Stop Hurting Jesus

You cannot be a Christian and vote for Obama

2008-10-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

I recently read this editorial: You cannot be a Christian and vote for Obama by Janet Porter on Worldnetdaily.com

Normally, I don't respond to hate speech. But sometimes, I just can't get past the idea that unchallenged is confirmed....so I sent her the following email.

I'd like to share it with you.

Janet,

I’d suggest that by imposing a religious litmus test, you can’t be an American, but then I’d be as foolish as you seem to be with this article about who God wants me to vote for and still be able not to consider myself a heretic.

I suppose you are either not representative of a 501c3 corporation or don't care about the prohibitions regarding not-for-profit status and candidate endorsement. This too has been a troubling trend for democracy of late.

Regardless, I’d like to suggest that Jesus wants me to vote for the person whom I believe will most likely feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, give assistance to the poor, and turn the other cheek, praise the meek, be slow to anger, and make every effort to make peace.

That seems like Barak Obama, and it seems as though the Sermon on the Mount embodies far more planks from the Democratic Party platform than that of the Republican.

I’d also like to remind you that John McCain is the one who is divorced, married now to a woman whose fortune comes from the sale of alcohol, and who advocates an aggressive war-like foreign policy including the decidedly un-Christian notion of pre-emptive warfare.

I don’t really see how you can call into question other people’s Christianity based on their participation in Democracy. After all, Jesus is the King of Kings, not the President of Presidents.

I do agree with you about one thing, though, it is by our actions that we will be known. Crying heretic and casting stones, steeping oneself in hypocrisy, those are actions that to me indicate something other than you profess to believe.

As an American, however, I would be willing to fight to the death to protect your right to say any hateful, hurtful, awful thing you want to.

That’s what makes this country so great. Pity that people like you are working so hard to take that freedom from us. But, judging by the fruit of your tree, you aren’t as interested in democracy as you are theocracy. I hope you don’t win. And I say that fervently as both a Christian and as an American.

Please bear in mind that there is more to our presumably shared religious faith than your feeling that you are justified in your hatred and persecution of homosexuals, protection of the unborn regardless of the circumstances of their conception and threat to the mother's health, or the strident efforts to legislate morality.

There is forgiveness. There is the final commandment given by Jesus before he was taken to the cross--Love One Another.

Show me more of that fruit and I'll be tempted to believe in your tree.

Jesus Christ was a Community Organizer

2008-09-18T05:43:00.000-07:00

Pontius Pilate was a Governor.

You do the math.

To those who say that Jesus wasn't a Community Organizer...do you know what a Community Organizer does? Do you really know what Jesus said and stood for?

Try reading the Sermon on the Mount and then claim that Jesus isn't a Community Organizer...and compare What Jesus Said He Would Do (and you SHOULD do) to what you are actually doing. Then tell me you're really a Christian.

And for those of you Christians who base your idea of what Fundamental Christian Values are on the dictates of the OLD COVENANT (Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Exodus in particular) so that you can justify legislating your own hatreds and bigotries on "Christian Values" please explain to me why you are not calling for Todd Palin to stone to death his daughter who is obviously guilty of fornication out of wedlock.

Come on, you Literal Truthers, if you REALLY believe, then do unto this girl what GOD has said you should do in Deuteronomy 22:21.

"Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you."

For those of you who can't translate "play the whore in her father's house", that means sex before marriage. But perhaps these neo-con Biblical Scholars would parse the passage as saying Bristol should not be stoned to death because the fornication did not occur in the Palin home, but elsewhere. With Republicans, accountability and responsibility are not long suits. They think simply being Christian means you're "sin proof" and have nothing to confess. After all, everything they do is just exactly what God told them to do, or they wouldn't have done it.

WWJD? Well, What I Did, Obviously.

Perhaps someone should start a campaign to point up their hypocrisy.

Call it "Old Testement Christians for the God's Prescribed Punishment of Bristol."

Or, maybe if these folks who are so intolerant of everyone else are going to show compassion and forgiveness to Republican children, they might start showing love and forgiveness to everyone else's children...and turn the other cheek instead of adopt a doctrine of pre-emption. Clothe the naked. Heal the sick. Feed the hungry. You know, Christ-y stuff like that.

It might take a slightly more liberal view...and a modicum of community organizing, but I honestly think it is What Jesus Would Do.

Don't Be A Sucker

2006-12-24T11:25:00.000-08:00

Don't Be a Sucker is a film made in 1947, when even that close to the Nazi era Americans still needed to be reminded not to fall for the kind of scam that would rob America of what makes it America.

Watch it, and forward it to Virgil Goode, George Bush, Karl Rove, Jerry Falwell, and any right wing talk show host you can think of.

Does Virgil Goode Represent the America that Represents FREEDOM?

2006-12-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

I live in Virignia, home of the Evangelical Theocratic Elite power players. Just up the road from me is Liberty University.

One of our recently re-elected theocrats, Virgil Goode, says he got a flood of emails from constituents complaining that newly elected Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison would use the Koran, not the Bible, when being sworn into Congress next month. Ellison is a Muslim, so their thinking his taking an oath on the Bible would be more appropriate than a book the new congressman actually regards as holy only speaks to the state of mental accumen among Goode's loyal voting base here in the Old Dominion.

In response to the complaints, Goode sent out a letter. He appears to have accidentally sent it to some people who were not, as they say down here, "like minded." One such person was John Cruickshank, of Charlottesville. He turned the letter over the the C-Ville Weekly who promptly published it. I reproduce it here:

Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-4605

December 7, 2006

Mr. John Cruickshank
7—— S—————————— Dr.
Earlysville, VA 22936

Dear Mr. Cruickshank:

Thank you for your recent communication. When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran. We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country. I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped.

The Ten Commandments and “In God We Trust” are on the wall in my office. A Muslim student came by the office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Koran. My response was clear, “As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, The Koran is not going to be on the wall of my office.” Thank you again for your email and thoughts.

Sincerely yours,
Virgil H. Goode, Jr.
70 East Court Street
Suite 215
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151

When questioned about the letter, Goode replied "I wrote the letter. I think it speaks for itself."

