The Religion of Republicans is the oddest thing in the world

[AllentownJake]

Now, I'm going to premise this with I'm a man of faith which sometimes opens people to ridicule on here. If your an atheist fine, I've been one of those, if your a Christian, fine I am one of those. My faith works for me and that entire freedom of Religion thing in the constitution means you have the freedom to your beliefs and I have the freedom to mine and the Republicans have their own wacky freedom to theirs.

However, I've never seen a faith so hypocritical than the Christianity that republicans ascribe to.

1) Gun ownership. They are part of a religion that they were instructed not to live by the sword. The founder of their religion went willingly to his death and the early followers were all martyred. They did not protect themselves with weapons, or organize militias. They did not believe they had to build up protection plans because they were secure in their faith and willing to die for it. I've talked to numerous right wing Christians in my life who feel its necessary to have weapons in case they have to "protect" themselves. The founder of their religion and his early followers never tried to protect themselves and they were enemies of the state to the highest degree.

2) The entire Gay thing. These people are obsessed with Gay people. They are so uncomfortable with someone who is different than themselves that they go absolutely insane. The founder of their religion talked to everyone and treated them with mercy. Beggars, lepers, tax collectors, Samaratins (which were enemies and hate by the society of their time). They pull a few obscure verses from the Bible and they use it as a fundamental tenet of their faith...Gay=evil. The other odd thing is Jesus actually talked about divorce yet these people statistically have divorce rates as high as the rest of the population.

3) Abortion and birth control. The other issue that really gets these people into a fire breathing rage. They won't fund birth control and they won't fund anything to aid for single parents so they can advance economically whether education, childcare, healthcare, etc. No mercy if you get pregnant. Most of these people also have come to their "moral" realization later in life. Most of them had sex outside of marriage. While they might now wish they hadn't they wish to judge and deny their own children and the children of others for the same thing they did in their youth.

4) Economics, its acceptable to reward gambling (capital gains), keep taxes relatively high on the poor and middle class, and give the rich in this country a free ride. They do this because like Joe the idiot plumber they all have this deluded idea that they will one day be rich. Yet their own scripture says its nearly impossible for rich people to go to heaven which is supposedly their aim in life.

They also fail to understand that most of the people or corporations that they are cutting taxes for aren't going to keep the money in America. American companies get a tax cut unencumbered to doing something good for America guess what they do, they take the money and invest it in a factory in the third world because the labor cost are cheaper. The money earned here is outflowed overseas because the company knows they can make more money by eliminating the American work force that built them. So instead of that money going into the US to keep our infrastructure stable, provide healthcare for the citizens, or be invested in public education to keep American children competitive in the world the money goes to another country. They fail to see that the rich in this country and the corporations committ TREASON every day.

5) Freedom- Their religion is based on free will. Man has a decision to make about his life and will be held responsible for that decision. Yet they want to forcefully legislate their morality and their beliefs. They attack Muslim extremist everyday but when you strip the name of which particular prophet they are following the aims of Osama Bin Laden and Dominionist Rick Warren are no different. A theocracy.

Sorry I was driving home today and the frustration of the hypocrisy of these beliefs just gets into my craw.

[firedupdem]

1. Recommended! Great Post!

I posted earlier today about the raggedy pick up truck I was behind when I dropped my son off at school. The 4 bumpers stickers read:

A vote against Guns is a vote for Slavery

Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion

In God We Trust

McCain/Palin 08


These people are nuts!

[AllentownJake]

3. I saw that earlier today

They are crazy.

I actually lost my faith for two years because I went to Indiana and met these people. After 2 years I was so angry with being associated them I was ashamed to admit I had a faith in God. I reconciled myself that the God they worship resembles nothing to the one I do.

[firedupdem]

11. I agree 100%. The God I believe in doesn't hate anyone! n/t

[AllentownJake]

13. The God I believe in chased the money changers

and the corrupt religous leaders out of the Temple with a whip.

[zeemike]

17. And if he were with us today

Pat Robertson would have a few red stripes on his ass.

[AllentownJake]

19. Pat Robertson doesn't bother me

He's transparent. Pat Robertson cannot hide his hateful nature for 15 minutes let alone an hour.

Rick Warren is the lowest of these people of all of them and he hides it the best. He reminds me of Bush.

Real faith is not something you just have or blindly accept. Real faith is something you struggle with everyday. Our founding father's who had faith never assumed God was on their side. They were never that arrogant.

