This is probably a strange diary coming from with a Buddhist moniker. But, being both well-versed in scripture and the hypocrisy of the "religious" right, I couldn't let the 33 Pharisees incident go without comment.
If you're unfamiliar, this was a coordinated effort by several "religious" leaders to use their pulpit to preach politics.
The Rev. Ron Johnson Jr. told worshipers that the Democratic presidential nominee's positions on abortion and gay partnerships exist "in direct opposition to God's truth as He has revealed it in the Scriptures." Johnson showed slides contrasting the candidates' views but stopped short of endorsing Obama's Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain.
Johnson and 32 other pastors across the country set out Sunday to break the rules, hoping to generate a legal battle that will prompt federal courts to throw out a 54-year-old ban on political endorsements by tax-exempt houses of worship.
Leaving aside the question of whose policies are actually more "pro-life" (check the link for a rust belt Catholic who thinks Obama fits that bill), there is really only one story that comes to mind.
From Luke, chapter 18:
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
The modern-day Pharisees have been on the warpath for many years now. They promote themselves, they give thanks, publicly, that they are better than others. They strive for political power, for involvement with the state. Rather than rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's, they seek to become a part of Caesar.
They wouldn't know pride if it bit them in their self-righteous rears. If they prefer the words of the more "wrathful" Old Testament, I offer a verse from Proverbs 29:
An angry man stirs up dissension,
and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.
A man's pride brings him low,
but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.
Preachers proudly seeking attention, seeking to stir up dissension.
Regardless of their arguments (which are absurd), their very actions are contrary to the teachings of the book they seek to promote.
Shame on them.