that
Barton is advising churches to take actions that would violate their
tax-exempt status.
At the same time, the Bush campaign is strong arming churches
into handing over their membership directories to the President's
re-election team, apparently in the erroneous assumption that all
Christians are Republicans.
If the moneychangers in the synagogues upset Jesus, he must be
absolutely livid over this brood of vipers trying to turn his houses of
worship into political action committees.
Conservatives have been claiming Jesus as one of their own
for nearly three decades now. David Barton calls Christians a logical constituency for the
republicans. Liberal Christians need to stand up and quit ceding
the religious high ground to conservatives. Last I looked Jesus didn't
require Christians to be registered Republicans. In fact, if either
party has a claim to Jesus' political affiliation it would be the
Democrats. The teachings of Christ and his work on earth bear little
resemblance to what the Republican Party represents today.
The unfettered accumulation of wealth is the rock upon which the
Republican Party is built. Amassing great quantities of wealth was
certainly not a priority with Jesus. In the bible, Jesus advises a rich
man that to receive the treasure of heaven he must "sell all you
possess and give to the poor". Blasphemy to today's
conservatives. Looking at President Bush's tax cuts, you might think
he interpreted that passage as "take all the poor possess".
When Jesus talks about how hard it will be for the wealthy to enter
the kingdom of God what are they thinking, " the heck with the
kid, we'll reason with his old man?"
Would Jesus, the Prince of Peace, been in favor of the war in Iraq? I
think if he were here today, he would have been with the millions around
the world who marched for peace and against a needless war. Rush
Limbaugh,
Sean Hannity, Bill O' Reilly and the rest of the conservative
jabber boxes would have branded him a UN-American-communist hippie
-peacenik. Come judgment day I'm looking forward to hearing the spin
they and the rest of the chicken hawks put on their war mongering.
Myself, I'd rather be on the side of the one who said, "Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God"
According to conservatives, the United States is in mortal danger of
collapse if prayer isn't allowed in school. What they really mean is
Christian prayer. Christian fundamentalists are not going to tolerate
readings of the Koran or Torah over the school PA.
But I digress; the school prayer issue is another case where instead
of waving the bible they should take the time to actually read what
Jesus had to say on the subject. Oops! Turns out he recognized this
public pontificating for what its is. "And when you pray, you shall
not be like the hypocrites for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by
men". Sounds like he is talking about President Bush and half
the Republican Party.
So, where does Jesus say we should pray? "But you, when you
pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your
father." And another plank of GOP platform hits the floor.
Jesus was a champion of the sick and the poor. Hardly a mantle
Republicans can lay claim to. After he gave his disciples the power of
healing he sent them out to heal the sick and admonished them to take
neither gold nor silver for their work.
What? Free medical care. Wow,
not even Hillary dared go that far! Imagine what the Republican attack
machine and its HMO puppet masters would do to him in this day and age
for advocating socialized medicine.
It is election time so it must mean another round of laws to protect
marriage from those dastardly homosexuals. While conservatives are
relentless in their zeal to attack gays they waffle at actually
enforcing all that Jesus had to say about marriage.
Adultery seems a
bigger threat to marriage than gay couples but you don't hear much
from lawmakers on the subject. Probably hits a little too close to home.
Divorcing a woman or marrying a divorced woman is considered adultery in
the bible. Will we see President Bush calling divorced women immoral and
a threat to society? Maybe, but not before November 2nd.
Jesus saved his sharpest rebukes for hypocrites. He rails against
them through out the New Testament. And that is why I am certain Jesus is no
Republican