[roguevalley]

37. you are speaking my life. I find that religion hinders my faith and so

I chose faith over religion. I lean more to the spiritualist side of faith because I think that is the direction my whole life was going toward. Having a name like Bishop doesn't hurt either. :)

[nxylas]

36. Woudn't the first one be considered a point against guns in most Southern states?

It would be in South Carolina.

[ComtesseDeSpair]

2. Great post.

My GF and I are atheists, but her parents are "true" Christians - ie. democrats - while her mother's side of the family are all rabid Republican "Christians". When we get together with her parents we often talk about how hypocritical they are and wonder how they cannot make the connection that the lifestyle that they lead is in direct conflict with the values of the religion that they profess to follow. My GF likes to say, "Go through the Bible and highlight the number of passages that have to do with homosexuality. Then, go through the Bible and highlight the number of passages having to do with the evils of money. Then get back to me."

[AllentownJake]

5. A good friend of mine who fits this category

well meaning great guy and gets it about 75% of the time but still votes republican every election. The reasoning gun control. He's from suburban Indiana and refuses to understand the problems we have with guns in the city.

Two reasons

1) He likes to shoot guns with his friends for recreation. I said so children in my city have to die because you like to shoot guns.

2) The entire protect myself or my wife memo...early Christians voluntary went to the lions, were beaten, robbed, and killed for their faith and you are willing to kill another human being.

[donco6]

4. Actually, the last one is even worse.

They DON'T all believe in free will. In fact, the more conservative ones believe in Limited Atonement - in other words, Jesus died for the sins OF THE ELECT, not for just anyone. The ELECT have no real choice, as they were destined by God to be saved. And yet, these same people believe in FREEDOM. They don't want any rules on their property - what they can keep or possess on their land. They don't want any rules on what they can do with their money. They don't want to pay any taxes. They don't want to pay for ANYTHING unless they're using it right that minute, and half the time not even then.

Charismatics, on the other hand, differ greatly from Calvinists on this point. They DO believe in free will. So your points apply to them. Mainline churches are kinda both ways.

[AllentownJake]

6. Where they pulled that theology from

I'll never understand because it wasn't from the New Testament. If God has somehow picked you why even bother send you to earth?

[donco6]

25. Well, they've had 2000 years to dream it all up.

That's a lot of time . . . and most of it pre-TV days.

If only we'd invented video games back in 100 AD or so, we'd be a lot better off when it comes to theology.

[roguevalley]

38. there is also a provision they have made that if you lie in the service

of God, it isn't a lie. Truly.

[annabanana]

7. Thank you AJake, for a thoughtful post.

What some of the people you describe call "religion" is little more than a reach for an excuse to justify their own worst behavior.

There seems to be a pattern in which you can do horrible things, week after week, as long as you manage to stagger into the church on Sunday. They never internalize what they hear when they get there...

[Clio the Leo]

8. Very well said ......

... and I think it's a shame that we have allowed the Republican party to monopolize Christianity like we have .... or at least the claim to it.

The Democratic party is the party that more closely adheres to the Bible ..... otherwise, I wouldn't be a part of it.

[Still Sensible]

9. A wonderful summary of the problem

I applaud your clarity of thought.

[uponit7771]

10. Bookmarked post,

[and-justice-for-all]

12. I am an Atheist and as long as people keep their religion to themselves..

I do not have any issues.

Now, I work with a 'fuck you , I'm liberal!' believer who take no shit from his repuke co-workers. He has his own personal and private beliefs, he also considers himself Xtians. It is funny to hear him tear into the repuke/fundie nuts too, man does the blood fly.

I also have a close friend is more of a 'Jefferson' Believer, she believes there is a supreme being but does not buy into the 'super jesus' crap. to her, he was just a dude who wanted to change things for the better. No magic or miracles, just a dude. I doubt his existence all together, but that is just me.

Anyway, the repuke religion is called self-centered/self-serving religion. 90% of them just use religion to get what they want and I doubt they are in fact religious at all...just liars. Liars who use people to get what want at any cost. Repukes are notoriously highly dishonest and anything that comes off their forked tongue should be examined very closely.

[Prophet 451]

14. The religion of Republicans...

...is Republicanism.

