Ted Cruz: 'I'm a Christian First, American Second

Speaking of the insanity plaguing the Republican Party, a pissing contest has arisen among Ted Cruz and some of the most lunatic elements of the Christofascists over the validity of Cruz's religiosity which he wears constantly on his sleeve as he prostitutes himself to the most deranged elements of the GOP base.  Some of the attacks on Cruz trace to Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum who are at the bottom of the polls having seen their theocratic message fall flat.  Others trace to equally scary elements of the professional Christian crowd.  The upshot is that Cruz is now making statements that were they said by a non-Christian - or Heaven forbid, a Muslim - that would have Cruz's audience screaming treason and demanding deportation.  Cruz's defense to the attacks on his religiosity:  that he is a Christian first and American second.  Daily Kos looks at the batshitery.  Here are highlights: 

His Christianity is probably the last thing Ted Cruz ever thought would give him problems. However, a new ad produced by Americans United for Values attacks him for being, get this, a “false prophet.” 

Among other slings and arrows hurled, the ad slams Cruz for not tithing—donating 10 percent of his income to charity—something many Christians believe is a sacred obligation. Cruz, it seems, has donated only about one percent of his income—which came to around $1 million annually—to charity between 2006 and 2010.

In response to the ad and other attacks on his Christianity as well as his conservatism, Cruz responded:

“I’m a Christian first, American second, conservative third and Republican fourth...I’ll tell ya, there are a whole lot of people in this country that feel exactly the same way.”

The politics of this aside, I want to highlight here something we might call Christian Privilege. Could you imagine, for example, a Jewish candidate for president saying that he or she was a Jew first and an American second? Now imagine the sheer outrage if a Muslim American of any prominence whatsoever declared that he or she was Muslim first and American second. People’s heads would explode.

 

I demand, a president whose first loyalty is to the Constitution, and to the people—all the people—he or she was elected to serve. Only a Christian has the privilege—and only ones like Ted Cruz, who present themselves as holier than thou, would have the gall—to claim otherwise.

Can we send Cruz back to Canada? I suspect they would not want him either!