Indeed it does, sir. Indeed it does. And what it says is repugnant, hateful, and so contrary to the spirit, mission, and purpose of this nation that I can't believe you have not been pulled from your office and treated to good old conservative tar and feathers, and a trip out of Washington tied to a rail.

This is why the founding fathers put into the Constitution the Establishment Clause, and I ask you, sir, how it is that you can take an oath to defend the Constitution so seriously that you demand that oath be taken upon your holiest book, and yet refuse to apply those constitutional principles evenly, and fairly to all those whom you represent and who are protected by them?

Radical Religious Extremism and hate mongering disguised as partiotism are the tools of the enemy we are supposedly fighting against. I am ashamed of you, Virgil Goode, you are an embarrassment and a danger to all that this country stands for. If you cannot do the job to which you were elected, if you cannot fulfil your oath to protect and preserve the Constitution and the principles it was designed to ensure, you should resign and never more seek public office.

Sources:

Happy Prove You're Not Muslim, Jewish, or Liberal Day!

2006-12-20T11:29:00.000-08:00

(I try not to duplicate posts on my two blogs, but this one was very relevant to both audiences, so I'm breaking my own rule.)
And the war rages on...not the war in Iraq, not the War on Terror, but the War on Christmas. This week, here in Roanoke, we were treated to Bill O'Reilly staging another insurgent attack on those who would occupy his holiday.

"The far left has become completely unhinged over losing the Christmas controversy. And the most hysterical item we've come across comes from the Roanoke Virginia Times. Editorial page editor Dan Radmacher, a far left ideologue, whining, saying fewer people are saying 'Happy Holidays'. Dan doesn't like that and then levels personal attacks against me and others for believing it is wrong to prevent people - to prevent people - from saying 'Merry Christmas'. Radmacher's column was disgraceful, and upon researching this loon, we found he uses personal attacks all the time. So we called his publisher, Wendy Zomparelli, but she's hiding under her desk."

Here's the thing. One of the most effective tools employed by the Nazi party in the years during which it rose to and maintained its power, was the "Hitler Greeting." If I walked up to you and greeted you with "Heil, Hitler!" and you replied with, "Hello, good morning" I knew immediately that we were ideological opposites, because in my world view as a Nazi party member, anyone who was not also a party member would be an ideological opposite.

We're not at the point yet where conservatives greet each other with "Freedom!" or some other slogan which sets them apart from the dangerous others they are seeking to rid themselves of, but if you consider the flag lapel pin a replacement for the armband and the W sticker on Republican rear windows a replacement for the swastika...along with the feeling that as a liberal you are not entitled to fly the flag or even consider yourself a patriot...you get a little feeling for life in the Weimar Republic.

In fact, as I've said for years now, the rhetoric of the conservative pundits and the Nazi propaganda machine are frighteningly similar. Try this experiment. Spend one day listening to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Michael Reagan, Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly. Then take any speech from a Nazi party official or read Mein Kampf but do the following:

Replace "JEW" with "Muslim"
Replace "COMMUNIST" with "Liberal"
Replace "FATHERLAND" with "Homeland"
Replace "GERMANY" with "America"

If you do, I'm sure you'll be astonished by how familiar it all sounds. Seriously. Try it. I beg you.

Christmas, however, presents a unique opportunity for these Radical Neo-Cons to test something very like that "Hitler Greeting". All of conservative radio at this time of year is aflame with encouragement to proudly proclaim your Christianity by greeting everyone--regardless of their own faith or persuasion-- with Merry Christmas in order to antagonize all those out to prevent Christians from celebrating their holiest holiday. They also call upon the "faithful" to boycott shops that don't say "Merry Christmas" on their signs and avoid shops where you are greeted with "Happy Holidays" instead of an overt proclamation of Christian faith.

It isn't technically the same as saying don't patronize the shops of liberals, Jews or Muslims but a difference that makes no difference is no difference. It isn't about defending Christmas, it is about making life difficult for everyone who isn't exactly like you. Is that a message Jesus would want to be associated with?

I am, in fact, a Christian, and I believe that the spirit of the holiday encourages me to spread love and unity, and to respond with kindness and love of all men, as per the final commandment Jesus gave his followers before his exectution. I don't believe that I am called to identify and persecute those who are not of the same faith or political persuasion. I don't want my expression of Christmas wishes for a happy holiday season, of goodwill, and desire for peace to be a means of division, seperation, and hurtfulness. I don't think Jesus would either.

I know that Jesus said not to think he came to bring peace on Earth but to bring a sword. But he also said by our fruit shall we be known, and he knows if you are using His name to spread hate or to spread love. He knows if you seek his grace to allow you to forgive or if you are abusing his grace to justify angry retribution. And as a Christian I deeply resent the efforts of our President to use the season of giving to justify calling on Americans to do more shopping. Today in his press conference he stood there in the guise of a Christian and called upon the nation not to love one another or do more giving, but to do more shopping. I resent that the season of giving has become the season of last minute economic recovery.

What I wish for Christmas is that Christians will live as Jesus lived, that they will turn the other cheek, forgive, and prove their faith by demonstration in works. And that in so doing, that their eyes will be opened to the hypocrisy of those with political power who build their kingdoms on earth by misleading the hearts of men. But most of all, I wish and pray that the War On Christmas is not a successful war against all that is not Radical Fundamentalist Christian Ideology.

Sources:

Choosing between God and Country

2006-07-30T02:57:00.000-07:00

I want to say a public thank you to Rev. Gregory A. Boyd, pastor of a conservative mega church in Minnesota.

When his flock continued to pester him to take political stands from the pulpit, to denounce gay marriage in sermons, introduce Republican candidates at service, have anti-abortion tables at the church, proclaim America a Christian Nation, and display an American flag next to the cross--he said no.

1,000 of his 5,000 member congregation left his church because of that stand.

What made them so angry wasn't just his refusal to bow to their political will, but that he practiced what he preached and preached what Jesus taught. Six times he preached a sermon called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns.

