Brain Fertilizer

I've said this before, and no doubt I'll have to repeat it again, many times, but here's today's iteration:

My religious beliefs and faith do not dictate my political views. Rather, my religious beliefs form the basis of my understanding of human nature. That understanding fuels many of my political views.

And so I try to expand on that by pointing out: Religion and faith deal with the afterlife, and personal conduct within this life. Politics, on the other hand, deals with the interactions of people within a society when religion cannot apply. I cannot be upset with an atheist who covets my wife, because that rule is for me, not for me to apply to others; I can, however, ensure that there are laws against rape, or even attempt to overturn the 'no-fault' divorce laws that are currently the norm (so he won't attempt to seduce my wife).

I do not kill, and I attempt to not hurt others because of the 10 Commandments; but I would not depend on those same 10 Commandments to prevent someone else from killing me, and so I support laws, and police, and even the death penalty as a deterrent or ultimate solution for those who have come to enjoy murdering the undeserving.

And so I find people arguing about whether Jesus is a Republican or Democrat to be tiresome. I find people arguing that Jesus would or wouldn't support a specific political agenda to be dead wrong.

Please understand this: This world, this life is largely unimportant. It's only importance is as the precursor to eternal life. There is no pain or misery in this world that is not worth going through to gain eternal life. Conversely, there is no pleasure or comfort or happiness in this life that is worth losing eternal life in paradise.

Jesus didn't even seem to care about whether someone was rich or poor. He certainly didn't advocate governmental wealth distribution. In fact, personal giving to the poor was described as one of the many ways for a Christian to let his faith bear fruit, but the way it is worded, it has always seemed clear that the point was the effect that charitable giving has on the heart of the giver, not on the state of the person who received it.

So I don't really think Jesus would have weighed in progressive vs. regressive taxes. In fact, the last time someone tried to play "Rope A Dope" with Jesus on the issue of taxation, Jesus replied (as found in Luke 20:25), "And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's." And while Jesus hung out with the social outcasts of his day, he demanded they turn away from their sin...last time I checked, liberals howl as if tortured when someone asks that homosexuals "turn away from their sin"; heck, liberals scream indignantly if someone even calls the behavior "sin". Jesus made it clear that the actions were wrong, and he was there to speak to the people who were willing to listen and turn away from their wrong behavior.

It's gotta be humiliating to cite Jesus as a source of your political ideology and do so in a manner that makes it clear you have no idea who Jesus really was. (is)

UPDATE: Rae provides a link to a story of other Christians messing up religion and politics. Which is one of the reason I don't really consider myself a member of the Religious Right, even though I'm quite religious and quite conservative. I just see my views represented more by the folks at National Review Online, rather than Falwell and his ilk.