Christofascists and Conservatives - Where Is the Love?

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This blog is extremely critical of the hypocrisy of the Christofascists and other self-professed conservatives, especially those within the GOP, who blather incessantly about upholding Christian values yet act in ways that make per-revelation Ebenezer Scrooge look like the world's greatest philanthropist.  These "godly Christians" and their political whores within the GOP are ugly, nasty people and ought to be excoriated by the media.  Sadly, usually, much of the media is afraid or too lazy to expose this rampant hypocrisy.  Interestingly, Nicholas Kristof has put out op-eds in the New York Times on Republican/conservative efforts to demolish America's social safety net.  In a column today, he looks at the attacks he has received and the callousness of these self-centered modern day Pharisees.  Here are excerpts:

When I’ve written recently about food stamp recipients, the uninsured and prison inmates, I’ve had plenty of pushback from readers. 

A reader named Keith reflected a coruscating chorus when he protested: “If kids are going hungry, it is because of the parents not upholding their responsibilities.” 

A reader in Washington bluntly suggested taking children from parents and putting them in orphanages. 

Jim asked: “Why should I have to subsidize someone else’s child? How about personal responsibility? If you procreate, you provide.” 

After a recent column about an uninsured man who delayed seeing a doctor about a condition that turned out to be colon cancer, many readers noted that he is a lifelong smoker and said he had it coming.

Such scorn seems widespread, based on the comments I get on my blog and Facebook page — as well as on polling and on government policy. At root, these attitudes reflect a profound lack of empathy. 

A Princeton University psychology professor, Susan Fiske, has found that when research subjects hooked up to neuro-imaging machines look at photos of the poor and homeless, their brains often react as if they are seeing things, not people. Her analysis suggests that Americans sometimes react to poverty not with sympathy but with revulsion. 

So, on Thanksgiving, maybe we need a conversation about empathy for fellow humans in distress.

[M]any of today’s poor are small children who have done nothing wrong. Some 45 percent of food stamp recipients are children, for example. Do we really think that kids should go hungry if they have criminal parents? Should a little boy not get a curved spine treated properly because his dad is a deadbeat? Should a girl not be able to go to preschool because her mom is an alcoholic?

As Warren Buffett puts it, our life outcomes often depend on the “ovarian lottery.” Sure, some people transcend their circumstances, but it’s callous for those born on second or third base to denounce the poor for failing to hit home runs. 

John Rawls, the brilliant 20th-century philosopher, argued for a society that seems fair if we consider it from behind a “veil of ignorance” — meaning we don’t know whether we’ll be born to an investment banker or a teenage mom  . . . . That’s a shrewd analytical tool — and who among us would argue for food stamp cuts if we thought we might be among the hungry children? 

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let’s remember that the difference between being surrounded by a loving family or being homeless on the street is determined not just by our own level of virtue or self-discipline, but also by an inextricable mix of luck, biography, brain chemistry and genetics. 

Low-income Americans, who actually encounter the needy in daily life, understand this complexity and respond with empathy. Researchers say that’s why the poorest 20 percent of Americans donate more to charity, as a fraction of their incomes, than the richest 20 percent. Meet those who need help, especially children, and you become less judgmental and more compassionate. 

And compassion isn’t a sign of weakness, but a mark of civilization.

Kudos to Kristof for calling these scrooges out.