Over the years, one would observe conservatives belonging to the Republican Party slipping into bed with the church, and identifying with Christianity as an election strategy. That's putting it mildly. More accurately, conservatives have hijacked Jesus' message, using biblical verses to support supply-side economic theory and discrimination against minorities, while claiming moral superiority in their opposition on certain wedge issues, such as abortion or same-sex marriage. Truly, conservatives have twisted "family values" into their own, that so much as uttering the phrase will bring to mind the planks of the traditional GOP platform.
But what right do conservatives have to position themselves above liberals on the scale of morality? I ask that as more of a rhetorical question, because the answer would obviously be "no." GOP leaders like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich can paint their beliefs as being in the best interest for America's moral compass, but just by examining their beliefs and how they measure up to the reality of the world, we can tell that they aren't, and only serve to point our compass even further south (I could also point out the "religious leaders'" own personal shortcomings, which are numerous, but I won't, simply because I'm above that). I recognize that American society certainly is lacking in morality, but enforcing archaic Christian dogma will do nothing to help us as a country.
First, I must mention that among liberals, I am a bit of an anomaly. My parents are both reliably Democratic voters, but their views on abortion, may put them at odds with the party platform. Not only do I not blame them for this, but I see no reason to. I'm a pro-life liberal, and wear this label proudly, but choose to distance myself from the extremist pro-life movement that is largely supported by the Republican Party. The one that labels anyone to their left is a "baby killer," and that utilizes disturbing imagery and heated rhetoric to win swing votes.
On the other side of the coin, one issue that goes almost hand-in-hand with abortion is the death penalty. Much to some peoples' surprise, I am firmly opposed to the death penalty, another view I've inherited from my mother. But also, as I shaped my worldly beliefs, I did so in the mold of Christ, who once said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." The point is, proponents of the death penalty, usually religious, have no ground to stand on, as the Bible says that all of humanity is inherently sinful, no matter how hard we try not to be, or how little - for the religious right believes that their views are pure, and ignore their own shortcomings to focus on others'. Once again, flying in the face of what their God preached.
Similar methods are used to attack marriage equality, slandering gays by comparing them to pedophiles and sexual predators, incapable of having real romance and a stable relationship. They use fear to lead, rather than compassion and understanding, like Jesus did when he gathered his disciples. You can also see this in how they treat Muslims and immigrants, who are every bit as American as whites and Christians are, yet are outcast because they're different. From atrocious laws in Arizona that may as well have been ripped out of Hitler's playbook, to yet another faux-controversy in the form of the ground zero mosque, it's clear that any group of Americans who does not fit the conservative Christian mold is not welcome in their country.
But looking past just what have been termed as social issues, there are larger, economical issues that should be addressed. Conservatives claim to believe that anyone who finds themselves in financial trouble can get themselves out of it by "pulling themselves up by the boot straps." I will concede that yes, there are some people who are poor because they refuse to do anything to help themselves, but for others, they simply have no bootstraps to pull themselves up by. They are victims of circumstance, whether at birth or through whatever catastrophe life has put them through. Conservative scholar Ben Stein believes that the unemployed are so because they're too lazy to find jobs.
As an unemployed college student desiring education higher than community college, I would like to point out to Mr. Stein the dozens of interviews, and hundreds of applications that I, and many others like me, have endured without anything to show for. One interview I had was at a gas station, where potential employees showed up in excess of thirty. Sorry to Mr. Stein, and to all the Republicans who voted against benefit extensions and job packages, but I am not at fault here, and I am not a "welfare queen" too lazy to make an honest living for myself. I would be happy to clean the toilets at a McDonald's. Instead, to pay for food and gas, I give plasma. There is no effort from conservatives to help people out of poverty. This is also why they are so heavily opposed to health care reform, saving people from bankruptcy caused by extraordinarily high premiums for less-than-adequate care.
Conservatives sit on their throne and look down on the peasants, who are in their minds, clearly too lazy to climb the ladder. They thumb their nose at the impoverished members of our society, who desperately need assistance that they won't get in our current political climate. But it's even worse for the minorities, racial or sexual, who face discrimination on a day-to-day basis, as they actually encourage discriminatory practices in the work place and in public, and wish to institutionalize them. And all the while, they claim the moral high ground in America. I believe it is time for liberals to take it back.
Because liberals do not invoke the name of God and Jesus, then defy everything the Bible teaches. Our positions on women's suffrage, desegregation, and interracial marriages have not been rejected by society, but accepted - it's the conservative view that has, and I don't believe that history will be any kinder to their treatment of gays, immigrants, or Muslims. They think they're better than us because they can whip out their Bibles and intimidate others into believing what they believe, but they're not, and we must never be persuaded into believing otherwise. Conservatives need to lie, cheat, and steal to win - all liberals need to do is tell the truth.
Our children and grandchildren will look back at today's conservatives, much like how we recognize slavery. They'll shake their heads and wonder how their ancestors could have been so horribly wrong. As we as a society search for our collective heart and soul, we do share a liberal perspective of the world, it's just that not everybody knows it. Because while conservatives believe what they believe because they think it benefits them, I believe what I believe because I know it benefits us all. To quote Dennis Miller, in one of his few lucid observations, "the religious right is neither."