Tea Party Express claims God supports the Tea Party, opposes efforts to reduce income inequality http://t.co/Ydx5Gdt5c6
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) April 3, 2014
I think it’s very important that churches get involved and that Christians follow the dictates of biblical principles in casting their vote. I think it’s clear that God has a position on many of the things we deem political today, from life to theft to the doctrine of covetousness, which by the way seems to be the promotion of the left. You know, they talk about ‘income inequality,’ well what is that but covetousness? So how could somebody support that cause if they’re biblical believing Christians?
I shouldn’t have to say this, but if you truly believe that God is firmly and unequivocally on the side of your political/ideological cause, you’ve already lost the argument. I never cease to marvel at people who in all seriousness claim the imprimatur of the Almighty while also failing to recognize the irony that God’s endorsement happens to dovetail beautifully with their selfishness and prejudices. Wow, God hates gays, too? God IS awesome!!
The Tea Party (and those “Christians” even further to the Right) is a perfect proof of this theorem. They quite happily interpret Scripture in a way that serves their political and ideological agenda while simply ignoring that which they find inconvenient (kindness, charity, tolerance). Their “Cafeteria Christianity” serves their purpose quite well, because as anyone familiar with the Bible knows, one can find Scripture to support virtually any position. That they pick and choose their beliefs a la carte based on what’s politically expedient and ideologically agreeable isn’t exactly a surprise; they’re certainly not the first self-interested zealots to travel that path. You can go as far back as the Crusades and find people so consumed by their own self-righteousness that they’d oppress (or kill) those not “enlightened” enough to share their beliefs.
The “doctrine of covetousness” is just another way to provide selfishness, greed, and acquisitiveness with the patina of righteousness. If someone can show me in Scripture where the Son of God says something along the lines of “I got mine; you can damned well get you own,” I might be willing to listen. Here’s the thing, though; I remember enough of my Sunday School lessons to know that Jesus opposed materialism. Something about it being “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” No matter how you might try to twist His words, Jesus never endorsed Prosperity Theology, and I suspect He’d have some choice words for thieves/hypocrites like Joel Osteen, whose Lakewood Church in Houston takes in $600,000 in offerings every Sunday, allowing him to live in a multi-million dollar mansion. I recognize that Lakewood Church does some good work, but should those tax-free dollars donated on Sundays be a means of supporting Osteen’s lavish lifestyle? Good luck entering the Kingdom of God, eh?
Even worse for members of the Radical Christian Right, neither God nor Her son advocate on behalf of political parties and/or causes. They don’t vote Republican…or anything else. God does not endorse your petty cause, whether it be quashing abortion rights, oppressing gays, treating women as property, etc. You may feel you need something to justify your self-interested, hatred-driven “Christianity,” and so you invent a Divine endorsement. In so doing, you reveal the truth- that your “Christianity” is smoke screen to mask your bigotry and desire to destroy what you fear and can’t (or won’t) understand.
Anyone who truly understands the teachings of Jesus Christ know that they’re about service, about giving of yourself so that others may be lifted up. It’s about living the tenet that faith without works is meaningless. More than anything, though, it’s about some very simple concepts- peace, love, and understanding. Would that those on the Radical Christian Right could lose their ignorance long enough to recognize that their Jesus taught about kindness and tolerance, not selfishness, hatred, and bigotry. My hat’s off to the preponderance of Christians who endeavor to lead a Christ-like life. I may not believe in your God, but good works can only be a net plus for humanity, no?
“He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition….” Who would have thought a comedian could sum up Christ’s teaching in a way that exposes so many for the hypocrites they are. Isn’t it about time y’all admitted that’s your “Christianity” isn’t about worshipping God or any of the things she stands for? How about coming clean and owning up to the truth, that you’re selfish and can’t be bothered to serve the poor and needy. Or do you really lack the self-awareness necessary to recognize that?
