Saturday, May 17, 2014

Why Am I A Liberal? Because The Bible Tells Me So

Those who support conservative causes often claim they have the high moral ground because of their religious beliefs. They live to taunt the left wing and throw the Holy Book in our faces, but I doubt any of them have ever really read what is in the Good Book because if they had they would know that Christ is a liberal. Read from Scripture and you'll be reading a blueprint for the progressives' social and political agenda. While conservatives preach against the welfare state and taxation of the wealthy, the Bible says just the opposite. I was reminded of this fact when reading Dr. Lance Moore's powerful book "Class Crucifixion: Money, Power, Religion and the Death of the Middle Class."

So why is it that people of faith, by and large, support Republicanism? Dr. Moore builds a strong case for the perversion of religion by the right to advance its hateful, selfish and greedy agenda. He writes, "If you count yourself a person of faith, I beg you to actually read the Bible!" The few times I attend religious services, Protestant ministers and Catholic priests seem to carefully avoid the passages which promote left-wing causes and social justice. For instance, Jesus said, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor." Hardly the current Republican philosophy. Then there is this from Jesus, "Woe to you who are rich for you have already received your comfort," and "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor."

I'll be damned. Jesus was a Socialist. Forget everything hypocrites like Jerry Falwell have ever said or done. Dismiss Billy Graham. To hell with every right-wing Bible thumper who has ever shouted "fire and brimstone." They are snake-oil salesmen, in it for the glory, the wealth, the self-aggrandizement, or the power. They are sociopaths, devoid of consciences, willing to use the Bible as a weapon against the least among us and a propaganda tool to advance the tyrants among us. They are the false prophets Jesus warned us of. Those who cloak themselves in piety to prey upon the weak and service the strong.

It has always been this way, Dr. Moore reminds us. "The river of greed flows tandem with the history of murder. In Genesis, Cain killed Abel out of jealousy, or so we are taught, but look closer at the story: the jealousy began when God favored Abel because of Abel's generosity with material goods. Abel gave the 'first-fruit' offerings which Cain had greedily withheld. Cain's story does not end well, a fact that 'Godly capitalists' have forgotten."

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-presidents-mortician-tim-fleming/1117253323?ean=9780988829077

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