CommentsMY TURN--We can almost set our clock around post-Thanksgiving time when we will begin to see the start of the ranting about the prejudice in saying “Merry Christmas”. One has to wonder if it is part of the church sermon schedule and parishioners are given a list of what they think are disparages that fall upon their religion.
It doesn’t matter that every department store is overflowing with Christmas items, or that there are many religions that celebrate during this time of year, in their eyes they are being put upon because everyone doesn’t recognize their religion as the only one. Of course, this time of year also launches the usual warnings to those sitting in the pews to be careful in donating to those in need to make sure they aren’t taking your money and buying luxury items. This is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to “Christian thinking” and it is created by a belief that is instilled in them that everyone is against them and that they are elevated in society above all.
If you examine the messages that are exchanged within the groups that call themselves “Christians” and dig deeper to find conservative beliefs and ideologies, you will quickly recognize that this is the baseline process that allows them to twist their religion to coordinate with their personal perceptions that others must earn the right to receive benefits and they play the part of judge and jury in doling them out.
There is a very odd crossover within this group between Republican philosophies and those of Libertarians. While once it was only the Libertarians that had the “I’ve got mine, to heck with the rest of you” attitude, today’s Republicans have eagerly adopted that attitude and it is being demonstrated in the legislation that the current administration is passing. They may have their Christian breakfast ceremonies, saying their prayers to whatever God they have created, and then they look to the masses with a basic “screw you” follow through. In their eyes, the results of someone’s life patterns is what caused their problems and somewhere along the line they must have sinned.
The one group that seems to carry the biggest torch against aiding their fellow human being is the evangelicals. For anyone that was raised in a rather subdued and hallowed Christian upbringing, these people will scare the crap out of you. Beyond their stomping, screaming, waving and yelling during their religious ceremonies, they carry the one main goal of trying to usher in the end of the world so that they can enter their rather odd idea of “heaven”. These people are referred to as the “Christian right”, and while they may be extremists in their right-sided conservative beliefs, they are far from “Christian”.
Republicans in the House and Senate are Taking Advantage
Saying that you are a Christian is an easy banner to carry. Today’s conservatives don’t seem to care if you go to church, follow the doctrine that is taught or even celebrate the holidays. This has been shown by the hypocritical Christian support of Trump and his administration, whose actions and deeds have crossed every line of Christianity, and yet the supporters don’t seem to care. The Republicans that have taken over the House and Senate understand this kind of twisted philosophy and have taken advantage of it. They know that as long as they introduce and pass bills that are anti-choice, and reduce or eliminate assistance to the poor, sick and elderly, while hiding the fact that they are lining their own pockets, the Christians will support them. All they have to do is tell the lies that they have lowered government spending and the so-called “Christians” won’t care how badly it will affect everyone.
The conservative Christians have shared some of the oddest states of belief and this is passed down from one generation to the next. They pay no attention to the statistics regarding people that are on public assistance; disregarding that a large percentage are the elderly, disabled and children. With the help of such propaganda sources as Fox/Breitbart, they have been brainwashed to believe that all of these people are lazy, on drugs and buying such items in the grocery store as lobster with their welfare checks. They look at public assistance as a “gateway” to socialism and communism and they continue the carryover of the “red scare” of the 1950’s.
In an article by The Atlantic, they cover the history and rise of the evangelical Christians, which has also been a base for the extreme Tea Party Right. They state:
“But by the 1950s, Billy Graham was rallying huge crowds with his dark predictions about the communist menace, an ideology “masterminded by Satan,” he said in 1957. ‘Graham sometimes invoked Communism as part of an end times prophecy,’ FitzGerald writes, ‘and at other times as part of a jeremiad in which Americans had a choice to make.’ In blending their movement’s libertarian inclinations with anticommunist hysteria and anxieties about cultural change, these evangelical leaders helped catalyze the most powerful ideology in modern American politics: Christian free-market mania. Evangelicals in other countries, such as Canada, worked alongside secular Social Democrats to build a generous social safety net. In the United States, conservative white Protestants ensured that the welfare state remained anemic.”
