I'm getting increasingly tired of people claiming to be Christian, and at the same time, claiming that ignorance, discrimination, sexism, hatred, and intolerance are an inherent part of their religion. This is not the Christianity that I believe, nor is it consistent with my reading of Jesus.
So here are 10 arguments I'm tired of having - in no particular order.
1. Neither women's capacity to reproduce, nor their right to autonomy over that capacity, are a threat to Christianity.
2. Jesus told us to welcome strangers, not ask for their papers.
3. Jesus told us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. He did not ask for a drug test first to see if they deserved it.
4. Jesus healed people. He didn't ask for an insurance card, and he sure as hell didn't say "let 'em die" if they couldn't pay for the care.
5. No one has a divine right to own a gun. I'm pretty sure killing is not cool within Christianity.
6. What would Jesus do? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't claim that any kind of discrimination in his name is an exercise of religious freedom.
7. Religion and science are not in competition. Knowledge blesses God. Neither science, nor history, nor geology, nor climatology, nor evolution, nor any other kind of scholarship are threatening to God or to Christianity. (If you're the kind of Christian who is threatened by these things, then blame your own lack of imagination, not Christianity.)
8. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer folks are made in God's image. God loves them. And if Jesus were around in June, I'm pretty sure he'd be marching in pride parades.
9. I'm a Christian and I think free contraception is a good idea. Might even save lives. Pretty sure there's nothing about Christianity that is in conflict with contraception.
10. The only thing that can be interpreted from the Bible about marriage is that the definition of marriage has evolved over time. No reason why it can't continue to evolve.
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Friday, August 10, 2012
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Why the GOP is Wrong for America
Reality is our friend folks. Especially if you are a public servant, charged with instituting public policy on behalf of the voters, reality is our friend.
But here's the hard part for Republicans - there are actually multiple realities going on concurrently in America.
The GOP would be fine governing a small state, where everyone is upper middle class, educated enough to support themselves, heterosexual, conservative Christian and supportive of patriarchy. Oh, and your ancestors had to have immigrated here between 1620 and, roughly, 1920. I'm happy to acknowledge that this world-view is reality for some Americans.
The GOP wants us all to believe that what I just described is not actually just one segment of America, but is the sum total of who we are. I hate to break it to the Republican leaders, but there are gay people in our country, who might want the freedom to get married one day. There are people of color in our country for whom the traditional system hasn't worked so well, and we might need to fix some things to give these folks a shot at the freedom you're so fond of. There are women in this country who would like the freedom to exercise their own moral agency. There are poor people who want desperately to do better for their family, but might need a little help to get there. There is an enormous budget deficit in our country, and there are many Americans who can easily afford to help us out with it.
So to the GOP, I ask, why do you only complain about the Executive overreaching when the President wants to help working Americans, but not when women's rights are being infringed? Where're your Tea Party libertarians when the government tells us who we can or cannot marry? And where's your rhetoric on freedom in relation to the immigration conversation?
To my Republican friends, we tried your short-sighted, wealth-centered economic policy before. You sold it to a lot of people, and convinced them to vote against their own economic interest using moral issues that have divided our country. Reagan created an economic disaster in the '80s (where Mr. Cheney learned that "deficits don't matter") that Clinton cleaned up in the '90s. W. Bush created the mess we're in now, that Obama will get us out of in the '10s. Over the last several decades, Democratic economic policies have been far and above more successful. Look at the facts folks, they speak for themselves.
I get that there are Conservative people in this country, and we need you to be a part of the conversation. But if you could stop lying about how your policies are better for the economy, or how you want a smaller government, I'd really appreciate it.
But here's the hard part for Republicans - there are actually multiple realities going on concurrently in America.
The GOP would be fine governing a small state, where everyone is upper middle class, educated enough to support themselves, heterosexual, conservative Christian and supportive of patriarchy. Oh, and your ancestors had to have immigrated here between 1620 and, roughly, 1920. I'm happy to acknowledge that this world-view is reality for some Americans.
The GOP wants us all to believe that what I just described is not actually just one segment of America, but is the sum total of who we are. I hate to break it to the Republican leaders, but there are gay people in our country, who might want the freedom to get married one day. There are people of color in our country for whom the traditional system hasn't worked so well, and we might need to fix some things to give these folks a shot at the freedom you're so fond of. There are women in this country who would like the freedom to exercise their own moral agency. There are poor people who want desperately to do better for their family, but might need a little help to get there. There is an enormous budget deficit in our country, and there are many Americans who can easily afford to help us out with it.
So to the GOP, I ask, why do you only complain about the Executive overreaching when the President wants to help working Americans, but not when women's rights are being infringed? Where're your Tea Party libertarians when the government tells us who we can or cannot marry? And where's your rhetoric on freedom in relation to the immigration conversation?
To my Republican friends, we tried your short-sighted, wealth-centered economic policy before. You sold it to a lot of people, and convinced them to vote against their own economic interest using moral issues that have divided our country. Reagan created an economic disaster in the '80s (where Mr. Cheney learned that "deficits don't matter") that Clinton cleaned up in the '90s. W. Bush created the mess we're in now, that Obama will get us out of in the '10s. Over the last several decades, Democratic economic policies have been far and above more successful. Look at the facts folks, they speak for themselves.
I get that there are Conservative people in this country, and we need you to be a part of the conversation. But if you could stop lying about how your policies are better for the economy, or how you want a smaller government, I'd really appreciate it.
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