I have had it up to here! (Picture me with my arm up over my head). We need to wake up and smell the BS that is being thrown at us in the name of our political process. In my humble opinion, if you are going to represent the ‘Christian Conservative’ you have to care about people who are less fortunate. If there is one thing that I know to be true, it is that Jesus (regardless of whether or not you believe he is God) cared about the poor, the sick, the less fortunate. He believed that it was wrong to hoard all of your money while others were suffering all around you. He believed that it didn’t matter what color, status, nationality you were, if you were in need- he tried to help.
So, why does the so-called ‘Christian Conservative Right’ have a monopoly on morality? They are constantly talking about the god-less left and our lack of values. How is trying to take care of people in need ‘god-less’?
I believe adamantly that we need to feed, educate, and offer health care to the poor. I am also a liberal. (Therefore, also a socialist and going to hell.) The conservative christian right is cutting funding for social programs right and left. Now, they will tell you it’s because spending is out of control (and it is), but they are not willing to cut defense and discontinue the tax cuts to the wealthy. The greed is out of control. I cannot imagine ever getting to the point that I care more about my bank account than the health and well being of millions of people. I would actually respect them more if they came out and said, “You know what, I am greedy. I like being rich and I think I deserve it more than everyone else.” But, don’t claim to be the party of Christ and then let people suffer and die when you could have prevented it.
And then there are the pro-lifers out there are constantly preaching that abortion is murder no matter what the conditions. In my opinion if you are going to be ‘pro-life’ -that should include ALL life, not just unborn babies. We could prevent thousands of deaths every year by offering preventative care to our women (you know the baby carriers). The pro-life community should be up-in-arms about all the preventable death that goes on every day with our poor. (And don’t even get me started on birth control).
Now, don’t worry, I am not totally crazy. I know there are a lot of christians out there doing very good work in the name of Jesus. They do care about the less fortunate. But for those of you Christians that DON’T fit into this category, you should be just as angry as me.
Stephen Colbert had a great quote: “If this is going to be a Christian Nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we have got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don’t want to do it”.
What’s is going to be? Love thy neighbor, or ignore thy neighbor and pray they don’t ask for any money?
candysbrain 
The moral majority made it their mission back in the 1960’s to “take this country back”. I guess back to the 1800’s? Well guess what, they got motivated, they created a goal, and they organized to accomplish that goal and, sadly, they are succeding. It amazes me at how easily they can justify the need to have as much wealth for themselves as possible while still denying it to those who need it. Whenever I see them on blogs I will always make a comment such as: “how would Jesus hate” or “what social programs would Jesus eliminate so the rich can keep their tax cuts” and surprisingly, they always have some quote from their 1900 year old “manual” to life that supports them (that’s right, the bible wasn’t written until over 100 years after Jesus life ended, but of course it is a completely accurate depiction of his life four generations later). It is crazy how they will twist passages in their “good book” to support cutting off the poor and hating gays. Maybe its just because I grew up Catholic and didn’t attend a mega-church with 10,000 other people every Sunday to watch a pastor wearing a $3500 suit pull up in his Rolls Royce tell me how if I don’t tithe 15% (gross, not net people) of my income I will surely burn in hell for eternity but that is not how the bible was taught to me and the last time I looked, the Catholic Church and Willow Creek Community Church used the same bible!!!!!
Anyway…the point I’m trying to make is that you have to give it to em. They set a goal to take over this nation via a grass roots effort and they are accomplishing that goal at an astounding pace. Now the question I have is why can’t WE do the same? Oh yea, because we don’t have eternal salvation to promise as a reward to those that would choose to follow us. So what are we to do? I for one am FED UP with religion in politics and politics in the bedroom. That’s is exactly what our founding fathers did NOT want. Despite the fact they did want governement to be of the rich white people, for the rich white people, and by the rich white people but that’s a post for another day. I still keep my head up though and tell myself that’s its the generation before us and the baby boomers that have ruined this country and someday…it will be our generations turn to show how hypocritical, fake, and greedy we can be. Then at least ill have no one to be angry with but myself.