Don't get the idea that Rev. Boyd is some activist liberal. He is not. He doesn't believe that God condones homosexuality and is opposed to abortion. He simply understands that Jesus meant what he said about being distracted by things of the world instead of matters of the spirit.

“When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses,” Mr. Boyd preached. “When it conquers the world, it becomes the world. When you put your trust in the sword, you lose the cross.”

Why should that be controversial among Christians who claim to love Jesus and to follow his teachings? Where in the Bible does Jesus call for regime change through violence, bloodshed, torture, and the other means our born again president employs?

Where is it written, except in Republican propoganda, that the best proof of faith in Jesus is support for this president, his war, and his policies?

How can anyone read their bible and then believe that Christianity is in any way connected to American Nationalism and Republican politics?

They should remember that the thing that most angers their savior is hypocrisy. They should remember Christ's passion for peace, pacifism, forgiveness, and committment to avoid wealth in favor of giving aid to the poor, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and healing the sick.

These are the things Rev. Boyd was called to preach.

And because he did, he was accused of disrespecting the President and the troops, soft on abortion, and of telling them not to vote. Isn't it more important to them that he was telling them to respect Jesus, honor those who put into action the teachings of Christ, be forgiving, and to avoid the temptation to put the things of the world before the things of the spirit?

He is right to point out that for many Christians in this country, their passion for politics and patriotism has become a form of idolotry.

I am reminded of Galations 4:16.

Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Find your way back to Jesus, people, and stop putting your faith in George W. Bush.

Sources:

Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock, By LAURIE GOODSTEIN, The New York Times, 7, 30, 2006

Evangelicals militant when it comes to Israel, End of Days, By Zev Chafets, Contra Costa Times, 7,30, 2006

How far should Christian tolerance of other faiths go? The Rev. Robert Lee Hill of Community Christian Church, Kansas City Star, 7, 29, 2006

The Lure of Theocracy: As we flee decadence, we must watch where we step. By Philip Yancey, Christianity Today, 07/10/2006

Know Thy Neighbor

2006-06-16T06:34:00.000-07:00

Was watching CNN this morning (what my friend Ray Holloway used to call "the swirling eddies of the coming apocolypse") and caught an interview Miles O'Brian did with pastor Gary DeBusk of Christ Church of Peace.

This is a church in Florida which is networking with an organization called Know Thy Neigbor. They have launched an effort to use information freely available to the public to post on-line the names and addresses of people who have signed petitions supporting a ban on gay marriages.

The people on these petitions are outraged, and Miles (as a bona fide member of the mainstream media with his obvious liberal bias) was taking Pastor DeBusk to task for this terror tactic.

Pastor DeBusk replied that this was all information freely available to the public and that he found it rather odd that people who would so strongly support a change to the Constitutions of their states or the nation would prefer to do so under the cover of darkness and in secrecy.

Miles asked him if, by using this tactic, he also was in favor of websites which post the names and addresses of doctors who perform abortions.

Way to stick it to the conservatives, Miles, you ultra-liberal mouthpiece.

This clearly flummoxed the pastor, who could immediately see that Miles was infering that highly organized groups of militant gays might start killing these good theocrats who innocently signed these petitions, just as abortion doctors have been killed by fanatic fundamentalist anti-abortion advocates.

His stammering undermined his credibility...and then Miles went in for the kill with, "Is this website something that Jesus would do?"

Pastor DeBusk was shocked to be placed so squarely on the defensive and then said, "I wouldn't presume to say what Jesus would do." A fair answer, but since he is a minister, one might suspect he'd be in a unique position to make those presumptions.

I realize that sitting here at my keybord it is easy to armchair quarterback the interview. I might have lost my temper and done even worse. But here is what I wish Pastor DeBusk might have said to Miles.

I wish he'd said, "Miles, isn't it ironic that the very same people who so strongly advocated their right to post information identifying the people who performed actions they disapproved of are now so outraged when the same tactic is used to identify them? It lets you clearly see why of all the things which angered Jesus, hypocrisy topped the list."

I wish he'd said, "Miles, I can't say for certain what kind of website Jesus might put online, however I can say with absolute certainty what Jesus said, because it is written in the Bible. As the people who signed these hateful petitions surely know, for they believe the bible is the literal truth, Jesus commanded us to love one another, he asked us to forgive, not to hate, to pay our full share of taxes, to avoid accumulation of wealth, to heal the sick, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked. I'd like to ask the conservative base of the Republican party who claim to be Christians how they can so consistently take political positions which are polar opposites of the postions Christ so strongly advocated in his teachings."

The thing which makes me so angry is how the so-called conservative Christians in this nation, whom I call the Theocratic Elite and other call the American Taliban, have effectively linked advocating redistribution of wealth, anti-poverty work, universal health care, forgiveness rather than retribution, anti-hunger efforts, and other positions clearly advocated by Christ as linked to Communism. Because they have successfully done this, actually doing What Jesus Would Do is seen by them as both Anti-Christian and Anti-American.

That old devil sure does good work.

Know they neighbor, examine their fruit, and be wary of those who would work in secret to limit the freedoms of others.

Source:
Another website to list gay-marriage foes: Mass. critic assails tactic's use in Florida, By Lisa Wangsness, The Boston Globe, June 12, 2006

Practice Waging A Crusade for Post Rapture Theocracy With This New Video Game!

2006-06-07T03:19:00.000-07:00

If you ever wondered what video game Jesus would play...did you imagine it would be this one?

Left Behind: Eternal Forces

Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life.

The game, slated for release by October 2006 in advance of the Christmas shopping rush, has been previewed at video game exhibitions, and reviewed by major newspapers and magazines. But until now, no fan or critic has pointed out the controversial game's connection to Mr. Warren or his dominionist agenda.

(From Talk2Action

Good Friday's No Shame Theatre piece

2006-04-15T04:24:00.000-07:00

Friday Nights I'm always at No Shame Theatre...last night was Good Friday and it was no exception.
Here's the piece I did last night--

Easter Greetings from the Heart of Archie
(Lights up on Archie at his desk. He is eerily calm and serene.)

