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Edited on Mon Nov-27-06 12:59 AM by NanceGreggs
Pounding The Pulpit
By Nancy Greggs
There is an old saying in the legal profession: “If the facts are on your side, pound the facts. If the law is on your side, pound the law. If you have neither the facts nor the law on your side, pound the podium.”
In today’s political climate, where the Religious Right now hold themselves out as a voting block to be wooed rather than true people of faith, it seems they have adapted that adage to suit their own untenable position. Having neither the law of God on their side, nor the political facts, they tend to pound the pulpit – repetitiously, publicly, and with all the volume they can muster.
In accordance with becoming part of a political force, the term “blind faith” took on a new meaning with respect to right-wing Christians; they had to blindly follow their leaders – the Falwells, the Robertsons – without questioning the growing gap between the teachings of their faith and the policies of the president, the administration, and the Republican Party they were admonished to support.
At first, it seemed everyone was on the same page. Bush and his party were anti-choice and anti-gay, two major issues for the Christian right, and any rhetoric aimed at a desire to overturn Roe v Wade or Constitutionally prohibit same-sex marriage was a sure-fire crowd-pleaser from the get-go.
But there was something else that had to be added to the mix, if the GOP were to secure the support of the Fundies: the demonization of the Democrats, the Liberals – the “far left extremists” et al – as Godless people not of a different moral standing, but of no moral standing at all.
A statement by Dr. James Dobson on the Larry King Show last week is a perfect case in point: “Those, again, on the more liberal end of the spectrum are often those who have no value system, or at least they say there is no moral and immoral, there is no right or wrong.”
While Dobson is not himself an ordained minister, this comment is typical of the religious-cum-politico right, anxious to portray those on the left as devoid of morality or a sense of right-and-wrong. We have heard it a million times, and read it a million more: The Liberals are Godless. In fact, the rabid pet of the holier-than-thou Conservatives, Ann Coulter, wrote a book on the topic, “Godless: The Church of Liberalism”, lest anyone miss the point.
And as long as one looked at the smoke-and-mirrors surface of displays of pseudo-faith, it seemed to make sense. After all, liberals were unlikely to pose for photo-ops at a prayer breakfast, or rail about “forcing Muslims to convert to Christianity”. It seemed pretty obvious that they didn’t have a “personal relationship with God”, because they consistently refused to turn that personal relationship into a public vote-getting spectacle.
As for having no sense of the difference between right and wrong, Liberals took every opportunity to prove the truth behind that oft-hurled epithet. By insisting that the president should abide by the Constitution he swore on the Bible to uphold, by pointing to the fact that the president lied, repeatedly, in presenting his case for war, and by being totally against the legitimization of torture, the Liberals left no room for doubt as to their inability to distinguish between the moral high-ground and the depths of depravity.
Honest to God (pun very definitely intended), it couldn’t be any plainer than the mark on Cain’s face. Were the Liberals to have their way, the country would be thrust into the hedonistic throes of affordable health care, along with peaceful diplomacy in place of simply invading and destroying countries that have the natural resources to which we allegedly have a God-given right.
What next? Blatant attempts to heal the sick, care for the afflicted, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless? One can plainly see why those Godless liberals must be stopped in their tracks.
But gradually, the disconnect between the teachings of Christ and support of a war that kills more than 600,000 innocent civilians begins to take its toll.
True Christians start to question the motives of an administration that caters to the wealthy at the expense of the hard-working. They start to wonder about the morality of government officials whose actions cause millions of citizens to fall below the poverty line, while corporations rake in profits that can only be described as obscene.
They start to notice that under the leadership of those they were urged to elect, the poor are getting poorer, the rich are getting richer, and the GOP’s “moral high-ground” is quickly becoming a quagmire of greed and corruption.
They start to consider that when it comes to political agendas, the “right” looks a little more wrong every day. And eventually, they come to the realization that the preachings of the Conservative Republicans are a far cry from the teachings of their most important leader, Jesus Christ.
Although the exact numbers may never be known, it seems clear from the recent election results that many of the religious right voted for those damned Liberals, the Democrats. And I predict this is not an isolated incident, but a growing trend. You can only fool some of the people some of the time; after that, they are likely to recognize the false prophets, the wolves in sheep’s clothing, and act accordingly.
No doubt the Dobsons, the Falwells, the Robertsons, and the Coulters will continue to encourage the concept that liberals, leftists, and Democrats are the devil’s own spawn, but it will become increasingly difficult to market such snake-oil to people who, as their faith admonishes them to do, look to the actions of their elected representatives as opposed to the passionately-delivered yet empty words.
More simply stated, the walk inevitably outweighs the talk, and even the most easily-led astray come around to the fact that Jesus was a Liberal, focused on things like justice, equality, stewardship of his Father’s earthly gifts, and is less than likely to be onboard with things like torture, unprovoked war, and the enrichment of the few to the detriment of the many. Eventually, even the most docile of sheep have the sense to distance themselves from the wolves, and look to the Good Shepherd for ultimate guidance.
Of course, there will always be those too blind to see; those who are ripe for a good fleecing from the flim-flam men who talk about the godliness of giving, while lining their own pockets with the proceeds of every Sunday’s collection plate. There will always be those too mindless to notice the hypocrisy of men who confess their sins only after being caught committing them, those who hear the words but never measure the actions of the people who speak them.
But the stranglehold the so-called religious right have had on their adherents is beginning to wane, as people of true Christian conscience awaken to the fact that Jesus’ message just doesn’t jibe with Republican double-speak, as they realize that a Liberal political candidate who supports doing unto others as one would have done unto them may not be quite as God-less as their political power-hungry pastors have led them to believe.
It won’t happen overnight; but it will happen. In fact, it has already begun. There is an ever-growing awareness among those of real religious commitment that bearing false witness against one’s political rivals is not in keeping with the tenets of their faith, any more than worshipping the false god of corporatism that exists for the sole purpose of making money on the backs of the desperately poor is consistent with their Christian morality.
As for the self-proclaimed reverends who continue to dissuade their flock away from true Christian values for the sake of gaining political influence and its attendant perks, perhaps it’s time to add another adage to our vocabulary with respect to those who really do the Lord’s work: “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, preach.”
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