Voice of Reason: I don’t think God is a Republican
Contrary to what the president and other evangelicals would have us believe, God is not a Republican. Nor is he a Democrat. Indeed, the idea that the Almighty (if He actually exists at all) might be interested in human politics at all is absurd.
But if such charlatans as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are to be believed, God not only takes an interest in American politics, but he also takes sides. To wit:
“It is the responsibility of every political conservative, every evangelical Christian, every pro-life Catholic, every traditional Jew … to get serious about re-electing President Bush,” Falwell was quoted in The New York Times.
Said Pat Robertson to AP/Fox News: “I think George Bush is going to win in a walk. I really believe I’m hearing from the Lord it’s going to be like a blowout election in 2004. The Lord has just blessed him … It doesn’t make any difference what he does, good or bad.”
To combat such “thinking,” Rev. Jim Wallis, a Christian author and activist, has mounted a campaign to take back Christianity, which he believes has been usurped by the Religious Right. And though I certainly don’t consider myself a member of the flock, I wish him the best of luck, because I agree with the message of peace, honesty, love and social justice that Jesus preached, a message that has been hijacked by the Bush administration and the neocons to somehow justify a slew of very un-Christian actions.
Now I’m certainly no more privy to God’s take on current affairs than anyone else on the planet, but if Jesus’ words in the gospels are any indication, He certainly doesn’t appear to be the man Bush & Co. make Him out to be.
If the White House is to be believed, God is a hawk. He was in favor of the war in Iraq and guides the president’s decision to punish all “evil-doers” by any means necessary. But the words of Jesus preach the opposite. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.”
In John, Jesus is quoted as saying, “The truth will set you free.” The Bush administration, on the other hand, is the most secretive in history. Worse, it lied to the American people about WMD in Iraq and as a result over 10,000 people are dead (Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Jesus was very fond of killing either).
The scriptures are also full of words in support of the poor and our responsibility toward them. Bush, however, pushes through a series of tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy, while doing next to nothing to help the poorest and weakest among us.
Genesis tells us God put Adam and Eve, and all humanity, in the world and commanded them to take care of it. But far from taking care of our environment, Bush’s environmental record is a joke. He flippantly dismisses such vital international legislation as the Kyoto Protocol, all in the name of helping multinational corporations, many of which are outsourcing jobs overseas, to make just a little bit more money in the short run.
The list of Bush’s hypocrisies goes on and on. Granted, hypocrisy isn’t exclusive to the president and his cronies – we’re all guilty of it from time to time – but to talk like you and the Almighty are on a first-name basis and then to flagrantly do the opposite of all He purportedly stands for is more than I can stomach.
I think Woody Allen’s character had it right in the film “Hannah and Her Sisters” when he said “If Jesus came back and saw what’s going on in His name, he’d never stop throwing up.”
Forgive them Father, they know not what they do.
Will Stewart is a reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].