Last Sunday I was sitting in Church and my Pastor gave what I thought was a very relevent and profound sermon (of course, if you go to Church, you know that everyone “hears” things differently – which I believe is what is motivating me to write this evening). The part which really struck a “bell” with me was when he talked about the tendency of “Christians” to be at the head of the pack (my phrasing) when it comes to hypocricy. The way he framed his discussion was by asking everyone who had “Accepted Christ” to remember the time it happened and where they “were at” when it happened. Then he asked us to think of the time between then and now when theoretically we would be growing as Christians. What happens at that point for many, he hypothesized, is that Christians are so committed to what has worked for them, they forget where they were at when it all started – leading to them wanting everyone to feel like they do. So, instead of becoming “Righteous” which is the goal, they become self-righteous and thus hypocritical – having a difficult time remembering where they were “at” when it all began.

Now, of course, as with all sermons I may have heard what I wanted to hear, but just the same what I heard has motivated this particular posting. I think the other part of the motivation comes from my frustration of being a believer in Jesus Christ and feeling a sense of disgust with many people involved in the political process who profess to be followers of Jesus (which, of course, would include the Bush/Cheney crew from the previous administration – and many of those who are making inciteful remarks about our new President Barack Obama). I have been frustrated for many years that the so-called “Christian Right” has made up the base of the Republican party essentially on one issue – abortion. And, what many of them are doing with that issue is despicable as far as I’m concerned. Of course, after 30 years of this affiliation (Republicans and Christians) Roe v Wade is still on the books and I’m convinced the leaders of the Republican party are just fine with that because it keeps these one issue voters “on board.”

And, the worst part about this, is that most of these voters have no idea what they’re voting for when they vote for some of the Republicans they support. I mean, how can a true Christian support Rush Limbaugh, or Newt Gingrich, or Dick Armey, or Tom Delay or any other of the leaders of the Republican party who claim to be for “family values” while in their “real lives” they are doing things that should make any believer of Jesus get on their knees and pray for them. Jesus, of course, (and everyone knows this) was a friend of the poor and downtrodden, he was not a violent person nor did he espouse violence – in fact, he said; “what you do for the least of these, you do for me” speaking of the poor, sick, and hungry. I can’t imagine him torturing people, having people murdered (ie Cheney and his “death squad”), starting wars, violating laws, and I could go on. In fact, the Republicans who claim to be “Christians” remind me more of the Pharisees as depicted in the New Testament – the people responsible for the cruel execution of Jesus. These people were more interested in preserving their own interests than in the spirtual well-being of the citizens of that era, at least according to the Bible that we as Christians read.

Some of the results showing their ugly “heads” during this time of crisis in America coming from the “Christian Right” are very unsettling. Here’s some of the things I’ve heard. Let’s start with Chuck Norris – more well known as “Walker, Texas Ranger” from his TV days – insinuating that there are thousands of cells of right wing extremists ready to “take back our government” through violence. That is clearly sedition and he is a strong supporter of Mike Huckabee, a leading Republican politician who I have not heard disavow himself from Norris to this day. Then there’s the group of Christian leaders which includes Dobson, Robertson, Eric Prince of Blackwater (now Xe), and Jerry Falwell before he died among others who were planning essentially a coup de tat when Clinton was in office according to a book I read on Blackwater – and believe me Blackwater is much more of a threat today than it was 10 years ago. Additionally, according to the Sourthern Poverty Law Center Hate groups have doubled since the election of our first African American President and many of them have their roots among Christian right wing zealots. I could go on and on, but I’ll leave off with the anti-abortion groups who are obviously getting more violent all the time.

I have to preface my remaining thoughts by saying that I am not a supporter of abortion. I wish no one would ever have to have an abortion. I believe there can be no doubt that life begins at conception. A couple realities for me (I’ve been around for a while) – before Roe v Wade abortions were common place. I thank God that I’ve never participated in one, but I still remember when I was in college in the 60’s how people I knew were paying $75 for an abortion – and some people seemed to think it was a form of birth control. It was all in the “back rooms” and there was little discussion about it publicly – until Roe v Wade. That was what ended up “fusing” the Conservative Christians with the Republican party and spawned some of the anti-abortion groups of today who have gone way over the edge in their fight against this practice. The reality to me, is that repealing Roe v Wade will not stop abortions – it will only put women who decide to have them in more physical jeopardy than already exists. I guess for some Christians they think it would serve them right. I believe the issue is way more complicated than that. I have two daughters and I’ve always prayed they would never have to make that choice – but the reality is that should it happen it would be their choice and they would have to live with the consequences (and I would be there to support them). But, it gets worst than that.

