Can Republicans Be Christians?

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I have been observing a paradox which, of late, meaning the last four years in particular, seems to have gotten more radical involving the Republicans and the Evangelical Christians, hereinafter referred to simply as the “Christians”.

By all accounts those who choose to include themselves within the Christian fold follow the teachings and preachings of Jesus Christ. While I do not hold myself out as a biblical scholar I did grow up in the South in the 1940’s and 1950’s and thus was dragged into church every Sunday morning and Wednesday night and I couldn’t escape or get sick quick enough. Even if I tried to ignore what they were saying, a certain amount of information was going to filter into me by osmosis at the least.

I must say I admire most of what “He” taught in terms of dealing my fellow humans. He taught about loving neighbors, which is really tough with a couple of mine; turning the other cheek, which has always been virtually impossible for me; and treating others like I would want to be treated. In addition, He, according to their Bible, also did some really cool things like forgiving people of their sins, saying that it was wrong to judge people, curing the sick, and not caring whether one was rich or poor.  They say He even brought people back from the dead, although I am really shaky on that last one.  In point of fact it isn’t like he was asking his followers to rise from the grave.  He just wants us to be good people, help others, and make a an effort to care for the earth.

Now let’s look at the Republicans on a few of these issues. Republicans most likely love their neighbors if they are in the same or a higher tax bracket. Those other 90+% of the people, well apparently they are not worth loving. Turning the other cheek? Nope! George Bush really ruined that one with the first preemptive war America has ever waged by invading Iraq . How about treating others the way they would want to be treated? Republicans have clearly demonstrated that their primary interest is in $$$$.  So if you have $$$$ and share your $$$$ with them they will ostensibly reciprocate.  Bottom line: money equals money and if you have it they will accept you.

So what about social issues? This is where Christians get confused by not even being able to discern challenges within their own book and faith. Their major issue is abortion and it has has been taken to the point of absurdity by Republicans and Christians alike in terms of trying to reconcile what their beliefs are or should be (See the personage amendment vote in Mississippi) . On the one hand they state that every life is precious and must be saved. But, then they turn right around and support killing one person to show another person that it’s wrong to kill people, i.e., capital punishment.

Now, I think I missed the part where Jesus said, “Give him a fair trial and hang the guilty bastard.” But, as I said, I am not a biblical scholar. On this same point, abortion doesn’t seem like a religious issue since I ran a search through a copy of the Bible for the word abortion and couldn’t find it.  I suppose this must have been one of those divine interpretations that often happen when the golden telephone rings. So, I would think that when a woman decides to terminate a pregnancy it seems to be a decision made by her and her physician. This is actually a point of convergence of Republicans and Christians that is wrong headed thinking. Only a woman and her doctor know if she or the fetus are healthy enough carry to full term and only the woman knows if the pregnancy will present a hardship or an unwanted child.

The government, which the Republicans allegedly oppose, has none of this knowledge and should not be sticking its nose into the situation. The HUGE IRONY here is that the Republican – Christian coalition will force children to be born and then complain about and fight legislation to help care for the child. Can I get a “hell yes” for stupidity and hypocrisy? They are as responsible for the care of the child as a deadbeat dad might be and perhaps even more. Single mothers who choose to have their child are less likely to abandon them once they are born.

Let me make something perfectly clear:  this is not a Christian bashing. While I am not a Christian I know a lot of them, many of whom are good people who try to follow those teachings and coexist with all the crap going around these days. This is directed specifically at those who pretend to speak for all and loudly proclaim their own superiority with their beliefs over others. Personally, I think whatever a person believes [that helps] get them through the dark days and rough nights is fine by me as long as they don’t expect me to share in those beliefs. This, my friends, is bashing of the Republican agenda which is driven by greed and power. It is also a bashing of the Evangelicals who have sold out the very basis of their faith for the sake of political power to try to turn government into a theocracy. This is also a “shame on you” for those Christians who have not stepped up to denounce the greedy, power driven Evangelicals who have sold out.

So, to the question, can a Republican be a Christian?

In my opinion one can call him or herself anything they would like, but that doesn’t make it so. In my humble opinion Republicans have disgraced the majestic animal they use as a mascot by their behavior in recent years. They have been joined in this disgrace by fundamentalist Christians who are as dangerous, if not more so, than the Islamic fundamentalist to the so called American way of life. Based on my understanding of what would constitute a Christian the answer would be a resounding NO, Republicans cannot be Christians. For that matter, most Christians don’t qualify as Christians.

About Post Author

Bill Formby

Bill Formby, aka William A. Formby, PhD, aka Lazersedge is a former Marine and a former police officer. He is a retired University Educator who considers himself a moderate pragmatic progressive liberal, meaning that he thinks practically liberal, acts practically liberal, and he is not going to change in the near future. But, if he does he will be sure to let you know.
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11 years ago

Thank you Bill, this has been a long time coming and I appreciate your succinctness It’s not often that you hear things put so concisely 🙂

Bartow-Joe
12 years ago

You’re both missing the basic point. Most democrats don’t become pro-life because any pro-life action would infringe on our freedom of personal choice. And as far as the mixing of religion and politics, I have my own theory that the separation of church and state benefits all parties. Not only are the non-religious and multi-denominational protected from the will of the few in power, but, when you assume that politics is inherently evil, the religious are protected from curruption of their soul by not being involved in politics. Any religious figure who becomes a part of politics will inevitably become currupted at some point or another. Once that happens, they lose credibility for themselves and any movement in which they participated. Religions’ involvement in government has been the main cause throughout history of people retreating from that religious movement (i.e. the Vatican during the reformation period, mass exodus from the Church of England). In the most basic sense of religion, religious figures are supposed to aid the desperate and disenfranchised by displaying their ability to accept and heal the ails of the poor and needy.

P.S. Registerd Independent, practicing agnostic with Christian roots

Bill Formby
12 years ago

Milton, I suppose if the Christian community could get its collective act together and offer an answer to dealing with the unwanted children from rape, incest, and other government forced births there might be grounds for a discussion point but they will not even discuss allowing birth control to be discussed with young women or honest sex education be taught in the schools. The concept of abstinence has been an abject failure and will continue to be in the future. One of the common meeting grounds is the prevention of pregnancies in the first place. In case you are out of the teenage information loop many of the teenagers who are claiming abstinence are not being truth or simply interpreting “having sex” in different terms. They do not count oral or anal sex as the “real thing”. There are probably more moderate independents who would probably be willing to discuss common grounds but the Republicans have let the far right hijack the party.

12 years ago

One of my forst posts here questioned why democrats aren’t pro life as it would be logical for them to have that position. They want to help the poor and clean the environment. Positions that any religious value voter would be in agreement. Yet the republican party has nearly every values voter in it’s camp over this one issue that truth be told, republicans have failed to deliver on.

Give us a pro life democrat, even one that is moderate in that life and health issues can play a role in the legality of an abortion, and this republican, and most others I suspect, would be moew than happy to consider and vote for.

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