The belief that no one in a country this rich should go hungry, or the belief that SNAP, WIC, and similar programs need to be curtailed.
The belief that the elderly should have access to medical care, or the belief in Ronald Reagan, who made his bones crying in the wilderness that Medicare would turn us overnight into the Soviet Union.
The belief that the poor of any age should have access to medical care, or the belief that Obamacare will turn us overnight into the Soviet Union.
The belief that no one should have to work until physically broken and then be consigned to poverty, or the belief that cherishes above all the dismantling of Social Security.
The belief that everyone has a right to shelter, or the belief that housing assistance programs are not in the scope of government.
The comparisons could go on, but, based on the verses above, these all seem like easy calls. If you disagree (or are not experiencing cognitive dissonance), explain the right call.
Unfair or not, our currents politics force you to choose between your two testaments. You can vote to feed the poor, house the homeless, heal the sick, and protect the downtrodden, or you can vote to criminalize homosexuality, ban abortion, marginalize other religions, cripple medical research, and ban birth control. It’s an unfair competition: the teachings of Jesus, dealing with the poor and the off cast, as they do, the invisibles of society, are too easily brushed aside by demagogues. But what, then, does it mean to be a Christian?
This is why Republicans love the rising-tide imagery: it gives you permission to vote your prejudices and still feel Christian. Capitalism allows you to ignore the poor and all those “takers” while still believing that Jesus would give you a big thumbs-up for supporting the free market. Like religion itself, it would be more convincing if there were any evidence for it.
You already pick and choose from Old Testament edicts. When was the last time you stoned to death a homosexual, an adulterer, a non-virgin bride, someone who cursed a parent, …. Yet you vote for a candidate who represents the antithesis of Jesus’ teachings, not to mention real and immediate family values, because he feeds the one or two Old Testament decrees you have chosen not to ignore? It is so much easier to pick a favorite demagogue and follow along than to spend time and effort thinking even some of this through. I’d like to hear from those of you who have put in the time and effort.
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