About a week and a half ago a doctor in Wichita Kansas was murdered in his church by a right wing “Christian” extremist (and I honestly don’t know how anyone who calls themselves a Christian can rationalize murder). Now, I had heard some of the inciting against this doctor by people on TV – for me, mainly Bill O’Reilly who called the guy a mass murderer. The doctor was performing so-called late term abortions and, of course that sounded repulsive to me – but, I had no idea what that meant. After his murder I found out a bit more about what the guy was doing and why he was doing it. He, evidently, was one of only three doctors in the US willing to do this procedure. And, it turns out, not because others didn’t think it was appropriate, but because of the backlash they would face should they do it. Some of this doctor’s patients came from the most prestitgious medical schools and clinics in the country. Most of the abortions he was performing were in circumstances where the fetus was already dead and, of course, the mother’s life was in jeopardy should she carry the fetus to full term. And, why would you want a woman to have to carry a dead fetus to full term? Wouldn’t the fact her baby was dead be bad enough? Almost all of the rest of the late term abortions involved women who had contracted cancer during their pregnancy and they needed chemotherapy to save their lives which would presumably kill the fetus – so this doctor would do the procedure in order to save the mother’s life. I have to say that if my wife was pregnant and I had to make that decision – well, there’s the rub, I wouldn’t have to make that decision, I’m a man – she would have to make the decision and I’d have to decide whether or not to support her. I WOULD SUPPORT HER – In fact, I believe I’d encourage her to save her own life. The only other instance I heard about regarding this doctor was a fetus which had no brain and was going to be born dead, so this doctor did the procedure to spare the mother the additional trauma of giving birth and then watching her baby die almost immediately.

I remember when Bill Clinton was President, there was a bill which would have banned so-called “Partial Birth abortions” which he would have signed had the Congress included a provision to protect the life of the mother. At the time, I didn’t understand why they couldn’t agree to that, and to this day – especially with what I’ve learned lately – I still don’t understand why they can’t agree to that. I believe that virtually all of the late term abortions are for reasons which will save the life of the mother. In the case of the doctor who was murdered, there had to be another doctor agreeing that the mother’s life was in jeopardy for him to perform these procedures, so this wasn’t the flippant operation Bill O’Reilly led me to believe it was.

This leads me to my final point (I really hope what I’m writing this evening is cohesive) and that is the rhetoric of some on the “Christian Right” is inciting zealots in a way that should be unsettling to all of us. Not only in the case of this doctor, but on the political front there is a lot of unsettling news (some of which I mentioned above). I came of age in the time when JFK and RFK were assasinated along with Martin Luther King. I never thought I would see the day when I would have to worry about that kind of stuff happening again, but I also didn’t think I’d ever see a repeat of the Viet Nam war (actually, I believe Iraq could end up being worse). I listened to John McCain and more specifically Sarah Palin during the last election rile up their crowds with some vile dishonest rhetoric while members of the audience were shouting “Kill him” regarding Barack Obama. This rhetoric has not subsided and it’s taking an ugly racist tone (if you don’t believe me – listen for a while to Rush Limbaugh [I hate to encourage anyone to do that] or Newt Gingrich or any of the other Republicans who are presently at the head of that pathetic party and you’ll quickly see what I mean – that is, if you recognize their “code”). I don’t agree with everything Obama is doing (see some of my earlier posts) but I can tell you with all confidence that this nation will crumble to its knees if something untoward happens to him.

I’ve already been calling for legal action regarding many of the Republican “thugs” who broke laws indiscriminantly during the Bush administration and tonight I’m doing the same regarding those who are inciting their base. They should not be allowed to spew these words which are essentially encouraging their fringe elements to do something stupid without consequences. Inciting violence is not “Free Speech!” I’m looking forward to the day when Christians quit supporting right wing thugs because they falsely believe that these guys are going to end abortions. As I said above, people are going to have abortions no matter what the law says. In fact, I agree with President Obama, the focus should be on creating a climate where there is progressively less demand for abortions. We, as Christians, should be supporting policies and politicians who are focused on the “least among us.” We should be true to the teachings of Jesus (if you don’t understand what I’m talking about, read the book of John in the New Testament). Republicans have led us into an endless and unwinnable war, they’ve destroyed our economy (unless you’re in the “rich” category), they have ruined our moral leadership in the world by openly endorsing torture, they are fighting every policy change that the people want – including health care and energy reform, and they are inciting violence at every turn regarding President Obama, Gays and lesbians, and abortion doctors among others. I honestly don’t see how someone who believes in what the Bible says can reconcile all that.