OK, forgive my ignorance of Christianity and how it is practiced in various parts of this country. I was born Jewish, raised Agnostic, politically Atheist, practicing a bit of Zen Buddhism on the side and was a paid singer for an Episcopal church. At one point, I would considered myself a pantheist, and, as such, felt an obligation to study the mythologies of all the world's religions and see if I could find a common theme. What I found was that religion, as a whole, is, at its best, a set of guidelines by which one can comfortably live one's life and by which one can gracefully accept one's death, and, at its worst, a way to profit the few at the expense of the many.
Now, knowing that of me, perhaps you'll understand my confusion of what is called Christianity in the Bible Belt, which, to me, bears no similarity whatsoever to the teachings of Jesus, and seems to be almost diametrically opposed to them (turn the other cheek, judge not lest you be judged, etc).
Now, for all of Ws protestations that he is a Christian of the Born Again variety, he sure doesn't seem like one to me. His mocking of that woman on Death Row before he signed the execution order sticks out as a singularly unChristian thing to do. But dropping bombs on people half-way across the world who never did nothing to you for no apparent reason doesn't look too Christian either.
The reason that all this is pertinent is that Bush does very well -- almost frighteningly well -- in the very part of the country whose residents claim most ardently to be Christian.
In my quest to try to speak sensibly to Bush's supporters about how dreadful Bush is, I run into a bit of a wall here. How can I tell people who are of the ardently Christian persuasion that Bush is a bad guy? I mean, can't they see it?
The only thing I can think of is that Bush is "pandering" to the folks who want to see the Apocalypse in their lifetimes. Such things scare the crap out of me personally, but, is this a legitimate reason for people to vote for him? Because he will quicken the End Times?
I am utterly serious in this question. Is there any other "Christian" reason to vote for him over Kerry? Isn't Kerry "Christian enough"? Or is he? And, really, how can one person be more believably Christian than another? Are there some actions that hold more weight than others? Is Bush's Hate Amendment somehow more Christian than Kerry's environmentalism?
And how do you talk to these people? I mean, if the Republican party is made up of these folks, the Libertarians and the fiscal conservatives, I figure we need a different approach to each. The Libertarians are scared of the Patriot Act. The fiscal conservatives are just nauseated. What about the Christians? I mean, shouldn't everyone see Bush as yucky?
I am interested in hearing any and all views.