Poverty, hunger, children growing up in neighborhoods full of violence and going to school on empty stomachs, violent hate-filled bigotry against African-Americans and other minorities with deadly shootings across our nation and churches burning, are issues that are so pressing in today’s world. Yet, those who claim to be Christians are much more concerned with gay people getting married and the awfulness of health care for the working poor, than any of those heartbreaking realities.
I am a follower of the teachings of Jesus. His compassion for the needs of others was awe-inspiring and the way he reached out, not in condemnation to those who came to listen to him, but in a way that actually touch their lives, to heal them, to feed them and to let them know that they were blessed, that is if they were meek, if they were poor in spirit, if they were peacemakers, and if they suffered from the trials and persecutions of this life.
Now the message from those who loudly claim that they are Christians and full of morality is: gay people are evil, guns are good and everyone should have a right to protect themselves with guns everywhere; in churches, bars, in stores; poor people are lazy, undocumented workers are here to steal our jobs and are criminals, African-Americans are all lazy and only want to live on welfare, etc. And they wonder why more people don’t fill the church pews, and why praying in school is not welcome and why even the mention of God for many only makes them angry.
What’s coming out of the religious right in this day and age are bad examples of what Christ was all about when he walked this earth, but these so-called Christians have created their own Christ in their own image. He’s a Christ that is much more to their liking; someone who hates gay people and wishes poor people would go out and get a job. He’s a Jesus that if there were guns in his day, he and his disciples would have all carried assault rifles loaded to the hilt, and instead of laying hands on the sick to heal them, they would have all piled in on a bunch of wicked sinners and had themselves a good mass killing.
No, the religious right type of Christian does not like sinners and they believe it is their job to make it well known with their hate-filled post, damning all who don’t believe the way they do. Forget about all of those scriptures of Jesus talking about the lost sheep and how he was sent here for those lost sheep, not those who think they’re moral just because they won’t bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding.
Their leaders are the worst, though it is their pastors or their political leaders. There are pastors who have threatened to set themselves on fire if the U.S. Supreme Court gives gay people the constitutional right to marry. Well, that’s already happened and I haven’t heard about any preachers burning; have you? Right-wing politicians, especially some of the candidates for the Republican nomination, are calling for insurrection and for county clerks to refuse issuing marriage license to same-sex couples in protest. The world is coming to an end because same-sex couples are now getting married.
Millionaires and billionaires are piling on the money to buy themselves some politicians who will play patsy for them if elected, by continuing to deny global warming, to pass legislation that will put even more money in the hands of the super wealthy, and to block legislation that would help protect our environment or protect the nation’s economy from defaulting, yet would cut the amount of wealth going into the hands of those with extreme wealth; no that can’t happen, God forbid. Yet, these same politicians will make campaign speeches denouncing the evils of same-sex marriage and the loss of American jobs to illegal immigrants, all the while ignoring the real elephant in the room; the wealth-sucking machine called the 1 percent.
In the last few days we have seen such a display of passion pouring out from the right over the idea of not only gay people getting married but also health care for low-paid workers through Obamacare. These are people who all have great health care through the government but would deny health care to those who have little even to eat, let alone afford a doctor for their chronic illnesses.
These politicians will spend their time stirring up the passions of a large portion of American voters who are ignorant to the facts and whose bigotry is like dynamite ready to be set off with just the right kind of rhetoric to light the flame. All the while they’ll throw Jesus into the mix, making him out to be a hater of anyone who supports gun control and a firebrand against any liberal policy to overtax the rich, because surely we all know that Jesus was all for guys like the Koch brothers.
If the religious right would put as much passion into feeding the homeless, ending poverty, showing compassion to those who are downtrodden and reaching out to the needs of the neediest, their message would be listened to with much more sincerity, and with open hearts. Jesus told his disciples to go out into the world and preach the Gospel (Good News) to every creature. He wanted them to let the world know that God loved them and that he sent his only son to die so that they would not perish but have everlasting life. Instead, the message from many of his followers is that God hates you and he wants you to burn in hell.
With their message very clear to us all, it reminds me of the words of an old children’s song – go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend, do it in the name of heaven, it’ll be justified in the end – as the true voice of God becomes faint in the distance – one tin soldier rides away.