No, I'm not being obnoxious, I'm entirely serious. In the same way as Mormonism evolved from Christianity but is distinct enough to qualify as a seperate faith, the right has created their own religion (which I call Christopublicanism; I would call it Reaganism but when I use that, they don't understand that it's an insult) which marries a very extreme interpretation of Christianity (an interpretation focused far more on the "punishment" verses than the "promise" verses) to extreme-right politics.

Most religions start out distinct from politics and only become involved in politics gradually. In the case of Christianity, it was roughly three centuries but Christopublicanism exists because of and in symbiosis with politics. The mixture of "fire and brimstone" Christianity, "free markets uber alles" capitalism and xenophobic nationalism sums up the faith. Reagan is venerated, Clinton demonised (literally). The Bible is interpreted through the lens of The Way Things Ought To Be. Capitalism is assumed to be God's will (of course, Jesus's words were proto-socialist if anything), highly conservative social views gain the mandate of the incarnae. I could go on about this at some length (and you'll find teh seed of the idea in my DU journal) but you get the idea. It's not Christianity, it's a fledling sect of it's own new faith. As a history buff, it's fascinating to watch but as someone who has to share the planet with these whackos, it's terrifying.

BTW, for full disclosure: I am also a man of faith. Satanist as it happens but still faith.

[AllentownJake]

20. Hitler wrapped himself in the cross

It isn't new.

[Prophet 451]

30. Nope, not new

What makes this version unusually dangerous is simply the advent of mass-market telecommunications, allowing the message (such as it is) to spread much more quickly and widely for minimal investment.

In many ways, the current version is similar to Nazi-era fascism: The designation of selected scapegoats, the overpowering nationalism (Rev Wright's words wouldn't have raised an eyebrow in Europe), the disdain for the arts and intellectualism; all of these are symptomic of a classical fascist regime.

[zeemike]

15. It is Christianity in name only.

The real religion of the right wing is based on Ayn Ryan and her book Atlas Shrugged. and her philosophy called the Virtues of Selfishness.
The religion thing is just a cover and a easy place to gather a heard of sheeple.

[AllentownJake]

18. The sad thing is

her philosophy doesn't apply to these people either. They are the miserable wretches she so much despised and wanted the talented people to form a seperate colony for.

[eppur_se_muova]

16. It's "cafeteria Christianity" for people who eat bugs. nt

[PurityOfEssence]

21. Depending on your premise of Christianity, it makes perfect sense

It, like all other major beliefs, has many good parts, but if you strip it down to its essentials, it doesn't really come off that good. It is a death cult, based on willing subservience and prizing selfishness. If one reduces all of the requirements of God down to the one REAL demand, it's to save your own ass. This is hardly commendable, and fundamentally selfish, as is the requirement to subjugate oneself to something infinitely superior for whatever whim it has.

Looked at this way, the inherent conservatism of religion becomes clearer: certainty and faith are the enemies of thought and curiosity, and they're no friend to cosmopolitanism either. If one KNOWS what the correct way is, others are simply wrong.

Following this approach, let's look at your points.

1) Selfishness and protecting one's treasure.

2) Channeling all sexual energy only toward breeding for world conquest MUST require sex to be looked on as bad, and non-reproductive sex to be criminal and defective. Be fruitful and multiply is an admonition of political dominance.

3) Stopping breeding is bad; conquest is all. Sure, it's primitive, but that's religion: primitiveness.

4) Selfishness writ large.

5) Religion is NOT based on free will. That's just an excuse because the deity doesn't deign to show itself or explain itself very well. Religion is based on COERCION. It's group tyranny and a political tool to clamp down on people to exploit them.

Sure, some truly human needs are answered by religion, but it's a political tool. That's why the really good fundamentalist sects all understand that ALL FUN must be done under the auspices of the faith. No sex, no dancing, no theatre, no singing or anything remotely enjoyable should be done except in the act of religion. That's why theatre was banned in the middle ages. That's why the only joy to be had in the straighter-laced sects is to be had in the meeting house.

Quite frankly, the hard-shelled reactionary types are arguably closer to the true essence of religion, which is CONTROL.

Makes perfect sense to me...

3)

[niceypoo]

22. The GOP is a suicide cult

Where the GOP ideology ends and the christianity begins is fuzzy. I work with a baptist minister and he mixes tax cuts, end times, bigotry, greed, capitalism, hating gays, hating socialists and Jesus H christ all into one festering slimy stew. He hasnt a clue which part is GOP and which part is Christianity, they are one in the same to him.