Hey, I'm Archie Levine...and THIS is what I think....I think you're probably wondering where my anger is.

Why aren't my veins popping out of my head?

Why aren't I yelling and screaming?

God knows I've got plenty I could be yelling and screaming about.

There are more retired generals calling for Rumsfeld to resign than there are Americans who think Bush is doing a great job.

(Rising anger through this section)

There's Tom DeLay's resignation, there's the Homeland Security official caught in an online underage sex sting, and there's the Scooter Libby revelation that Bush was the leaker he said he'd fire for leaking the information that led to the outing of a covert CIA operative in a time of war.

There's Bush telling us that for our protection and to help America understand why he was saying what he said in his speeches about the war, he declassified the tiny part of the National Intelligence Estimate which addressed his claims of WMD in Iraq, but didn't declassify the overwhelming majority of the same classified document which contradicted that very claim...

There's the fact that even Rush Limbaugh is saying you can't execute Moussaui for not telling us something because we have a 5th amendment right not to incriminate ourselves.

There's the insane perversion of logic in the argument that Moussaui deserves to be put to death because his not telling everything he knew to the FBI was the cause of the deaths of 3,000 innocent people on September 11th....even though Bush not telling us everything he knew caused us to launch a pre-emptive war which killed at least 33,000 innocent people!

There's the Council on Family Relations who are bankrolling lawsuits by students around the country who want to use the courts to force universities with anti-discrimination codes of conduct to repeal those codes so that Christians can have the freedom to express their religion by telling fags that God hates them and will make them burn in Hell.

There is John McCain speaking at the Liberty University where Jerry Falwell is putting everything he can into the creation of a biblically based Law School so that there will be wave after wave of Dominionist End Time Theologians with the legal credentials to sweep secularists from the benches in our courts and liberals from the seats of power in our government.

(At the peak of apoplexy)

There are revelations after revelations about the lies, greed, corruption, and incompetence of our current government that are staggering in the extreme and so dangerous I can't get to sleep at night without taking a bottle of vodka to bed with me!

(Calming to serentity again)

So, why am I so calm?

Because it is Holy Week. Because instead of thinking about what the Theocratic Elite are telling me Jesus says to hate, and destroy, and punish...instead of watching Pat Robertson and Falwell and the Council of Conservative Christians try to figure out how to get God to start the End Times ahead of schedule....I had a little look at what Jesus had to say about his life, and his message...and his death...which we commemorate this day.

If I were to meet Judge Roy Moore, who said his Christianity had moved him to donate a graven stone image of the Ten Commandments to the foyer of the Alabama Courthouse in which he was the sitting Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court...I'd ask him why he didn't instead donate a stone memorial to the commandment Jesus gave, just before he was taken by the Romans?

Jesus told his disciples, "I have a new commandment for you...that you should love one another."

Wouldn't that be a world changing thing to have inscribed above every courthouse in the nation? Or, for that matter, above the front doors of every school, church, and town hall in the land? Emblazened on every drinking fountain, every fountain pen, every bumpersticker, on every lapel pin, every coin, every dollar bill, and every prison gate in America?

"I command you to love one another" --signed, Jesus.

God gave Moses Ten Commandments. Jesus gave us one.

And so, I'm trying to fulfill that commandment.

At least through Easter.

George Bush, I love you. John Ashcroft, I love you. Judge Roy Moore, I love you. Donald Rumsfeld, I love you. Dick Cheney, I love you. Zacharias Moussaui, I love you. Mohammad Atta, I love you. Osama bin Laden, I love you. Saddam Hussein, I love you.

And I love each of you, too.

Who Would Jesus Love?

It went extremely well...with strong audience response even though after all these years of yelling and screaming my voice gave out at a couple of the screechiest parts and my mouth was incredibly dry for some reason...need to remember to have a Ricola handy to suck on right before each piece I do.

One of the nicest comments I got afterwards came from a fellow who is a conservative enough Libertarian to make Neal Boortz shift uncomfortably in his seat. This guy came up to me and said he loved the piece. Another guy told me it was the best Archie Levine editorial he'd ever seen, and two others asked if I'd be putting it up on my blog...so, by popular request, here you go.

Jesus wants me to give voice to my hate...and you can't stop me!

2006-04-12T02:19:00.000-07:00

Christians Sue for Right Not to Tolerate Policies: Many codes intended to protect gays from harassment are illegal, conservatives argue. By Stephanie Simon, LA Times Staff Writer,
April 10, 2006

The same Christians who hate the activism of the courts and frivolous lawsuits are taking to suing schools in order to eliminate anti-hate speech and anti-discrimination codes. Why? Because they feel their religion compells them to be intolerant of gays, and they want to be able to tell them that homosexuals are an abomination and headed for Hell.

They claim that because they are kept, by law, from expressing their intolerance and moral imperative to discriminate against homosexuality that they are persecuted. They, and organizations like Focus on the Family, claim religion in general, and Christianity in particular, are under attack in America. They feel they are waging a war to defend Christianity in an actual war being waged against them. 80% of evangelicals honestly believe this.

In a nation where we are more than 80% Christian, it is outrageous that extremist members of fundamentalist Christian groups can claim persecution and demand a right to persecute others. Especially when they now in control of all three branches of government. If there is a war, it is the dominionists who have declared it, and who are most actively waging it.

Please, one of you people out there who are supportive of this kind of ministry, explain to me how it reflects Christ's efforts to increase his flock? Is it the parable of the fig tree?

How about how he related with actual people?

Try living a perfect example, and stop trying to legislate your narrow idea of morality. Stop using Jesus as an excuse to hate or cause misery to your fellow human being. Please. Stop hurting Jesus.

What ever happened to that nice little song we used to sing in Sunday school? You remember..."They shall know we are Christians by our love...by our love."

Regime Change...does it Subvert God's Will?

2006-04-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

I don't understand Dominionism.

I don't understand the current blend of End Time Theology with political power. None shall know the hour or the day...and they certainly can't hurry it along by attempting to fulfil prophecy prematurely. It doesn't work like that.

