Writing for the Texas Observer, born-again Christian Katherine Dobay explains why she believes the Tea Party is un-Christian and exposes the "hypocrisy of Tea Party members who claim they are defending Christianity -- a way of life they don't follow."
Nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus exhort his followers to be nationalistic. All that Jesus said regarding the political state was that we must pay our taxes. Believers ought instead to be patriots of heaven, as Paul explains in Philippians 3: 20 "For our citizenship is in heaven..." Nor did Jesus instruct his followers to stem the tide of what the world considers progress by force . . . . For the end times we are told only to prepare for Jesus' return by keeping ourselves in fit spiritual condition. In fact, Jesus reserved his direst warnings for members of the church themselves, whom he warns against false teaching and ear-tickling;* even love of country can be an idol or a kind of heresy if placed before love of God and fellow man. (emphasis mine)
. . . Jesus clearly states that only those of his children who do his will, that is: feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked and visit prisoners and the sick, will receive the reward of eternal life. The good news we are told to spread in the Great Commission is not the gospel of economic doctrine or political philosophy. . . . Some of the fruits we can expect when we do God's will include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. That sure doesn't sound like the Tea Party rally to me! When we disobey God's will in favor of our own however, the results can be anger, greed, division, strife, gossip, ugly speech, hatefulness, and every manner of uncleanness.
We have seen some fruits of the Tea Party movement which many consider a dangerous faction exploiting tough economic times and the fears of suffering people to prosecute a political agenda. In seeking to control and manipulate a society they claim to be "saving", they are only succeeding in tearing it apart. Individuals in the Tea Party who claim to be Christian have a lot of explaining to do, for biblical teaching is full of calls to submit to secular authority, trust in God, and to pay taxes. "Pay everyone what he is owed: if you owe the tax collector, pay your taxes; if you owe the revenue collector, pay revenue; if you owe someone respect, pay him respect; if you owe someone honor, pay him honor" (see Romans 13: 1-7). No exceptions were allowed. Paul did not say to pay only as much as you feel is right. He did not say you could feel sorry for yourself to the point of open rebellion. He did not say submit only to those authorities of whom you approve, but said to give respect where it is due. The president of the United States is owed the respect of all Americans.
. . . Isn't it ironic that early Christians under pagan Roman rule flourished in holiness and martyrdom, yet today some Christians manage to feel persecuted while living in the greatest democracy in history and enjoying material blessings undreamed of by their distant kin? . . .For the most part, members of the Tea Party do not under any circumstances represent what I was taught and what I consider to be Christian. I was instructed in tolerance, forgiveness, love, peace and helping those less fortunate such as those who have experienced a major catastrophe - an earthquake, hurricane or tornado. Above all I was taught that God loves all his creations.
Now, I am the first to admit that I get very uncomfortable when anyone claims "Jesus said" for the same reason I am uncomfortable when someone says "Shakespeare meant." How do we know what someone said or meant based on writings that are centuries old, and in the case of the Bible, have eight to fifteen different versions? How do we know which writer's account is accurate?
My grandmother, an unusually intelligent and independent southern woman, and a Methodist minister cousin of mine, always opined that people who wear their religion (and patriotism) on their sleeves are anything but. I believe it's called hypocrisy.
Having said that, I respect Dobay's opinion and applaud her courage to denounce the Tea Party's hypocrisy - especially since she lives in a little town of 7,000 in the Texas Hill Country. As we've seen all too often, people in that part of the world can get hurt if they don't think right.
*ear-ticking myths: "Once saved, always saved." "No sin or doctrinal heresy will keep you out of Heaven. Fornication is permissable." Remember that Newt.
As with the labels Liberal and Conservative, I try to avoid using Christian as anything specific enough to be useful. It's too easy to call something Christian with people who don't know gnosticism from a garden gnome and think Zoroaster was a Star Wars Character.
ReplyDeleteNo, I agree we can't do more that speculate and argue about what Jesus said or taught because like the most popular of prophets, Jesus never wrote. We have only texts that survived deliberate destruction in fragmentary form. We have edited texts, but we have no contemporary texts and not that were not copied and tweaked into shape by politicians.
It's not a new argument, but Jefferson made it well: no matter who destroyed the body of Jesus, it was the churches, early and late who destroyed his teachings.
That which seems most likely to be original sounds most like the teachings of other religions among which are Judaism, Buddhism, and yes, Islam.
I would love to have the space to discuss the alleged holiness and martyrdom that, if it did exist, existed along with hedonism Dionysian outbreaks and less savory things like persecution of the Jews, which began rather earlier than most will admit.
But of course if people are going to be like Ms. Dubay, I'm going to have to agree with them no matter what they call themselves -- and I gladly do. I do prefer to state that compassion and love and respect and all that Liberal stuff is rather more widely spread and well argued for and hardly the exclusive property of any teaching: Dhammam, saranam gacchami and that sort of thing.
Capt. Fogg: I always love your posts and comments because they guarantee a trip to the dictionary!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to research that comment by Jefferson. My mind doesn't run nearly as deep as I'd like.
I think you understand that I wasn't defending one religion over another or even advocating any particular faith. I just think this gal had a lot of courage. My southern kin are Baptist Tea Baggers and the hard looks you get when you try to point out some of these things are killers. I must have been a cat in my past life because I think I've been murdered more than once.
Well it's nice to hear other people confirm what we new all along.
ReplyDeleteBetter to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven”
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am many years removed from my last reading of Milton’s Paradise Lost, I recall that evil is defined, not as the opposite of goodness, but as the perversion of goodness, i.e., to subvert goodness and turn it against itself through stealth and guile. According to this definition, Satan becomes the first demagogue in history, and the archetype for all demagogues that follow, including modern day political and religious opportunists.
