Is the Christian Right either Christian or right?
Asked by
ETpro (
34605
)
November 9th, 2011
By Christian, I am not asking if they are members of a church that is classified as Christian; I mean do they follow the teachings of Jesus? If there were a crowd of hungry people gathered on the shores of a lake to hear a teacher, who would they applaud? Would they think someone who gave the poor fish and bread was the better person, or would the guy who set up a Long John Silver franchise and made a ton of money marketing fast food fish sandwiches to the masses be their hero?
By “are they right”, I don’t mean are they right wingers. I mean are their ideas correct or incorrect.
You may or may not like Rachel Maddow, but please set aside any prejudices and listen to the video where she exposes how lobbyist turned convicted felon, Jack Abramoff, funneled Koch Brothers money to Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition to use the religious right as dupes supporting his corporatist agenda. If you think Ms. Maddow is a left-wing water carrier, you may be right. But remember, that has nothing to do with whether what she says in the video is true or false. All the charges she levels are matters of record. Check for yourself.
So, is the Christian Right really acting like Christians and are they right about their positions?
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
44 Answers
I think that is one of the main arguments against religion, christianity, and american conservatives. Some seem to forget that Jesus was liberal as hell. If Jesus did come back, he would be slandered by Fox and such as a socialist, marxist, commie, and liberal.
These people are either intentionally hiding behind religion which makes them bad people, or very uninformed. And since one would think religious people would be knowledgeable of their own religion, I suspect many are hiding behind it to mask their horrible morals (or lack of).
If you look at their rhetoric and then view their actions, they are without a doubt the most hypocritical asses in the history of mankind. I’d best stop there.
Jesus was American, with blond hair and blue eyes. His robes were pristine white and smelled of freshly-cut honeysuckle. More than anything, Jesus helps those who help themselves.
I think that’s the rhetoric
@GladysMensch You lost me with that. Wasn’t Jesus mostly in the Middle East?
@Adirondackwannabe Yes, he was in the Middle East, but he looked exactly like his father; who everyone knows is American.
@Blackberry
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
forward into battle see his banners go!
I work on a simple principle, never, never give religious organizations money. It seems that they either become corrupt or use it to make more Christians, either outcome is, to me, unacceptable.
I hate that when I proclaim that I’m a “Christian, I quickly have to qualify it and say, “But not one of THOSE Christians!”
@Judi I can understand that as being frustrating. Those types of christians have left a pretty bad taste in a lot of mouths, and still are.
I do not believe the Christian right is “right” in either sense you mentioned. They are wrong in the way they interpret the teachings of their faith. The Gospel according to Matthew clearly states ”“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ I am not sure how to interpret this except to think God is saying that when we deny help to anyone, we are in fact denying God. Not so much in line with the behavior of the religious right. I have a huge problem with people who use God and His teachings to argue against helping those less fortunate than themselves.
They are neither charistian nor correct.
If speaking of Jesus… he wasn’t a Christian. He had nothing to do with Christianity.
Jesus was a teacher and follower of The Way. It didn’t become Christianity until religion got ahold of it… and butchered Jesus’ teachings to mean something else entirely than was originally intended.
If Jesus did come back, he would be slandered by Fox and such as a socialist, marxist, commie, and liberal.
@Blackberry You forgot “dirty hippie” and “draft dodger” (as you recall, Jesus was a peace-lover).
I think most of the Christian Right need some churchin’.
@CaptainHarley We agree again? WTF?
I find it funny that I know more about the Bible than many of them; they often only read a few select passages in order to justify themselves. A true Christian knows the entire book and follows Jesus’ teachings even if they disagree with them, so the Christian Right isn’t very Christian. And they are wrong about too many things to be considered “right” in any remotely objective definition of “right”; the fact that Earth goes around the Sun instead of the other way around proves that.
I am very, VERY aware of all the arguments about “who is a christian?” In this Country ( and I suspect, in many others ) many who call themselves christians are what I refer to as “cultural christians.” They call themselves christians because their parents called themselves christians, or because all their neighbors call themselves christians. It’s simply the thing to do, the way to BE. I am of the opinion that this is one reason why Jesus said, “Narrow is the way and straight is the gate, and few there be who find it.”
I literally have a t-shirt that says ‘The Christian Right is neither’ with Pat Robertson’s picture in the middle.
@Blackberry
Except that Jesus never IMPOSED on people to give their money to those who never earned it, and his definition of “poor” was radically different from ours. Now the government is actually using our tax dollars to provide cellphones to people! It’s true. Look it up.
He was fond of saying things like, “the poor you have always with you,” and “he who does not work, neither shall he eat.”