Hurrying prohpecy is as much an affront to divine authority and intelligent design by an omnisicent creator as trying to thwart prophecy, isn't it? Isn't one of the awesome things about prophecy that it takes care of itself? (I know that the inevitability of prophesy and free will seem to be at odds, but like the bible says, best not to lean to my own understanding on things like that. I sure wasn't around when the foundations of the earth were laid and measured!)

I also don't understand Conservative Christians who want to be the instrument of divine punishment. Vengeance is Mine, sayeth the Lord. That's what the bible says.

It does not say, "Vengeance is Mine," sayeth the Lord, "but I have outsourced it to the Republicans."

I don't understand how pre-emptive war is a concept accepted or tolerated by any Christian who believes Jesus said to love your enemies and to turn the other cheek.

And I don't understand a self-professed Born Again Christian who thinks Regime Change is an action sanctified by God. The bible teaches us that evil leaders are placed on their thrones by God as a punishment by God on the people. Somehow I don't think George Bush sees removing Saddam Hussein as a benevolent act designed to tell God that he's punished that people enough. Although, the argument could be legitimately made that maybe George didn't think God was punishing them enough and he wanted to take it up a notch. I'd be very interested to see the statistics on the number of people Saddam killed over his entire rulership of Iraq and the number killed since our liberation of that nation. I'd also like to see the statistics on the number of innocent children who died as a result of abortions and the number who have been killed as a result of sanctions and military action on the part of our nation which is supposedly motivated by Christian principles.

I have thought a lot about whether Bush is a punishment on our nation for its hypocrisy. I've wondered about how a just God can allow a person to gain so much political power by misrepresenting the message of his only begotten son...I've wondered why Jesus lets so many of his followers quote from the Old Covenant in order to justify hatred and punishment of what they hate rather than adhere to the message of forgiveness and tolerance at the heart of the New Covenant he died in order to bring to us. I've thought about the lies and secrecy of my government and how much God hates secrecy and lies.

This thinking has led me to believe that the punishment on our nation in the form of the leader we have allowed to sit over us is just. (Consider Nebuchadnezzar)

How can it be otherwise?

What we must do is accept that this punishment is just, but that acceptance is not in order to permanently submit to it, but to learn the lessons of that punishment and to then take action to be redeemed.

This is the big distinction between the Old and the New Testaments. The possibility of redemption and forgiveness.

As Jesus instructed, the favor of the Father is not won by good deeds or strict adherance to Law, but by taking into our hearts the spirit of the law. When we do that, we can not help but do good works because the spirit moves us to do so. Then God will lift the punishment.

So, you see, unlike a lot of liberals...I am actually inclined to accept George Bush's claim that God placed him in the Oval Office...just not for the reason he thinks. I guess we'll know when George is afflicted with a mania that has him acting like a beast of the field.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all those people who have used their claims of faith in Jesus to gain political power and wealth were moved more by the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount than they were by the spirit of Exodus and Deuteronomy?

So, come on, America. Let's all show God we've learned our lesson and we've been punished enough.

Who did Jesus say would be called the Sons of God? The peace makers. Not the pre-emptive war makers. Don't let's make a desert and call it peace. That isn't what Jesus had in mind.

Vote for Peace Makers and show God you mean business. Be merciful and God will be mericful. Love and be loved. Offer the other cheek. Stop building wealth and start being charitable. Forgive and be forgiven.

I'm a Christian. I believe in Seperation of Church and State. I am not against having a Christian president...but by their fruit shall we know them, and if we elect Christian leaders, shouldn't we expect them to actually led by a Christian example?

I think so. Jesus probably does, too.

More reading:

The Despoiling of America: How George W. Bush became the head of the new American Dominionist Church/State By Katherine Yurica

What Kind of College Would Jesus Go To?

2006-03-27T13:04:00.000-08:00

A College That's Strictly Different, Chronicle of Higher Education, March 24, 2006

If you're looking for signs of the Theocratic America that Tim LaHaye prays for, you don't have to look much further than Pensacola Christian College.

It was founded 30 years ago, perfectly timed with the beginning of the Republican Revolution, and is about as restrictive and repressive an environment as anything the Taliban might have set up...well, except for the fact that they are "co-ed" in Pensacola. And claim to be Christian.

I'd really advise reading the Chronicle article, it is as informative as it is scary.

Some highlights for you:

It is not accredited, and so some students have to start college over when they discover that their degree is worthless in the eyes of some employers...though it might be priceless in the eyes of God.
Dissent is never tolerated, and expulsions for even minor infractions are routine.
Students are rewarded for turning each other in for infractions.
There are restrictions on when and where men and women may speak to each other.
Some elevators and stairwells may be used only by women; others may be used only by men.
Socializing on particular benches is forbidden.
If a man and a woman are walking to class, they may chat; if they stop en route, though, they may be in trouble. Generally men and women caught interacting in any "unchaperoned area" — which is most of the campus — could be subject to severe penalties.
A man and a woman cannot go to an off-campus restaurant together without a chaperon (usually a faculty member). Even running into members of the opposite sex off campus can lead to punishment.
Men and women are not allowed to be at the beach together.
Even couples who are not talking or touching can be reprimanded for engaging in "optical intercourse" — staring too intently into the eyes of a member of the opposite sex. This is also referred to as "making eye babies."
Video games are banned by the college.
Movies are also forbidden, including those rated G.
Music is restricted to classical or approved Christian ("contemporary Christian" artists are deemed too worldly).
Students are allowed to watch television news at 6 o'clock, but TVs are controlled by college employees, who flip a switch to black out the commercials, lest students see anything inappropriate.
In the library, books and magazines are censored.
According to its website "God has called this institution into existence for His own glory; therefore, the administration, faculty, and staff are dedicated to training young people for His service." The divine inspiration for the college allows the institution to intimidate students by telling them that quitting once enrolled is the same as quitting God. If you are expelled, then God has no more use for you than the college did.
The college is Baptist, but not affiliated with the any official Baptist organization. Both its founders are graduates of Bob Jones University but is even more conservative than Bob Jones, which PCC criticizes for using translations of the Bible other thant he King James Version. Bob Jones struck back by criticizing PCC for trying to claim the high ground of Fundamentalism. (To my mind a dubious distinction, but that's what they are into. Be Ye Hot or Be Ye Cold, I guess, but how hot can you get and not be able to tell the difference from the fires of Hell? How strict do you have to be to complain that Bob Jones University is too liberal?)
While computer labs exist, internet access is tightly controlled and limited to only a few hundred approved websites.
One of the founders has also established A Beka Books, acknowledged as the largest Christian-textbook company in the world. A Beka sells textbooks to more than 10,000 Christian schools across the country, offering a complete curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade. It has also won a big share of the lucrative home-school market and brings in about $70 million in revenue each year. Income from the book company subsidizes the costs of the college, and allows them to keep tuition low enough to entice students away from other rival Christian colleges.
Christianity is woven throughout the curriculum. Creationism is taught in science courses. Classes begin with a prayer. Along with mandatory chapel services, students must attend the campus church three times every week; they are not allowed to go to another church unless they are from the Pensacola area, and even then they need special permission. Mandatory small-group prayer meetings are held in the evenings.
According to their website: "We believe in the imminent, pre-Tribulation return of Jesus Christ for all believers. This Rapture of the saints will be followed by a seven year period of Tribulation, after which Christ will return in glory to judge the world and set up His millennial reign on earth."