Ha. Tell me how you really feel. I know, it’s frustrating.
Hi. I am a friend of Melissa’s from Facebook. I have known her since grade school. You posted a link about Fifty Shades of Grey during our conversation and I just bought it for my wife so I was curious about your take on that, so I came to your blog. But this caught my eye. I am not a very religious person, though I do believe in God and Jesus Christ, I do not attend Church. I am a fiscal conservative, so I seem to be one of “those” people you are talking about. I would like to clear up some of the misconceptions you have. You seem to think that we are hypocrites when you write: “I believe adamantly that we need to feed, educate, and offer health care to the poor.” No Christian would disagree with you there. Jesus taught us to care for the least among us. No doubt.
“Jesus emphasized giving in his teaching. He pointed out over and over that personal wealth is a gift of God to be used in grateful faithful stewardship. He is the one who said that if somebody asks you for something, give that person more than he asked for. Jesus taught generosity, and he taught that we children of God can be generous, because we can count on God to provide what we need. We will never be in want because of our generosity in the name of Christ.
Jesus never ever taught that we should make government the agent of our generosity….
Yet Jesus never suggested at any time that he wanted his followers to give their substance to the government in order that the government give to the poor on their behalf. With Jesus, giving was always personal. Jesus said that each of us is to give and give and give and love and love and love even if it hurts. When somebody asked him about government, he said, ‘Give the government what belongs to it. Everything else is God’s. Use God’s gifts the way God wants them used.'”
You also write: “The conservative christian right is cutting funding for social programs right and left. Now, they will tell you it’s because spending is out of control (and it is), but they are not willing to cut defense and discontinue the tax cuts to the wealthy. The greed is out of control. I cannot imagine ever getting to the point that I care more about my bank account than the health and well being of millions of people. I would actually respect them more if they came out and said, “You know what, I am greedy. I like being rich and I think I deserve it more than everyone else.”
This is simply a false perception created by left-wing propaganda. We are NOT greedy. Conservative Christians give more money to charity and volunteer more time than any other demographic in the United States and most likely the world. And that is where the difference lies. You write about us being greedy but in the next breath explain it is because we are cutting government programs.
Government programs do not equal charity.
Studies have shown that much of the money spent on government programs is lost to bureaucracy and fraud. In some government programs audits have shown that 98% of the money did not go to the expected recipients. But even if we assume all the money goes to the intended recipients, government programs often create many very negative, though unintended consequences. Public Housing created “The Projects” in Chicago. A place of death, drugs, and despair. I wouldn’t wish that existence on any human being. Welfare discourages women from marrying – because the government checks won’t come if you get married. The result is women have children out of wedlock and don’t get married or try to work, because the checks will stop coming. I know this first hand as my sister is one of these woman. And she has told me flat out that is the way it is. She skipped an interview that she asked me to set up for her and told me she had figured the government check was more money and she didn’t have to do anything for it. The point being we have created a class of dependents with no motivation to do anything to contribute to society. And it becomes cyclical, passed down to the next generation. Of my two nieces by her, one is a convicted felon and the other an unwed mother. Studies have shown the devastation that occurs to children in homes without fathers. They are much more likely to commit suicide, use drugs, go to prison, and host of other evils. This government program perpetuates this. 70% of our poorest children, black children, are born to unwed mothers. The point is, what seems like compassion is not. The consequences are tragic. To perpetuate this and encourage this is not only horrendous, it should be a crime.
You then write, “But, don’t claim to be the party of Christ and then let people suffer and die when you could have prevented it.” I would say the suffering and dying brought about by public housing, public education, welfare programs and the war on drugs is nothing short of criminal.
But since you invoked Jesus I think this is the most important distinction and the thing self-described liberals like yourself ALWAYS fail to grasp. When Jesus instructed the rich man to sell all his worldly goods and give the money to the poor, notice he did NOT say “give all your worldly goods to the government, so that they help the poor”.
