You Cannot Be a Republican and a True Christian

As I have noted numerous times before, the reverse Robin Hood policies of today's Republican Party and that party's willingness to throw the poor, the sick, the homeless and the less fortunate literally in the gutter is the antithesis of the message of Christ in terms of his directives as to what one should do with one's wealth.  Yet despite the polar opposites between the GOP's social agenda and the Gospel message of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and sheltering the homeless, who is it that flocks to the GOP standard?  The "godly Christians" who wear their religiosity on their sleeves and seem most defined by their hatred of others - i.e., gays, blacks, Hispanics, non-Christians, in short anyone who doesn't look and believe just as they do.  The hypocrisy and the damage being done to the Christian brand, if you will, is staggering.  Like the author, Anne Rice, I do not want to be called a "Christian" because the connotation is becoming so foul and negative thanks to this self-anointed folks.  A piece in Alternet makes the case that if one is a true Christian and follower of the Gospel message, it is impossible to be a Republican.  Here are excerpts:

No one in American life today proclaims their allegiance to Christ more conspicuously than those who have rejected most of what Christ actually taught: Republicans. The modern Republican Party’s hell-bent embodiment of nearly everything Christ warned against has become so serious that we have to call it out. You cannot be a Republican and a Christian.

Of course, it wasn’t always this way. There was a time, maybe even as recently as the early 1990s, when to support the Republican Party was not altogether evil. And further back, of course, things were even more different.  Republicans used to be: moderate, business-minded civic boosters and unapologetic patriots who were the linchpins and bulwarks of small towns across the Midwest, the enthusiastic backers of projects for the civic good . . . persons of compassionate conscience, inveterate doers of good deeds.

Even today, there are probably some Republicans who still fit that description. The problem is that they are for all practical purposes invisible in American public life, and if their party found out about them, they would be hounded out of it. If they dared to compete in the lunatic talent show of Republican primary politics, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

The reason that you cannot be a Republican and a Christian is that today’s Republican Party doesn’t appear to stand for anything but what Christ strenuously rejected, like organized violence, self-righteous division, and greed.

It’s not hard to tell the difference between who is and isn’t really a Christian, and Republicans, you’re not.

• In Christ, we’re talking about someone who said turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39) and that all those who take the sword will perish with the sword (Matthew 26:52).

• We’re talking about someone who warned “judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1) and urged people not to look for a mote in someone else’s eye while they have a beam stuck in their own (Matthew 7:3).

• We’re talking about someone who said, “woe unto you that are rich!” (Luke 6:24) and, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:25) Did Jesus ever have anything good to say about people who hoard wealth?

It’s ironic that they have sometimes been referred to as “values voters,” since their values are so devoid of value, at least from the Christian point of view. Their main interest in Christianity seems to be an expectation of being rewarded in the afterlife despite bad behavior while alive.

The impossibility of squaring what Christ actually taught with the words and deeds of today’s Republican so-called Christians is what makes this all fair game. These people are hypocrites. These people conveniently ignore most of what Christ actually said.. . . . many of them, given a chance, would re-crucify Christ if he came back today and taught the still-radical ideas he apparently advocated.

You can’t have it both ways. You have to choose, because, today, you cannot be both a Republican and a Christian.

As I said, if being a "Christian" means being like the Christofascist of the GOP base, please do NOT call a Christian.