In my previous article, What is Poor, I touched on the Christian faith and the religious right. To me, the two are completely separate. I would define myself as a follower of Christ. My Christianity is rooted in the teachings and actions of Jesus Christ. You cannot possibly connect the teachings of Christ to the policies of the religious right. While they may argue that those on the left that support abortion could never be Christians I feel that there is much more to it than being pro-birth. You must take it beyond that and that is something the religious right cannot claim. They are not pro-life, their support of life ends after the child exits the mother’s womb.

Christians worried about the separation of church and state need to be more concerned about the separation of Christianity and Christ. The policies touted by the current sect of self proclaimed Christian voters are not something Christ could possibly support Himself. I am not speaking for Him, I am simply correlating what he spoke of and taught in the new testament recounts of his life to what is going on now. You saw a Christ that demanded us to seek God, to be pure and holy in God’s eye. That is the resounding message from the right, in their policies against health care for the poor and other social programs that benefit the misfortune. However, on the same pages you read about a passionate Christ that healed the sick and commanded us to love our enemies. That is a Christ most of the right do not understand.

I am not Christ, I do not live a life that resembles His whatsoever. My goal is to be as much like Him as possible. If I am to accomplish this I must follow his examples. I must repent for my wrongs, find strength in God and take responsibility for my duties. I must also make sure to be mindful of the poor, even though I am poor myself. I must take care of the elderly and go out of my way to treat my enemies as I would my friends and family. These are all hard lessons and I do my best to follow through with Christ’s teachings. I would consider myself a liberal, yet, I somehow openly admit my devotion to Christ. How is that so?

As a believer I must be acceptable of all religions and also mindful of those that choose not to follow any religion. The typical atheist finds my mentions of Christ uncomfortable. To them it is the type of babble that comes from the religious right. Yet, I find the teachings of Christ and the policies of the left compatible with one another. Like I mention on my about me page I do not support abortion rights. That is because I cherish all human life. I also oppose the death penalty, a barbaric act that has been proven infective. My point in all this is that I find it necessary as a follower of Christ to support policies and politicians that are pro-life, not just pro-birth. Policies that Christ would support. Policies that help care for the sick and misfortune in this country.

You don’t need religion to understand the need to care for the sick and poor, the evil that is war and the need to take care of our environment. I find harmony in my religion and politics, but neither dictates the other. The fact that they sync is fantastic to me. But, I never advocate meshing the two because we are not a country of one religion, but one of many. Voicing my opinion on the subject is one thing. Legislating with it in mind is another story. All decisions should be made on moral and constitutional grounds, something religion is not necessary for.

My point is simple. Humanity is caring, we are different from other species because we know right from wrong. We know it’s wrong to leave a war vet, or any human being, out in the cold and without food. We know that people that are sick and cannot afford care should be taken care of. Financial hardship should not result in untimely death. We also realize that an unborn child deserves life but that rape and incest are very touchy subjects. Even the staunchest of pro-lifers should realize this. And finally, that if you are going to consider yourself a follower of Christ you might want to do as Jesus would. I get the feeling that Jesus would support health care for all, the rich taking on a larger tax burden and welfare for the poor and homeless. How do I know? Check out the bible, it’s full of Jesus doing loving, caring and liberal deeds. Heal the blind even if they don’t have health care? Socialist!

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