From a distantly observant standpoint, it is a baffling concept that the majority of Christians are conservative Republicans. Perhaps the biggest liberal of all time was Jesus Christ Himself. To many, that must be a blasphemous concept to consider, but it's true. People these days have ceased pondering what the words liberal and conservative actually mean, and now simply associate them with baby-killing Democrats and insane evangelical Republicans. But the terms really aren't as bound to their stigmas as people would lead themselves to believe. The phrase “Jesus was a liberal” may send a cold, tingling chill down the spine of some evangelical pastor in Texas who thinks that Harry Potter books should be treated as witchcraft, but it doesn’t make it any less true. His ideals were going against what was conservative and he was the biggest extremist in human history (love your enemy, rich men can’t get into heaven, who does He think he is?! Oh yeah... God). Now, does this mean that Democrats have Jesus on their side with their liberal issues? Not exactly. This article is merely a commentary of the contradictory political reaction of conservative Christians in the past few months with current events. When gay marriage reared its controversial head, many Republican Christians came out in droves to protest it and made claims that gay marriage was against God and that if same sex marriage was legalized, the country would plunge into a gigantic sin-fest. Sin-Fest… That’d be a good name for a heavy metal music festival. In the media today, however, gay marriage is SO 2008 and the big hullabaloo is about health care now (the media only gets around to addressing about four issues that circulate every few years in a never-ending cycle, though-- Next season—You thought the fight for stem cell research was over, you thought wrong!). So, once again, with a liberal issue, many Republican Christians have come out in the droves to convey their contempt with the idea of universal health care. Now, there are many problems people have with what is being touted Obama-Care, but besides Sarah Palin inanely ranting on her Facebook and the legitimate concern of raised taxes and lower quality health care, one of the most resounding proclamations coming from conservative Christians has been: “I’m not paying for some welfare jerk’s hospital bill” or “if you want health care, then get a job!” Somehow, according to certain Christians, God picks and chooses which political confrontation He wants to weigh in on. With gay marriage, He was all over the place! Bible verse here, bible verse there, Rick Warren here, President Monson there, but He’s nowhere to be found on this one for some strange reason. The Christian right hasn’t brought Him up once because there aren’t bible verses that support blatantly selfish catharsis. There are only verses that say we need to help the poor, love our neighbor and love our enemy and welcome the less fortunate with open arms. People were so quick to want to force their Christian values on people who didn’t necessarily share their beliefs, but none of them want to force those same values on themselves! Anne Lamott (actually one of her friends) wrote: “You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” That seems to be rather prevalent in this classic case of hypocrisy here. The phrase What Would Jesus Do is pretty cheesy, but it’s a darn good philosophy to instill in one’s head. Now, every last person on this Earth is a hypocrite (most certainly me), there isn’t anybody who can escape their own hypocrisy, but it’s something that we can all improve on and people should really think before they run away with their knee-jerk reactions. This article wasn’t meant to be for or against one way or the other, just a mere opposition and observation of hypocrisy in human behavior and how we need to stop picking and choosing where God enters into our lives as Christians.
Comments
Christians? Yeah, right? These are evil, devil worshipping racists!
If the public option prohibits abortion because federal money cannot be used to pay for abortions while private health ins can and does pay for abortions under certain conditions, why aren't Christian pro-lifers, for the public opyion or ,better yet, single payer as a means to curtail abortions ?
Enjoyed this article. Definitely made me stop and think.
Great article.
Great article.
The Bible says to give freely to the poor. Compare that with being forced by taxes to pay for something one doesn't agree with. If government was really doing the will of Jesus it would be a volunteer charity. "Please give to the pubic option today." Conservative Christians would not be against it. What Would Jesus Do with health care? What he always did; go around with Disciples healing people without anyone giving a single denarii. So you're sort of comparing apples to oranges aren't you? In this issue however, Christians & non-Christian citizens (right & left) are against Obama-care. Listen, if Obama truly believes in this reform, he has enough people in Congress to pass it. Obama should do the right thing, period. Lincoln freed the slaves under heavy scrutiny of his majority because he believed in it "For the good of the Confederacy." Obama should take notice for the good of America. As for Jesus, he was conservative with the commands of God, and liberal with the love of God.
Well, Elisha, as I said, I was merely discussing the hypocritical reaction of the Christians who want to force Christian values on the public about gay marriage, but not on themselves with health care because it would directly affect them.
It would be apples and oranges in any other aspect, but I'm not just talking about opponents of Obama-health care, I'm talking about Christian opponents of health care who are simply worried about their own pockets. And that's a LOT of people.
Colin, I hear what you're saying.
Christians have a right to defend against new social values that we believe are wrong. In this regard, Christians are not being hypocrites. "Government-sponsored" public health care is a new social value that some Conservative Christians believe is wrong, along with Gay Marriage. Real Christians want all people to have access to good medical care. But we also have the right to debate on which options best help all people "Jesus healed the rich & the poor." That discussion is not happening in Obama's administration. I also have no problem calling Jesus a liberal as I have no problem believing He knows the true intent of those behind Obama Care.
Jesus was a liberal in that he sought to overthrow the beliefs and practices of his time. However, he pursued this "revolution" in order that HIS beliefs and practices might be instituted, which in turn are now being overthrown by new liberals.
Liberal, I actually agree with the former thought regarding Jesus but not the latter. The Jews were hoping Jesus would overthrow the government of Caesar. He did not such thing. His cause was for a different purpose. Second, he always gave credit to God for it was HIS belief in HIS Father's word that he was instituting. But yes, conservative religious views are in fact being overthrown by more liberal non-religious views.
Mike: The Obamacare proponents have found a way to launder the money in the publicly-funded option so they can still fund abortions with taxpayer dollars.
....try to remember that there are some Christians who are babes in Christ and others are mature in the love that Jesus displayed and taught us to practice ourselves. Some have more of a "carnal Christian" viewpoint,so their lives do not diplay the true love of Christ and people.
The Bible did not say that a rich man cannot get into heaven, but that is very difficult for one to do so if they don't love God and people sacrificially enough to give up their money for the sake of building the kingdom of God.
Force = violence. Since this country was built upon Christian values, why don't the ones who don't like that.. move to a country that has evil as their standard? They don't want to do that because respecting each other is a Christain value, and everyone wants to be respected and protected and love the freedom that Christainity offers.
Bottom line is this,there is no solution for any of these problems without the prince of peace.
God allows us to go though this to prove we need Him.
But...the Bible says you should pay your taxes gladly, not 'pay your taxes only for what you want to or think meshes into you particular world view'?
It doesn't matter what any of you think! What matters is what the WORD SAYS! Jesus Christ was and still is the Healer. If we ask anything of the Father in his name HE will DO IT, and that includes healing your body TODAY! Jesus led His disciples by example and He still does this today. He also called the Governing System out on their Hypocrisy. He wasn't a Liberal.. He came to fulfill the Jewish Law-not abolish it! He was a "Radical" in that he exposed the Hypocrisy of the system. The Jewish Pharisses and Sadducces had no interest in really helping the poor and neither does Obama. Just look how the country has declined in the short time he's been in office. It's all about robbing the middle class. If he wanted to help the poor, why don't they sell Nancy Pelosi's jet, or lower THEIR salaries, or pay THEIR TAXES, or fire Michelle's Obama's 22 Aides each making from $50,000-150,000/yr while the rest of us are standing in the unemployment lines. This is such BS!!
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