I often find myself in a precarious position politically. I absolutely believe that Jesus Christ lived and died for the benefit of all mankind. When I read the Gospels of the New Testament of the Bible, I find it difficult to understand how someone could profess belief in them and still put their faith in politicians of the Republican party (I should probably say, any politician). I realize that as Christians we are called to be responsible and to respect the authority of the state (at least that’s the interpretation I’ve made), but I was sitting in Church this week and the scripture that was “preached” on really motivated me to write. It reminded me of what was going on with the Bush administration (and is still going on with the Republican leadership). I have many times complained about the corruption of the Republicans (remember, this blog was motivated by my disgust with President Bush’s response to the 9/ll attacks – lying us into war which led to war profiteering by Cheney, Rumsfeld, and others, “shredding” our constitution justified by “keeping us safe,” and ransacking our economy to the tune of Trillions of dollars while saying they were “reducing the size of government”), mostly because of my frustration with the Iraq occupation.

I have alternately felt frustration (that has bordered on anger) with the Bush administration and with the FACT that their main support comes from CHRISTIANS! I have often struggled to find any reason why a Christian would support what they were doing. They were lying (en masse), stealing (in Iraq and at home), murdering (Cheney’s “death squad” to name one), and torturing – almost gleefully! Yuck! I realized all along that most Christians I know support Republicans because they associate them with “anti-abortion” – despite the fact Republcans have been “in charge” for a large part of the past 30 years and have done nothing (and intend to do nothing in my view) to stop it. In fact, as I wrote earlier, I don’t believe abortions will be stopped by reversing Roe which is the dream of all these Republicans, that would just move it to the “back rooms” as it was before Roe and create more danger for women’s health (the “It would serve them right crowd would be OK with that, but not me – and I don’t think Jesus either!). One thing that I do agree with President Obama on is the call to figure out how to minimize the demand for abortions. But I digress.

So, it bothers me that Christians aren’t paying attention to what the government is doing and just blindly supporting anything that has the endorsement of these (what I see as evil) Republicans. This is the kind of support that brought Hitler to power in the 1930’s (isn’t it ironic that there are some Republicans comparing Obama to Hitler – evidence that you can twist the meaning of words quite easily – and I’m trying not to do that tonight). So, I’m sitting in church and my pastor quotes from the book of Titus. Titus is a young man who is “enlisted” by Paul (If you haven’t read the Bible, Paul is the Jewish convert – chosen by God – who is preaching the “Gospel” to the Gentiles – people like me – and he is responsible for much of the New Testament besides the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – which contain the story of Jesus’ life) to confront the “Cretans who are liars, evil brutes, and lazy gluttons.” He is telling Titus that this behavior is wrong and you can’t just “look the other way” (remind you of Obama and torture?) and Paul gives Titus a very clear and direct message.

“Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” Now, if you are not a believer in Christ – I’M NOT TALKING TO YOU! As the saying goes, “please disregard this message!” :o) But, just think about Mark Sanford for one – I mean he’s the most recent. As it says “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.” I’m not one who feels like my leaders have to “Claim to know God,” but, if they do, I expect their actions to reflect that belief. And, as a Christian, I feel that people like Sanford, Bush, Ensign, Gingrich, Limbaugh, and others do more to turn people off to Christianity than anyone.

As a Christian you are supposed to try to set an example that would encourage others to “follow Christ.” For me, Christianity is a great help in teaching me how to live my own life. But, IT IS PERSONAL. For you, it would be different than it is for me – that is, you could listen to the same sermon as me and get something entirely different out of it – based on your own personal needs. But, the point of this weeks sermon at church was that if you do profess belief in Christ and your actions bely that belief, you need to be REBUKED! Now, don’t get me wrong – we are all sinners – but if you look at someone like Sanford, the guy is such an incredible hypocrite that it’s disgusting. And, he’s not back from his vendetta in Argentina one day before he starts quoting scripture (about David) as justification for keeping his job as Governor of South Carolina – the job he went AWOL on for 6 days, leaving all kinds of possible potential crises in the “lurch.” I mean, the guy seems pitiful to me – and he needs to be REBUKED! Yes, he should be able to “rebuild” his life, but he should do it in a different capacity than Governor of South Carolina.

And, then there’s George W Bush. The guy really made a point that he was a “believer.” And, the right wing Christian Community just went along with everything he did. He lied us into war, he oversaw an incredible “bilking” of our economic system (which included the unthinkable war profiteering that not only went on in Iraq, but was perpetuated by Bush and his associates – to the tune of Billions of dollars), he showed disregard for human life (I guess for those already born) as, at a minimum, hundreds of thousands perished because of his misadventure in Iraq, he showed his purely “evil” side by authorizing the most obcene forms of torture – seemingly delighting in it, and he violated the very constitution that he swore to defend! Well, based on the book of Titus, George W Bush should be REBUKED, BIG TIME! (he was, by the voters) And, it shouldn’t be the “non-believers” doing it, it should be those who seemingly form his “base,” The Christian Community! Yet, they continue to support him and, I’m sure, would be disgusted with my thoughts. But, I have no problem REBUKING Bush, Sanford, and any other “Christian” who takes delight in lying, being “evil brutes” (ie torture), and being lazy gluttons (that is, lying around the pool and waiting for your stock portfolio to go up).

Now, as I wrote yesterday, I wish we had political leaders who would actually call these people on this stuff. It’s not too hard to recommend that Governor Sanford resign, and there are many voices expressing that view. But, where were all these voices when Bush was destroying the fabric of this nation – it should have come from the so-called “Christian Right” not from what they term “the liberals.” What Bush was doing was wrong according to the very book that we, as Christians, base our beliefs. It is absurd to expect credibility when you are condoning hypocricy! As Christians, we need to be the ones who REBUKE where the Republican party (Ok, I could write another post about Democrats – but it just wouldn’t support the point I’m trying to make) is at in order to hope that it would change and regain its place as the opposition (and possibly the majority) party in our system. These people like Bush, Sanford, Ensign, Limbaugh, Gingrich, Palin, and Rove should all be REBUKED for “their actions deny Him” – the very one they profess “guides their actions.” I wish President Obama would lead the way in this by enforcing our laws against torture – I’m not sure if that would relieve the “need” I feel to do so, but it “couldn’t hurt” as the saying goes. The bottom line to me is that if you’re going to claim to believe the Bible, you should act accordingly – especially for people who want to be leaders! (and, let me just add one last thing for anyone who tends toward the legalistic side and might read this – before you quote Old Testament scripture to me – read the Gospels! Christ was all about LOVE and REACHING OUT TO THE POOR!)