I remember back when I was in college marching to force my University in Texas to divest its funds from South Africa. I went to to the pastor of my church and I asked him to encourage the congregation to march with us. He said he would not support it. I got mad at him and challenged him. After a lengthy discussion he pointed out that Jesus never spoke out against slavery and in fact he quoted Ephesians 6:5 “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.” Suffice it to say I became a humanist going forward.
Inasmuch as that one verse had a negative effect on me the good values instilled in me from my Christian upbringing remained. In Panama all our preachers were loving people and believed in fact we were our brothers’ keepers. Where there were conflicts they took the position of agreeing to disagree. They would tell each other, “we must pray on it and God will eventually provide an answer”. Church was the place all came for comfort.
Fast forward to today. The Church, specifically the evangelical Church has become a political force with political power effected by an indoctrinated congregation. They have used that power to scare politicians into towing the lines on issues. They have used that power to deny rights to those they disagree with (e.g., gays) and policies they disagree with (e.g., birth control rights).
Most dangerous of all, they have allowed themselves to be coopted by the unfettered capitalist wing of the Republican Party. In doing so they have formed an unholy alliance with those that support policies diametrically opposed to all that they use to stand for and that Jesus stood for.
They have come out squarely against healthcare reform that seeks to insure all Americans. They have come out against a strong social safety net. A few weeks ago Pastor David Hope in the article “Jesus is not a socialist” in the Kingwood Observer wrote
Capitalism is like the kingdom of God. Everyone has an opportunity to make it to the top, but there won’t be equal outcomes. When government tries to manufacture equal outcomes, it brings everyone down. As people concentrate on the sizes of the pieces of the pie, the pie just keeps getting smaller. All the pieces get smaller and equal outcomes are still not achieved.
This cannot be achieved as God has put into man the desire to succeed, because God wants us to succeed and prosper.
“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” 3 John 2
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Joshua 1:8
Capitalism is the most compassionate system. Capitalism is the best way to reduce poverty. It gives every man a chance to succeed, and it promotes wealth into the hands of those who serve others and have a heart to give to those less fortunate.
It increases individual wealth, thus allowing individuals to give out of their increase. God has designed the needs of the poor to be met by Christians, not by the government. Government’s bureaucratic shuffling of wealth accomplishes nothing.
The pastor missed the point. Capitalism is a tool. Capitalism does not know humanity nor should it. We as humans make laws. If we are moral we will make laws that benefit humanity as a whole first. We do not wait to enrich a few with the expectation that the rich would be benevolent to care for the poor. We make a system that gives all equal access. We do not allow a system that virtually enslave for the benefit of a few. We do not create a system where those that simply shuffle money and capital but produce no product or service are deemed more worthy than all the rest. Work and deeds are what we would reward.
But ultimately I got it. Not having been in any of these churches in a long time, I did not notice the shift in tonality. Below is a snippet from North Carolina Pastor Charles Worley in a sermon to his congregation.
Many citizens look up to their pastor for leadership and direction. They believe these are men with knowledge and a direct link to what God expects of us. These types of messages of hate and prejudice by pastors in leadership provide the justification of parallel behavior by the congregations at rallies and other venues where a decidedly politicized and less than loving display is evident more often than not.
I have told many of my Republican listeners of my show Politics Done Right that it is time to take back their party and make it stand for what it stood for, conservative values without the loss of humanity. Christians, take back your church from the unholy alliance that it currently has with all those that are diametrically opposed to your true doctrine.
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