"I love Christ. It's his fan club that scares me."

LiviaOlivia

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Wed May-24-06 12:18 AM
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"I love Christ. It's his fan club that scares me."

"I love Christ. It's his fan club that scares me."
by james richardson
Tue May 23, 2006
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/5/23/75710/6279

I have been thinking about the number of times I have seen or read about a real American, that of course being a Red-State American, say they will never, ever vote for a Godless Democrat, no matter what.

Thomas Frank touched upon this beautifully in "What's The Matter With Kansas?" wherein he describes the oxymoron of so-called Christians voting for the very same party that acts like a dislexic Robin Hood and that authors policy and eventually legislation that is very, in my opinion, un-Christ-Like.

Frank ponders the reason for the GOP's success in wooing the very same voters who benefit the least from their policies is because the GOP has removed economics from the equation altogether. It then becomes about morals only; about God and Country, Middle America and Traditional Values. I however believe there is something else going on.

If you, like me, have been wondering time and again why seemingly intelligent people (not just the stupid fucks) continue to vote Republican as the party of God (that is, until you're born, then you're on your own), the party of Morals (that is, until you choke your mistress or get indicted), and the party of Traditional Values (that is, until you finally succeed in marrying a wife younger than your own daughter), you may be wondering what it is about Religion that Democrats just aren't getting.

Are we focusing solely on the New Testament while the conservatives find the Old Testament a hoot? Is there some aspect of Religion (read: Christianity) that the Democrats are just missing? Granted, Liberals are more apt to view "Religion" and "Organized Religion" as two different entities, and granted, we tend to be the political party that Atheists tend to feel more at home in, but we have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to prove our faith to Middle America, and quite frankly, I am now of the opinion that we have nothing to prove to anyone.

You see, what Thomas Frank doesn't mention, and what no Democrat running for office will mention in public, is that Democrats understand religion quite well, and Conservatives, or at the very least, those declaring themselves representatives of religious conservatives (be they on the airwaves or in D.C.), do not. The Democrats are not wrong about religion. Not in their private opinions and not in their public policies. It is the conservatives who are wrong about religion; about its purpose, its meaning, and its message.

The GOP could not tap into the aspects of Christianity that preach Charity and Acceptance. That would naturally lead a voter to the Democratic Party. So the GOP tapped into the negative aspects of Christianity. They tapped into hatred of Gays, hatred of Women's Equality, and the politics of modern-day Witchhunts (though it's the Christians hunting the blaspheens. Go figure). They wrapped up the politics of Hate in the cloak of the Bible and used it to divide and conquer.

Liberals stopped being the party that helped the poor and needy, kept the rich from standing on the backs of the poor, kept the businesses from standing on the backs of employees and consumers. Instead, Liberals became Godless Heathens, painted as one legislative Bill away from outlawing Religion altogether. Any limit that any Liberal attempts to put on Christianity, any Democratic Congressman who tries to defend the line between Church and State, is demonized by the GOP as conducting a War on Religion, as the GOP simultaniously ignores Christ's message all the way to the bank and to the White House.

This did not happen overnight and will not correct itself overnight. Religious groups are beginning to see this and are beginning to speak up, to take back Christianity for the Christians in effect, but it won't happen by November '06, and it won't happen in '08 unless we get up off our butts and make it happen. I believe we need to have a strong national push that holds the GOP's message up against Christ's message, that asks the "Christians" Where is the Charity? Where is the Acceptance? Where is the Love Thy Neighbor? Where is the Casting of Sinless Stones? Where is the Tolerance?

Of course, maybe they're not just stupid fucks. Maybe it's just easier to hate than to love. Works for the KKK and Ann Coulter.