Since our erudite dinosaur is closer to the literature, I am sure he can correct, modify, or expand on this comment better than I can.
tnlib, thanks for sharing Dobay's article. I was raised to believe in God. I still believe, most of the time, bt I have my doubts. While the translations of the Bible certainly have varied versions of the tales within, I think that the overall message that comes through is about love of neighbor and love of Gad. The Tea Party contingency fails on both counts. Certainly Christianity doesn't offer the only guidance for how to live life; there are many sources from Plato to Desmond Tutu, some anchored in religion, some in philosophy, and some in human psychology. I think that the real failure is when we fail to ask ourselves what is our role in the world and what is our responsibility to humankind. It is here that the Tea Party fails miserably, be they Christian or not, for their answer appears to be that none of us owes any responsibility towards fostering the better good and nor to fostering the well being of our neighbor.
ReplyDeleteParadise Lost? My HS teacher tried so hard to push that down our throats. That was probably her biggest failure.
ReplyDeleteSheria - I'm sort of in the same position you are. The biggest turnoff for me has always been the hypocricy. Your last sentence speaks volumes. I think of Pat Robertson's comments following the Haiti earthquake and Glenn Beck telling his admirers not to attend churches that advocate social justice. What is so "Christian" about that?
If there is a message of love in what we call the Bible, it's only in a few places that I can find. Grotesque punishments for infractions of laws that transcend ridiculousness seem the rule.
ReplyDeleteJealousy lest mankind become too godlike appears often. Touching a rock too hard with a stick means even Moses has to die alone in the desert. bringing incense too near to the ark causes one to die horribly in a fireball. slavery is taken for granted, using slaves for sex is taken for granted, yet sewing buttons on a linen garment with cotton thread is an abomination before the Lord. Do gods of love command one to slaughter women and children and threaten punishment to those who don't?
It doesn't get around to the love bit until it becomes infiltrated with Hellinistic culture, IMO, unless you want to bring up the hymns to Isis posing as psalms of David.
"It is here that the Tea Party fails miserably, be they Christian or not, for their answer appears to be that none of us owes any responsibility towards fostering the better good and nor to fostering the well being of our neighbor. "
ReplyDeleteYes, Egg-zactky. They always seem to argue that even if God want's us to be our brother's keeper and to help the poor and sick, he doesn't want us to do it with our tax dollars! I'm not even going to bother bashing that unworthy argument much less the Glennbeckian one about quitting a church that talks about justice because they're communists.
But do we absolutely need a divine command to be decent people? I don't think so. I think compassion is inherent in most of us and I see it in times of emergencies. I see it in volunteerism and in the desire people have to help others. I even see it as the backbone of patriotism, since what is a country but its people?
Someone is out to fight it though and they do a very good job of making people think the needy are voluntarily that way, that life is only about the bare essentials, that a country has no valid interest in making itself a better place to live for more than just a powerful few.
It's funny, by the way, that people self-identifying as Christians seem to forget that Socialism was a Christian thing once upon a time and people came to the US just to have a place to found communities based on shared property. In fact Jesus seems to have been into shared property amongst his followers, so I'd have to laugh at this, if it weren't so tragic.
tnlib. Sorry about that. Look for "The Jefferson Bible." It's still in print and is full of things the T-bastards and religious right would like you not to know.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the Sanskrit - it means I take refuge in the Dharma. It's from a Therevade Buddhist credo known as the Trisharana that young monks have to recite:
I take refuge in the Buddha
I take refuge in the Dharma
I take refuge in the Sangha (the community)
tnlib,
ReplyDeleteSo glad you posted this and would like to ask if you would allow us to re-post it as a Guest Post at Hen's Teeth.
I share your beginnings, wound up in Capt. Fogg's camp, and have studied continually, both formally and informally, in philosophy and the history of religions on the long, long path in between. The Tea Party is confused. They conflate Ayn Rand's take-no-prisoners capitalism with Christianity. They confuse the Robber Barons with The Founding Fathers. Their brand of "religion" makes me proud to call myself a secular humanist.
I have a camp? Wow - am I the counselor or that nerdy kid who wants to go canoeing instead of playing baseball?
ReplyDeleteFine post, tnlib. One thing I've noticed during interactions with certain kinds of Christian is how they define the term to mean Protestant, perhaps without even realizing it. As in, "my relatives aren't Christian -- they're Catholic." Both sides of the equation have a long intellectual history, but you'd never know it from listening to these folks. They seem completely cut off from the history and intellectual background of their own faith, so much so that they give offense without batting an eyelash of recognition.
ReplyDeleteNance: Feel free. I'm honored.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if I start studying again I can figure out where I am! ; )
Capt. - Thanks for the Jefferson info. Now, if you'd just share part of that brain of yours.
"I think compassion is inherent in most of us and I see it in times of emergencies. . . "
I share all your thoughts in that paragraph. We even see compassion and decency on an everyday basis - for the most part. Maybe the past two years of teabuggery have caused us to forget that there are kind thoughtful people out there. I haven't given up hope, I'm just a little nervous.
Dino: Didn't mean to overlook your comment. I have relatives who think just like those you describe. I was witness to a beloved cousin (So. Baptist) nearly having a nervous breakdown because she had never thought Mormons were Christian and she just learned that they were. I guess she heard it from Glenn Beck. I'm no intellectual giant, but I must say that I was a little taken aback by this. I don't see the TPs thinking anyone is "Christian" unless they are Baptist or one of these weird fundmentalist offshoots.
ReplyDelete