I hope this clears things up for you. We are compassionate. But to us, as Jesus taught us, compassion must be personal. We give freely of our money, time, and energy to help those less fortunate. But we do not want government to do it given the consequences of their programs and the fact that you are rationalizing away your personal responsibility to your fellow man if you decide the government should take care of your charitable giving for you.
Jesus lived in the Roman Empire a vast Empire with a relatively efficient government. Yet he never advocated for social change via the Roman Empire.
He wanted us to give individually. It is up to each one of us to decide. And we will be judged by our decisions.
On judgement day when you are asked what you have done to deserve a place in heaven your answer might be, “I was a very strong advocate for government programs to help those in need. And I willingly paid my taxes to the government.”? What if the follow up question is “I want to know what you did personally, directly, to help my children?” Do you think “I paid my taxes” will cut it?
First of all, thanks for the comment. We obviously disagree, but I still like to hear it. I will take passion that I disagree with over apathy any day.
With regards to the projects, that’s a little unfair. You are picking one thing that had a good intention that didn’t turn out the way that it intended. There are thousands of people being helped everyday with the government programs that we have in place including welfare, planned parenthood, and other organizations that have fought for clean water and air. Of course people are going to take advantage of the programs, but for every 10 people like your sister, there is at least one person that desperately needs the services and I am glad there is something there for the people that need it. And, the comments you make about what happens to these kids when they grow up, what do you think would happen if there were not these programs? Many of these programs are the only reason kids make it out of the vicious cycle that is poverty (i.e. financial aid for college). Now it’s not perfect and there is a TON of waste, but the answer is not cutting- it’s improving.
And, I think you missed point I made about how I was not talking about the people that truly are living these virtues, and are generous and involved in their communities. I am talking about the hypocrites that preach the values of Jesus and do the opposite (like getting married 4 times and preaching the sanctity of marriage). However, with that said, I don’t think that it is enough. Sorry, but I can canvas my neighborhood looking for donations for the local foodbank, but that will not even scratch the surface of what needs to be done! The beauty of the government programs is that it helps way more people than we can help as individuals. I am not ‘rationalizing away my personal responsibility’, but I do not need a church to help others. i think there is a misconception that because I don’t do charity worked thru an organized group, that I don’t do anything of value. There are a lot of people like me that give when they can, as much as they can, as often as they can. Why can’t those of us who can help personally do so, and also all chip in together as a country?
I also wonder, if you are against all the gov’t spending for social programs, how do you feel about the money that goes to war? I am not going to lump you in with all conservatives and assume you supported our recent wars, but I think it is fair to say that they are traditionally more inclined towards war than your liberal counterparts.
Now, I personally don’t believe in a heaven so I can’t respond to your question exactly, but I will say this: If there is a God, I believe that you will be judged on your actions, the way you lived your life, your heart, your compassion for your fellow human beings, and whether you left the world better than you found it. I don’t believe paying my taxes will cut it. That is WAY over-simplifying my argument and think that is what conservatives ‘ALWAYS’ think about liberals. But, I also don’t believe going to church will cut it. Again, If there is a God I believe he will ask, “why did you guys allow people to die in the streets when they needed mental help, why did you choose war over mammograms, and why did you discriminate against your fellow man for who he/she chose to love?”
My intention though was never to challenge anyone’s faith. I am glad that people have their beliefs. I guess I just wish we all acted a little less selfishly. I think that people assume that you can just work hard and pull your self up by your bootstraps and you can live the american dream. It’s not always that easy and there are a lot of people that you could use some help.
Anyway, thanks for commenting and reading. (And you should definitely get the books for your wife!)
What a thoughtful response. I plan on giving you one as well. I think you will find that we are not that far apart as I refuse to attend church myself because of the hypocrisy I have encountered from supposedly devout Christians. We do not need the church to live a good life. On that we agree. But we had a late little league game tonight, and I’m pretty tired so I will say good night for now. But I can tell that you seem to me to be a wonderful person. Mellisa is lucky to have a friend like you. BTW, My wife has received the book and read the first chapter and is loving it! Best wishes to you and yours, John