I wonder if they reimburse you for tuition if the Rapture occurs before the end of the semester?

As a college level instructor myself, who teaches at a primarily Christian private college, I can tell you that this movement to impose a Christian curriculum on public institutions while providing an ever more radical Fundamentalist approach to education in the private schools and colleges is a frightening trend.

The Independent/UK recently published an article which revealed the startling number of graduates of another Christian private school, Patrick Henry College, ending up working for George Bush at the White House.

I think that, even though I am a Christian myself, the most dangerous thing facing our nation at the moment is the rise in political power of the Fundamentalist movement of Conservative Christians.

Don't let them use your faith against you, and remember that the Anti-Christ will convince many that he is Jesus. I'm tempted to say he's got a pretty good plan, there.

Here's the smell test I use. If a religious doctrine, church, or zealot seems to be using his religion to justify hatred and violence instead of love and forgiveness...it probably ain't coming from Jesus.

Who Would Jesus Expell?

Would You Vote For Jesus?

2006-03-20T05:38:00.000-08:00

Reader Sue Bumpous of Alexandria, Va., submitted this quote (to Newsweek's Periscope): "Right now, I wouldn't vote Democratic if Jesus Christ was running."

Spoken by Judy Deats, a Texas Republican, who is standing by Rep. Tom DeLay in his re-election bid despite the fact that his association with lobbyist Jack Abramoff has made him vulnerable to political opposition for the first time in more than 20 years.

Easy for her to say, since Jesus isn't likely to run for public office...but suppose he did. Suppose he even ran as a Republican but held true to his own teachings. Would any Republicans vote for him?

Back during the Harriet Meyers fiasco, my identical cousin wrote a short piece for something called No Shame Theatre. The piece contemplates whether the Christian Right and Theocratic Elite would confirm Jesus if he were nominated to sit on the highest court in the land. The great irony is, I'm sure they wouldn't--even though each and every one of them expects to be judged favorably by Him when they "go on up to the place that's the best."

I reprint it here:

Confirm This
By Todd Wm. Ristau (Copyright 2005, all rights reserved)

(lights up on GEORGE BUSH, standing at a podium.)

BUSH: There’s been, uh, a lot of chatter…whispering…guessing about my nomination of Harriet…People in congress saying she isn’t smart enough to be a supreme court justice…that she’s promised people things…that she’s just getting nominated because she’s the person who gives me legal advice…Let me put it this way, you think she isn’t qualified and I’m just paying back some favors. You people got a lot of nerve, you know that? I’m the President. I’m an important person and people all over the world recognize that, but you people think you can do better than me. You can’t. But, I prayed on it, and I talked to my closest personal advisor last night, and he urged me to withdraw Harriet Miers, and so, that’s what I’m doing. Not because I’m weak, but because I’m strong. I’m strong enough to know when to just listen to advice and when to actually take it. (pause) And so, I’m nominating someone you all already love. Or, if you don’t love him, you’d better start loving him, because if you don’t love him, you’re going to have a powerful want of air conditioning in the not too long from now. Heh..heh. (pause) Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the next Supreme Court justice of the United States… My best friend…Jesus.

(GEORGE BUSH walks off stage and JESUS CHRIST enters. A hundred flashbulbs go off. He sits at a long table, wearing a nice suit with a flag lapel pin. He is behind a microphone, pushes his hair to one side and addresses the Senate. Seated in the audience are five SENATORS, who speak without standing.)

JESUS: Thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished members of the Senate, I am ready for your questions.

SENATOR 1: Mister Christ—

JESUS: Senator, you can call me Jesus.

SENATOR 1: Mister Christ, we haven’t had a lot of time to review your record or your legal paper trail, but you are a public figure…and I have to say that some of what is in the public record is of great concern to some of us in the Senate and to our constituents.

JESUS: I understand. Please, feel free to ask any questions you might have. A lot of what a person says in their youth are but stones on the path which takes them to a mature understanding. I recognize there may be seeming contradictions and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight.

SENATOR 1: I’d like to begin by asking you about your devotion to democracy.

JESUS: I’m sorry…is that a question?

SENATOR 1: I’ve looked through your speeches and writings and I can’t find a single mention of democracy or a discussion of individual freedoms in any of them.

JESUS: Senator, I have long used the terms King, King of Kings, and Kingdom of Heaven to illustrate a metaphoric point. If I had the chance to do it again, I believe I would replace that archaic terminology with President, President of Presidents, and Democracy of Heaven.

SENATOR 1: So you do believe in the democratic institutions which make this nation great?