They are a cult. They are willing to exterminate humanity for money, whether it is war profiteering or denial of global warming. They are suicidal, they fantasize about the end of the human race and are a clear and present danger to humanity.

And the Democrats insist in handing them power anyway, when they have been handily rejected by the voters.

[roguevalley]

39. they are a cult and they use whatever works to get their way:

greed, lies, war, super patriotism, a profaining of the sacred and all the rest. they made a lot of us who love God for the fact that God is love struggle with what we are. Are we still Christians or is that so sullied that we have to become something else? Its a pain that is hard to describe to anyone who doesn't feel it.

[opihimoimoi]

23. The typical middle class Republican was conned and brainwashed a long time ago

Hence Bushies 15% following....

[SidneyCarton]

24. What religion?

The religion of the right, regardless of its many guises is egotism and authoritarianism, with a strong dose of narcissism and sociopathy.

[benEzra]

26. "Gun owner" is not synonymous with "Republican,"

and most assuredly is not synonymous with "Religious Right Republican".

Half of gun owners registered to vote are Dems and indies. That half of gun owners who are repub are by and large a different branch of that party than the Religious Right, and much of the religious right and the neocons are anti-gun (Mitt Romney and William J. Bennett come to mind).

A lot of Dems and indies own guns for defensive purposes (including a whole lot of DU'ers), and we'd like to retain that right, thanks.

[Prophet 451]

31. True enough

but it's also fair to say that the right has taken possession of the gun rights issue (mainly through convincing the public that Dems are more anti-gun than most actually are).

[benEzra]

45. The DLC/Third Way zealots did it for them,

by making bans on the most popular centerfire rifles in America a top legislative priority in an attempt to look "tough on crime" to right-leaning law-and-order types.

A whole lot of "Third Way" strategists need to learn that the vast majority of gun owners are NOT hunters, and that the most popular civilian guns in America are the ones the repubs at the Brady Campaign wish to outlaw.


----------------------
Dems and the Gun Issue - Now What? (written in '04, largely vindicated in '06, IMO)

The Conservative Roots of U.S. Gun Control

[roguevalley]

40. I don't believe that anyone wants to eliminate guns. They want to

eliminate irresponsible gun ownership. I own guns. I leave a knife by my bed for protection. I have four dogs for an alarm. :) I'm not worried about anyone enacting good gun laws. Not a bit.

[benEzra]

44. Outlawing the most popular civilian target rifles and defensive carbines in the United States,

I don't believe that anyone wants to eliminate guns. They want to eliminate irresponsible gun ownership. I own guns. I leave a knife by my bed for protection. I have four dogs for an alarm. :) I'm not worried about anyone enacting good gun laws. Not a bit.

Outlawing the most popular civilian target rifles and defensive carbines in the United States, restricting lawfully and responsibly owned civilian guns to pre-1860's magazine capacities, legislating rifle handgrip shape, and harassing licensed, trained, and state-vetted carry license holders have absolutely nothing to do with "eliminating irresponsible gun ownership," and everything to do with harassing the lawful and responsible.

"Good gun laws" are those aimed at criminal and negligent misuse, not responsible owners.


----------------------
Dems and the Gun Issue - Now What? (written in '04, largely vindicated in '06, IMO)

The Conservative Roots of U.S. Gun Control

[Orsino]

27. It's not odd at all.

It's the cult of testosterone. They worship a masculine ideal that swaggers and blusters to hide its essential weakness and fear. Every one of the five points you mentioned is of a piece with this viewpoint. They believe that their male principle (AKA power and wealth) is supreme, and that all--including lesser males and the less powerful--ought to bow down.

It is a religion that accepts entitlements implicitly, but never admits to this. They're royalists who support the droit de seigneur yet call themselves free and self-reliant. Incapable of grasping the requisite cognitive dissonance, they simply ignore it. They're fools. Question one some time, and watch how quickly the cultist retreats to dogma.

[Prophet 451]

32. And they miss the other side

Monarchy, at it's best, imposes not just rights but obligations. The right of droit de seigneur was tempered by the duty of noblesse oblige (i.e. that those holding rank had a duty to excercise it in the best interests of their subjects). They're accepted the rights but not teh responsibilities.