@CaptainHarley; I beg to differ. Remember the rich man who asked him how to get into heaven? Jesus imposed a lot! He told him to sell everything he owned and GIVE IT TO THE POOR.
Jesus knew that the guy was so wrapped up in his stuff that he would never be able to let go of it and trust him. The modern American Christians seem to have forgotten that story and also Matthew 25.
Jesus was not a capitalist.
@CaptainHarley ; Cell phones are a great investment. They are cheaper than land lines and they are a way for someone to get a job. Would you prefer they stay on welfare forever? In this modern age, if you can’t be reached on a dime, then there is something wrong and your chances of getting hired are practically zero.
@Judi
And if you think that those phones are being used to find jobs, your naievte is legendary! : )
@CaptainHarley, as a fello Christian, it makes me sad that you think all poor people are deadbeats.
@CaptainHarley The only reason I have the job I do now is because I got a call while I was out shopping. Had I had a landline instead of a cellphone, they would’ve moves on to the next name on the list, leaving me on unemployment, living at taxpayer expense instead of working and earning my money.
@Judi I notice that attitude a lot. Even after Florida proved that drug use amongst welfare recipients is lower than the general population, they persist in their claims that those without jobs are lazy drug addicts :/
@Judi
Didn’t say or mean “all.” Sorry I mislead you.
@jerv
Perhaps it’s because the last time I looked for a job was before cellphones were commonplace. I can’t imagine a legitimate business relying solely on cellphones to contact prospective employees. Sorry.
Cell phones are not a luxury in the modern world. For the homeless they might be the only hope of ever rising out of their plight.
@Judi
I have real trouble wrapping my mind around that one. In the world I came from, focus, intensity, and perseverance were what enabled people to rise above their circumstances, not cellphones.
@CaptainHarley You may not have noticed, but there are no longer any public payphones. A cellphone may be the only way a homeless person could contact emergency services such as the police or paramedics. And yes, most employers assume that everybody has a cellphone, so if you don’t have one, you may be out of luck. They have become a necessity.
@CaptainHarley It’s rough getting/being old, ain’t it :D
Seriously though, in today’s world, instant access is what people want. Employers are not going to waste time waiting for an applicant to return their call when they have hundreds if not thousands of other applicants who may or may not be right by the phone waiting and available right now instead of “in a few hours”. Any person who is really looking for a job is likely not home during the day; they are out (or should be) scouring the streets for “Help Wanted” signs, cold-calling in person (how I got the job before the one I have now), dropping applications off on-site, or otherwise actually working towards getting work.
It seems unfair to me to deprive a person trying that hard to be productive, someone who shows focus, intensity, and perseverance, of a way to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and become a productive member of the workforce just because some people feel that cellphones are a luxury in the same league as cable TV.
The world you came from still used live operators and corded handsets for phones, carburetors and clutches in every car, and employers believed in a fair days pay for a fair days work. None of those are true any longer.
@jerv
Hmmm. Never really thought of it that way.
Well I’m a nonreligious theist with some very unorthodox Christian views (different from the beliefs I was brought up to believe) and I have noticed a few things here related to this: 1. Conservative Christians tend to emphasize faith over works. 2. Liberal Christians tend to emphasize the Way and good works over blind faith. 3. Conservative Christians are in love with the masculine Old Testament while ditching everything in the New Testament except for the ‘Jesus is the only Way’ part. 4. Liberal Christians emphasize the importance of the New Testament over the Old Testament.
Interesting correlation here and I know this is a heavily atheist website but according to my beliefs I think we’ll be seeing more nontheists in heaven than conservative religionists. Yes indeed I think many RWNJ’s will be mighty surprised when that day comes.
I’m much like you in that I don’t hold with formal religion, but I don’t agree about your stand on “conservative Christians.” I was raised in that tradition and there are millions of people who still hold with that interpretation of scripture who are really decent human beings who love God and try to do their best to help their fellow humans. Paul said, “I will show you my faith BY my works.” We have to have a balance of faith and works or we miss at least half of what christianity is all about. Working for the betterment of our human brothers and sisters is not optional… neither is having the motivating faith to do so.
@CaptainHarley But what of those whose works consist almost solely of telling people that they are going to Hell? I think those are the ones most people have problems with.
Is it possible that you are more Liberal than you think?
Where I come from the people who are telling others that they are going to Hell are very much in the minority as far as Christians go. Unfortunately they are the ones who get all the publicity.
@jerv
I will pray for them. : )
The word is lib-er-tarian! : P
Answer this question 
Composing members:
0