JESUS: I think it is clear that God is in a tight campaign to win the popular vote in the hearts and minds of the people of this nation, and that the granting of free choice to humanity was a tacit affirmation of democratic principles--and the precious right of choice, even if one chooses to make bad choices.

(Jesus smiles, he thinks he scored points with the Senators)

SENATOR 1: So, you are pro-choice?

(Jesus looks nervous, murmurs among senators)

SENATOR 2: If the Senator will yield, I have some questions about the role of the judiciary.

SENATOR 1: I do so yield, but with the proviso that I may return to this important question.

SENATOR 2: Jesus, I have noted in your public speeches several instances of a predisposition toward mercy. If confirmed as a Justice of the Nation’s highest court, would you administer harsh punishment when warranted?

JESUS: The merciful will receive mercy.

SENATOR 2: That’s what you’ve said. My constituents are ardently in favor of the death penalty as both a punishment and a deterrent. We are very concerned about your having taken steps in the past to halt the legal execution of an adulteress.

JESUS: Senator, it is true that I halted that execution, however I’d like to point out that I later submitted to my own execution.

(Murmers of approval from all senators but #2)

SENATOR 2: But you were not guilty of the crime for which you were executed. Not only were you innocent of that crime but of any crime, and yet you paid the ultimate price for the false accusation! Doesn’t your very death therefore stand as an argument against death as a punishment?

(Jesus looks nervous, murmurs from the senators)

SENATOR 3: If the senator will yield—

SENATOR 2: I do so yield, but on the proviso—

SENATOR 3: Yes. Jesus, many of my constituents are hoping for a strict constructionist to sit on the bench. A judge who will interpret the constitution literally, as the founding fathers intended it, as they wrote it, and not legislate from the bench.

JESUS: George mentioned this to me.

SENATOR 3: You’ve said that not one jot of the law can be changed, and yet you have also been sharply criticized for taking a stand against being too strict in the interpretation of law…saying that love of the letter of the law blinds one to the spirit of the law. Which is your current position?

JESUS: Haven’t you read what David did when—

SENATOR 3: (confused) I’m sorry?

JESUS: When David went into the temple and ate the bread which only the priests were allowed—

SENATOR 3: I don’t think a parable is appropriate here. We are interested in specific answers to specific questions, not symbolic evasions. Please answer the question—are you, as a judge, there to interpret the law or to create the law?

JESUS: I am not the creator of the law, I am the fulfillment of the law.

(Senators look nervously at each other.)

SENATOR 4: Senator, if you will yield--

SENATOR 3: I do so yield.

SENATOR 4: I’m concerned about your position on privacy. I see here in one report that you have said “Nothing which is covered up will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.” Is this accurate?

JESUS: It is.

SENATOR 4: How can a government function—or even a private household—without an expectation of privacy?

JESUS: Where nothing is secret, there is no need of lies.

(Nervous murmurs among senators)

SENATOR 1: Jesus, I notice in your “teachings” that you seem to have a bias against wealth and those who have it. Something about a camel and a needle, and if you would be perfect, sell everything you have, including your home, and give everything to the poor.

JESUS: Well, let me explain about that…

SENATOR 4: Is it your position that the only perfect people are the impoverished and the homeless are to be exalted above the owners of property?

JESUS: I was illustrating, perhaps with hyperbole, that the things of this world can blind you to spiritual truths.

SENATOR 3: (with a chuckle) So, you’re saying that if confirmed you will forgo a salary?

JESUS: Is receiving something without sacrifice a satisfactory illustration of justice? Or of value?

SENATOR 4: The senate will ask the questions, Jesus, and you will confine yourself to answers.

SENATOR 5: Jesus, you sound to me like a communist. Frankly, some of us find that very disturbing. America is founded on the principle of a free-market economy and in an era where welfare reform is perhaps the single most import issues facing us, it is alarming that a nominee for the Supreme Court should be on record as having said that everyone should give to anyone who begs of them whatever is asked of them.

JESUS: Poverty issues are very important to me.

SENATOR 5: Yes, that much is clear. Are you, Jesus, anti-wealth?

JESUS: I do not conspire against wealth. It is wealth that conspires against you.

(Murmurs among the senators)

SENATOR 1: Jesus, as you know, this is a nation at war.

JESUS: I’ve talked with the President about that a lot.

SENATOR 1: Yes, and frankly, some of the quotes attributed to you have us very concerned about how you would rule in matters directly pertaining to the execution of that war and the fundamental doctrines of –

JESUS: The senator is talking about Pre-emption.

SENATOR 2: Yes…you’ve said: “Don’t resist one who is evil” and advocated turning the other cheek if struck. You have cautioned against vengeance.

JESUS: (slightly evasive) The whole “love your enemies” thing has been blown out of proportion, and as the President has tried to convince me, the issue of turning your cheek after being struck is only an issue if you allow yourself to be struck in the first place. I would advocate not being struck. Taking steps to avoid being struck before the striking occurs.

SENATOR 3: Is that the same as saying “strike or be stricken”? Or are you talking about appeasement?

(Jesus looks nervous again, fiddles with the flag on his lapel, senators murmur)

SENATOR 2: Jesus, as a nominee to one of three branches of government…I’m concerned about the extent of your personal relationship with the President and how that might compromise the separation of powers. Will you continue to have private conversations with the president if confirmed?

JESUS: Yes. I will talk to anyone who talks to me. I’d talk to you, too, if you called out to me, no matter what time or what subject.

(Murmurs)

SENATOR 4: Could you describe the nature of your conversations with the President? Have you ever discussed matters of policy, the execution of the War on Terror, or matters which might come before the judiciary? Is your role that of an advisor or a confidant?

JESUS: When we talk, he mostly does all the talking. He listens…very selectively. When I advised him that if your enemy hungers, to feed him; that if he thirsts, you should give him drink, and that by doing so you will heap coals of fire on his head….I think he just heard the coals of fire on his head part.

