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Saturday, June 25, 2016

Republican Religion


So Donald Trump met with a group of religious leader in order to win them over to his cause. Given that the Republican Party pretty much has the conservative religious vote in its pocket, this was an easy task.

Ever since President (sick) Ronald Reagan revealed the “split the left” strategy in the late 1970's, the Christian vote has been in the Republican back pocket. For those that don't remember, both the Democrats and Republicans used to support abortion prior to 1979. Reagan mentioned that the only way for the Republican Party to regain the White House and the power of the presidency was to split the left. They did this by changing their stance. So during the 1980 presidential campaign the Republicans switched from being pro-abortion to anti-choice and the conservative Christian church swallowed it up like candy and has mindlessly followed the Republican party and its talking points ever since.

And to keep the conservative Christian movement in its back pocket, they adopted and adapted the social ideology of the conservative Christian movement and happily (and rather mindlessly) spout out its talking points whenever possible. So the anti-choice, anti-homosexual, etc rhetoric of the Christian church becomes part and parcel of the Republican agenda.

Never mind that the economic agenda of the Republican party hurts those in the working class that are Christians. That can be ignored. Then again, those that are in leadership positions of the conservative Christian church are part of the 1%, so the economics don't bother them as much, if at all.

And Engels spoke about this in Socialism: Utopian and Scientific. He writes quite a bit about religion in the first chapter/section and how the capitalist class will take over the leadership in the religious movement and use it towards its own ends.

Never mind all that the Bible has in it about defending the rights of the poor. (Read the Jewish/Old Testament for that.) Or the Christian/New Testament as well. James pretty much spells it out when he writes in the 2nd Chapter : Are not the rich oppressing you? And do they themselves not haul you off to court?

Seriously? Who is it that uses the government to throw people out of their houses with eminent domain laws? How many people have lost their houses for much less than their actual worth so that some businessman could snatch them up and build a business? Usually one that needs tax breaks and other forms of public support in order to make a profit?

And in Buffalo – who is buying up these old churches and converting them into apartments and other commercial properties? And Christians aren't outraged. (You should see the one that was turned into a Mosque. Boy do they get sore about that. And the Buddhist Temple.)

Instead of worrying about fixing economic inequality and standing up for the rights of the poor, the conservative Christian church has focused on ways of dividing, conquering, and controlling the Christian community. They focus on being anti-choice and do anything they can to put an end to a woman's right to choose. This includes all forms of violence – like murder, arson, and bombing clinics. They also waste a significant amount of time and taxpayer dollars on anti-choice legislation. And the time wasted picketing the abortion clinics, calling people murderers, etc.

They focus on homosexuality and the LGBTQ movement. Instead of getting to know them as people and treating them with the dignity as part of the creation that their chosen deity created, they vilify them, condemn them, and otherwise treat them as dirt. Well, having read the Bible (numerous times) I find more teachings against adultery than homosexuality. I don't see them focusing on that at all. Probably because of the research by Barna that shows that Christians have a higher rate of divorce than society as a whole. Reminds me of Oz - “Don't look behind the curtain!” Perhaps we should.

Then again, Jesus hung around with prostitutes and other “sinners.” Perhaps they should read those verses and follow the example? 

And they are concerned about people saying "Merry Christmas."  Never mind that most people don't even go to a Christian church in this country.  They are celebrating a secularized version off the holiday created by capitalist enterprises to get people to spend money at the economically worst time of the year.

And I could go on- the way Christians treated the First Nations peoples when they came over here as immigrants (illegal at that. I don't remember the Pilgrims having green cards.) and now how they treat immigrants from other nations. And what does the Bible say about how immigrants should be treated?

And on and on it goes. Negatively.

Look at the message of inclusion and forgiveness by Pope Francis and some of the rather progressive statements that he has made since becoming Pope. I could say more biblical. The way he states we should treat people and care for the planet is more in line with the Bible that the conservative Christians want to believe.

Then again, I've heard conservative Christians quote the Bible. Rather selectively. And often out of context.Which is a logical fallacy.  Point that out to them.  They don't seem to like it.

The First Amendment gives Americans freedom of religion. That's freedom to choose how they want to worship, if they want to at all.

Then again, in history, the first colonies in the “New World” were economic colonies. Jamestown preceded Plymouth by almost 20 years. And it was a trading post.

Economics before religion.
Now we have economics controlling religion.
Seems Engels wrote quite a bit about that.
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