[cliffordu]

28. EXcellent post. K&R!!

[JohnnyBoots]

29. The GOP true believers confuse Christianity with Republican Ideology, which they treat as a

religion in itself. The dogma of the party dictates their beliefs. I think many of them are unaware of this. Partly because many preachers and priests push the right wing ideology in the house of God. It is also the fear of the other, to use an Anthro 101 term. They don't understand gays, therefore they must be evil and out to get them. As for economics, what gets me are these multi million dollar mega-churches. I wonder how many homeless walk by them everyday and are shunned by these so called Christians. If Jesus were to come back and see that I think he'd be mighty pissed off.

Another thing that gets me is, these GOP Ideologists seem to think that if the say, "Well, I'm a Christian see" that they can do no wrong. That the fact that they have labeled themselves that, with out understanding the very basic tenants of Christianity absolves them from their sins and closeminded views.

BTW - Very nice post.

[harun]

33. For Muslims the term for them is Munafiq's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munafiq

or religious hypocrite.

The prophet Muhammad said:

"Whoever has the following four (characteristics) will be a pure hypocrite and whoever has one of the following four characteristics will have one characteristic of hypocrisy unless and until he gives it up. 1. Whenever he is entrusted, he betrays. 2. Whenever he speaks, he tells a lie. 3. Whenever he makes a covenant, he proves treacherous. 4. Whenever he quarrels, he behaves in a very imprudent, evil and insulting manner."

Describes them pretty well I think.

[roguevalley]

41. man, I love that. thank you for posting it.

[Alcibiades]

34. Part of the problem is that they have no culture of learning

within their religious tradition, by which I mean fundamentalist protestantism. Judaism is a religion of scholars. Catholicism has the Jesuits, and a wholly developed theological system. Mainline protestantism has boasted some of the most learned theologians in Christianity as a whole in the last century. Hindus, Buddhists and most other Eastern religions are also of a scholarly bent.

But fundamentalist evangelical Protestantism? Purely entrepreneurial. Right theology is proven by whoever buys the most airtime and shouts the longest. Their theology comes from a bunch of self-promoting Elmer Gantrys who have pulled it all out of their asses.

[roguevalley]

42. totally agreed. I left churches because 'sermons' disappeared.

[apnu]

35. All of your 5 points can all be explained by one word: Fear.

(full disclosure, I'm a 30-something married with child white male)

Republicans are scared of everything including their own shadows. They are so scared that they are willing to sacrifice all of the core beliefs of their religion's founders to satisfy their over developed fear and paranoia. Perhaps this comes from the massive amount of guilt, I bet, most hold deep down inside that nobody can see.

Point #5: They are afraid of real freedom, one where people are allowed to do and think as they will and yet all get along. They are afraid of interpretations of freedom that does not prescribe to what the preacher man told them.

Point #4 They are afraid of economics that is fair to everybody, and I mean everybody. This means they'll actually have to compete with the black man, the yellow man, the red man, the green man and the purple man, plus all the women on the planet. This undermines their sense of security and purpose in live and makes them scared.

Point #3 Abortion and birth control. This amounts to allowing women to control their lives. And if women are in control, then they (the white males) have less control, this makes them insecure and scared.

Point #2 Homosexuality. Secretly, they are scared they they might catch "teh gay" or have to acknowledge that homosexuals are people too and all the rights and privileges that go along with that. See point #5 above.

Point #1 All of this fear makes them want to protect themselves. And, really, what is more powerful (individually) than owning a gun? Having a gun, holding a gun, using a gun (no matter what type) gives someone an extraordinary sense of power. Pointing a gun at someone puts the pointer in control of the whole situation (unless the other person has a gun too). This is power is a way of getting back all the insecurities listed in points 2 through 5 back.

So to sum up, they're scared of everything, and need to cling to guns in order to make up for all that fear. Heaven forbid they do the sensible thing and just exorcise their fears in a healthy way, by say, talking about them rationally and coming to a compromise that negates their fears.

Good post BTW, thanks for the brain food.

[depakid]

43. The trouble with Republicans is that they're obsessed with the Old Testament

They howl fo the 10 Commandments to be displayed on courthouse walls and in public parks when the Sermon on the Mount more accurately defines the religion.

[ejpoeta]

46. they live in a world of cotradictions, and seem to think that is normal.

i agree.... hypocrisy seems to be the party's middle name.

[shrike]

47. Good to meet you

Good to meet someone on DU whose attitudes so closely mirror my own.