SENATOR 5: I see. You do not believe in pre-emptive acts of warfare, or in taking just retribution for violent acts against the state. You oppose secrecy in government even when such secrecy is in the best interest of the economy and national security. You think the rich are imperiled by their wealth and should give it away to anyone too lazy to work but with enough gall to ask for it…You think anyone who asks to be forgiven should be forgiven— no matter what their crime…You are soft on crime because you think its better for your soul to have your wealth stolen from you than it is to “hoard” it….You are a pacifist of the Peace at any Cost school of thought…and you're inconsistent....you say you come not to bring peace on earth but to bring a sword and then you turn around and say blessed are the peacemakers. It's outrageous and insulting.

JESUS: Senator, I think you are misrepresenting—

SENATOR 5: I’m just trying to get a clear picture of your underlying philosophy and I’m not sure I like what I’m hearing.

JESUS: Senator, it boils down to this. I think that if you can help, you should help. I think that loving your enemies includes not killing them. I believe that you cannot over come evil with evil but only with good. And I think that there is no crime which can not be forgiven if forgiveness is honestly sought.

SENATOR 1: Thank you, Jesus…You’ve been very cooperative.

(Long pause…Jesus stares up sorrowfully at the audience.)

JESUS: You think I’m too liberal to be on the Court, don’t you?

SENATORS: (in unison) We’ll be in touch.

(Lights out. End)

What do you think? Would any of these folks who hold hands with Jesus and wrap themselves in the flag really want Jesus on the bench or in the Oval Office?

If not, how can they claim to be his followers if they won't let him take the lead?

They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love...

2006-03-19T15:53:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" (Matthew 7:16)

Or, as the friendly angel in a Star Trek episode made the children chant: "As you believe, so shall you do, so shall you do, so shall you do."

The purpose of this blog is to, as I am called by Christ to do, promote a Christian ideal. And also, as Jesus so often did, to point out the hypocrisy of those who claim to follow and love him but whose fruit just doesn't bear that out.

I see a lot of people with WWJD bumperstickers...and I'm not convinced they actually know what Jesus would do.

Our president has made much of his belief in Jesus and how he answers to a higher power. This site is going to examine his fruit in great detail and attempt to determine if he's offering us grapes and figs or thistles and thorns.

It ought to be easy for those with eyes to see the difference.

Let's take something that came out today.

In Secret Unit's 'Black Room,' a Grim Portrait of U.S. Abuse, as reported by the New York Times.

Would Jesus have told his disciples "No Blood, No Foul" or advocated any form of torture, no matter how mild, to achieve his ultimate goal of fulfilling his Father's mission?

If Jesus wasn't lying about any injury to the least of his bretheren being an injury to God...Why aren't Christians rioting over the torture of these people as though they were torturing Christ?

I listen to a lot of the conservative talk radio hosts, who claim Christian virtues as quickly as they claim patriotism, and in fact don't draw a distinction between the two.

There are some problems with that, and if you believe in Jesus, you'd remember some things he said.

The "render unto Ceasar" quote from the Messiah argues for a seperation of church and state more effectively than Jefferson's writings on the subject and to a Christian ought to carry more weight.

It seems difficult to read the book of Matthew and come away convinced that Jesus would be a pro-war activist who would ridicule Cindy Sheehan and call anti-war activists the greatest threat to this nation next to Al Qaida. He didn't say blessed are the peacemakers after the evil ones have been destroyed. He said not to resist an evil person and to turn to him the other cheek.

Hard to get a doctrine of pre-emption out of that.

We hear the President constantly telling us that September 11th changed everything.

Did September 11th change the bible?

Does Jesus really think that the 3,000 people killed on that day justify the deaths of nearly that many US soldiers and between 30,000 to 100,000 civilians in Iraq?

Could one of you Conservative Christian Theocrats please explain to me why you honestly think Jesus is on your side and not the side his words would seem to indicate?

For more on this topic, and an explanation of Just War Theory, please visit this page: Serving God and Country, an article in today's Columbia Missourian.

A related article from the same paper gives Official Denominational Positions on the War in Iraq.

The frightening thing is that it pretty much breaks down into those denominations which are eager for the Second Coming and an angry Jesus who will seperate sinners from saints during the Battle of Armageddon, and those who are accept that Jesus knew what he was talking about when he said that none shall know the hour or the day and are willing to let God start Armageddon when he gets around to it.

I would also like those in the former camp to explain to me how, exactly, they came to the conclusion that they could do anything at all to hasten the coming of the End Times, and what makes them so certain they are working for the right side if they are trying to force God's hand.

Do You Love Jesus? Check Yes or No Before You Run For Office

2006-03-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

Jeff Sharp, county attorney for Barren County, and a church youth group are surveying all Kentucky legislators and legislative candidates with a single question: "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?" --Survey questions politicians on Jesus, by Peter Smith, The Courier-Journal (Kentucky), March 3rd, 2006

Jeff and his Theocratic Bullies (many of whom are school children) claim that this survey is just an effort to inform the voters, but he said he has two goals -- to get people thinking about whether to accept Jesus, and to let candidates know "we're watching them and watching their votes on things."

Now, the U.S. Constitution says, "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust." And to be fair, nobody is being required to fill out this survey, but the implication is pretty clear that if you don't say yes, you're going to have a hard time getting elected in Kentucky.

The survey, which gives candidates space to provide an "explanation or testimony" after their response, tells candidates that the class may provide the survey results to local churches in each candidate's area.

And so far, the ones who have replied have all replied that they sure do accept Jesus. Of course, Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington (who is Jewish), is causing no end of fuss over this. She was so anti-Jesus that she actually filed a resolution asking her House colleagues to disregard the survey and all "theocratic tendencies."

Sharp thinks Stein is making a mountain out of a mole hill. He says she shouldn't get so worked up about a simple little bitty ole survey.

What do you think?

How long before we actually do get a viable third party?

I forsee the fundamentalist base of the Republican Party breaking away and founding the Conservative Christian Party in the not too distant.

Because, that's what Jesus would do.

Remember that stirring part of the Sermon on the Mount where he told everyone to run for and win elections for everything from the school board to the Presidency in order to ensure dominance of their religious ideology through secular legislation?

If you don't, you're clearly not reading the Post 9-11 translation.