Let Me Tell You About the Homeless and Destitute
I had the honor of working with those in need. I say “honor” because it opened my personal experience to the recognition of the humanity of these individuals. Mine is just one tale but it is also one that has been mutually shared by many. What was shocking is that the compassion, love and empathy was not shared by those that professed to be “Christian”.
In my position, I toured, talked with and helped many of those that had fallen on hard times. While there were a small number of those that had become addicted to drugs, or who had mental problems and needed to be in institutions for help, a majority of the individuals were people like you and I. From the families living in their cars because of a loss of jobs, to people that had massive medical bills and had lost everything, these were people that never thought they would be in these situations. There were many single mothers, who had refused to get education, devoted themselves to the rearing of their children and being at home moms, only to find themselves abandoned without any experience to get a job and support their families. When you looked into the eyes of these fellow Americans you would see Veterans than had proudly served, husbands and fathers that had lost their sense of pride, and children whose innocence were gone due to the life that they had been thrown into.
In the organization that I was associated with, our goal was to offer a sense of dignity to everyone and allow them to see that opportunities were available to give them a “hand up”. From serving meals and offering food bank items to classes in assisting them to get jobs, each level was designed to let them know that doors were open to them. It has to be understood that almost all of these people did not want to be in the place that they had found themselves.
This was not, however, the attitude of some of the conservative Christians that were there. When they offered items of donation or set up tables to make such things as toiletries available, they examined the clothes and even the cars that the people drove up in. They set limitations and even refused to give if they felt those in line were undeserving. They scoffed at single mothers, made comments about them “driving their husbands away” and maintained the belief that the male should always be the head of the household and it was obviously the fault of the woman.
Of course, my inner feminist bristled and I often gave these “Christians” a piece of my mind. In their eyes, those that were in need had deliberately created their own state of destitution and they were damn well going to make sure that no one took advantage of their generosity; a sentiment that seems to be the guiding line of so many conservatives.
Conservatives Have Never Been “Christian”
When you discuss the theologies of Christianity, those of us that were raised within that religion speak of doing good for others, living a life that complies with the Ten Commandments, and following the doctrines and teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus did not support greed of the wealthy, he associated with people that were considered to be the lowliest of the time and did not judge those that were in need.
This is the exact opposite of what conservative/Republicans do in action and deed and it is not new; they have a long history of calling themselves “Christians” but acting otherwise.
The most recent example of this statement can be demonstrated by the large percentage of so-called Christians that supported Trump. His platform of hate, bigotry, racism and sexism was widely shown all throughout the campaign and continued after his illegitimate Presidency. The Republicans that took the House and Senate have long coveted the money in Social Security and Medicare that they wanted to get their hands on as well as had a desire to remove public assistance programs for children, the elderly, the disabled and the sick. Trump was their “useful tool” to get to this ultimate end.
In the past, there have been programs to try to “prove” that those on public assistance were drug addicts or were gleaning the benefit illegally. In each and every case, the results proved them wrong; however, this didn’t stop them from the continual spread of lies. Their so-called “Christian” beliefs was and is to throw all of those that are in desperate need out to the street for their own good. It doesn’t matter that these are individuals that could not get gainful employment due to their situations or age, and of course, only those that are wealthy enough to buy health insurance deserve it.
Liberals have been the group that have demonstrated the basic outline of what is referred to as “Christian beliefs”. Doing good for others and the planet, raising awareness, ensuring educational opportunities and medical benefits, civil and equal rights for all, governing working conditions so that corporations don’t do harm to the workers, and the list goes on and on. In each and every case, conservatives opposed these plans and they continue to do so in record numbers today. The current group of Republicans have gleefully removed programs to help children as well as delete funding for public education and instead promote private schools that only the wealthy can afford.
The Republican agenda has always been: keep Americans poor, uneducated, sick and living in fear … easier to control that way.
How, is this “Christian”?
So the next time someone spouts off their idiocy about saying “Merry Christmas” put the image in your mind of who and what they really are.
(S. Novi is a journalist that worked in the media when it DID have integrity. A liberal and one that is suspicious of cults and empty promises. She is a Medium member and an occasional contributor to CityWatch.)
-cw
