I've been thinking a lot lately about the gap between what Jesus says and what conservative Christians practice. Aren't they supposed to be the same thing?
We hear people every day say they're Christians, and yet they openly advocate for the principles of Ayn Rand, who despised Christianity and compassion in any form. She thought empathy was a great moral weakness, and that selfishness was the highest human virtue.
There is a huge disconnect here, and all I can conclude is that their "Christianity" is lip-service only, what I call "cultural Christianity.".... "My parents went to church, I was active in the teen group, I bring my kids, I teach Sunday School" without really taking in and making personal any of the principles that make up "Christianity". You know, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", "feed My sheep", "what you have done for the least [in society], you have done for Me". Aren't these supposed to be the bedrock foundations of our faith? Why are they so hard to put into practice?
Thanks to writers like Fred Clark at Slackivist and blogs like The Christian Left, I'm much more aware of the hypocrisy gap. Remember when our parents would say, "Do as I say, not as I do" and how much we hated it? We now have national leaders who are trying to get away with the same line. We can't let them.
I. Thou shalt talk about Christian principles, but not live by them.
II. Thou shalt attack opponents personally when you can't win on policies.
III. Thou shalt call yourself pro-life, but be in favor of the death penalty.
IV. Thou shalt call yourself pro-life, and put guns in the hands of school children.
V. Thou shalt give lip service to democracy while taking away civil liberties.
VI. Profit is the Lord Thy God, thou shalt not put the people's interest above those of your corporate contributors.
VII. Thou shalt make sure fetuses have health coverage, but leave children and babies behind.
VIII. Thou shalt bear false witness against your opponents and liberals, and demonize them.
IX. Thou shalt run on a moderate platform, then enact right-wing policies as soon as possible.
X. Thou shalt call the media liberal, so that people forget that the media is owned by corporations with a conservative fiscal agenda.
We hear people every day say they're Christians, and yet they openly advocate for the principles of Ayn Rand, who despised Christianity and compassion in any form. She thought empathy was a great moral weakness, and that selfishness was the highest human virtue.
There is a huge disconnect here, and all I can conclude is that their "Christianity" is lip-service only, what I call "cultural Christianity.".... "My parents went to church, I was active in the teen group, I bring my kids, I teach Sunday School" without really taking in and making personal any of the principles that make up "Christianity". You know, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", "feed My sheep", "what you have done for the least [in society], you have done for Me". Aren't these supposed to be the bedrock foundations of our faith? Why are they so hard to put into practice?
Thanks to writers like Fred Clark at Slackivist and blogs like The Christian Left, I'm much more aware of the hypocrisy gap. Remember when our parents would say, "Do as I say, not as I do" and how much we hated it? We now have national leaders who are trying to get away with the same line. We can't let them.
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"The Ten Commandments - Republican-Style"
I. Thou shalt talk about Christian principles, but not live by them.
II. Thou shalt attack opponents personally when you can't win on policies.
III. Thou shalt call yourself pro-life, but be in favor of the death penalty.
IV. Thou shalt call yourself pro-life, and put guns in the hands of school children.
V. Thou shalt give lip service to democracy while taking away civil liberties.
VI. Profit is the Lord Thy God, thou shalt not put the people's interest above those of your corporate contributors.
VII. Thou shalt make sure fetuses have health coverage, but leave children and babies behind.
VIII. Thou shalt bear false witness against your opponents and liberals, and demonize them.
IX. Thou shalt run on a moderate platform, then enact right-wing policies as soon as possible.
X. Thou shalt call the media liberal, so that people forget that the media is owned by corporations with a conservative fiscal agenda.
- Rebecca Lauer
Phar·i·see noun /ˈfarəsē/
ReplyDeletePharisees, plural
1.A member of an ancient Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law, and commonly held to have pretensions to superior sanctity
2.A self-righteous person; a hypocrite
Replace Pharisee with "Right Wing Christian" or Republican. Any difference?
Nope, none at all. This analogy also works every time you see a Republican (and it's always a Republican) make reference to praying (this happened at least twice during the current fiasco). Jesus had very specific things to say about those who pray conspicuously in public rather than in private.
ReplyDelete