The Tea Party Movement: Conservative or Libertarian lite?

It’s hard to say, with such a wide range of people considering themselves Tea Partiers it’s difficult to tie a description around the entire movement. In the end, no matter what they stand for, they play into the hands of the Republican Party. Without the full cooperation of the movement it is hard to get behind any one issue or politician. Sure, they hate taxes, but what to do with all that pent up anger? The anger that was amusingly misplaced during the Bush spending sprees?

What if the Tea Partiers got their wishes? Let’s look at what the Tea Party folks are demanding and what kind of country this would be if their demands were answered.

Health Care only for the Privileged

The biggest issue that seems to bring together all flavors of Tea Partiers is their dislike for poor people getting free health care. Obviously, if they had their way absolutely no one outside of the ring of privilege would have health care. According to the 2006 census 15.8%, or approximately 47 million people are uninsured. That means that according to the average Tea Partier they would rather see 47 million people die because of a lack of insurance than tax the highest income earners–note: not them, a little higher.

Since they believe health care is a privilege and not a right we have to look into the numbers deeper. Of the 84.2% that have insurance 59.7% of it is supplied by companies. Of course, without nosey liberals fighting for the rights of workers those numbers would be even lower. 9.1% of those are insured individual. 27% are insured by the evil socialist government. That means you can easily scratch out all but 9% of those numbers if Tea Partiers had their way. Without the evil liberals poking their noses into the issue of health care only the few could afford insurance and companies would be free to skimp on those benefits as well.

You can also scratch the 27% out of the equation. That means in a Tea Partiers world only 57.2% of America would have insurance. Remember, socialized health care is evil. That includes the elderly on Medicare. I’m amused when I see the large amount of elderly that support the Tea Party movement. Many of them on Medicare and social security, both programs that would not exist in a Tea Partier’s government.

Obama would be impeached. On what grounds? According to a recent Daily Kos poll, 39% of self identifying Republicans believe that President Obama should be impeached. For what you ask? Maybe the next stat is revealing in this regard. 36% of those polled do not believe President Obama is a U.S. citizen. The important key factor here is that these stats are from self identifying Republicans, not Tea Partiers that think they are independents. You can bet that these numbers would be much higher if they were just from Tea Partiers.

World Net Daily could very well be the greatest spreader of misinformation in regards to Obama’s citizenship. They do a great job of ignoring evidence that points to his birth in Hawaii and have not given up on this battle. Right now on the front page is an article about Obama’s citizenship. Actually, five of the top six articles are about his eligibility. You can’t get a driver’s license without being a citizen but somehow Obama slipped through the cracks to get a college degree, become a Senator and President of the United States. This is their mission and I doubt they will give up even though their case is paper thin. (At the time of writing this the articles were present, of course, web pages change but there’s no doubt WND is obsessed over Obama’s citizenship.)

Gun-For-All

I support reasonable gun rights for all law abiding citizens. Reasonable means no one needs machine guns and law abiding means individuals that can pass a background check and are proven safe to own a gun. One of the major rumors that was rampant during the presidential race was that Obama was going to take everyone’s guns away. Over a year in and it seems people are still buying guns and stocking up on ammo. Seems like yet another fear mongering rumor that hasn’t come to pass.

Some folks thought it was a cool idea to take their guns to the tea party rallies. Why? Because they could. While their intentions were to display their love for the 2nd amendment all they did was make themselves look like lunatics. Take a gun to a rally that also has signs such as “Unarmed, this time” and people will start to think you have violent intentions in mind. With preachers praying for Obama’s death, signs about “watering the tree of liberty” and people toting guns at Tea Party rallies they shouldn’t wonder why the left is worried about Obama’s safety.

Party Like It’s 1776

The resounding shout from the Tea Party movement seems to be the same as the Republicans on the current health care reform bill: let’s start over. Isn’t that what is seems like? Let’s scratch all the years of progress, let’s forget about the strides we have made and let’s scratch the whole thing. Forget about the civil rights movements accomplishments, forget about anything that benefits the poor over corporations and let’s put the free market in charge of every aspect of our lives. Forget about regulation, let the same people that caused the housing crash and the bank failures to run everything.

When I hear that government cannot handle health care I want to laugh. Not because government is the end all answer–but because the free market has screwed up things almost as much as the government ever has. The free market is needed, but regulation to stop a corrupt free market and corporation ceo’s from sucking Americans dry is also needed. That’s progressive, I understand the word liberal has been made a curse word these days. But to me, it means putting people first. Is that wrong? Sadly some have been made to think so.

Closing Point

The ideas that the Tea Party has for America are far more radical than anything the left is proposing. If you ask me it seems like the Tea Party folks are just doing what the Libertarian Party has been doing for years. Even with that, they are more than likely to far to the right even for that party. The difference between the Tea Party movement and any political party is a complete lack of integrity and history. They are just a mob–self described mind you–pissed off about a black president not being a conservative. Simple as that, they actually expect a liberal to be a conservative.

The movement is now nothing more than a political punchline for neoconservatives to campaign with. The Tea Party movement was never meant to be anything more than an angry voice in the crowd. They started by verbally attacking elected officials at health care debates, progressed to marches where people carried racist signs and some even had guns. It came to the tipping point when Sarah Palin and company hijacked the grassroots movement and killed any potential they may have had.

They may look like independent libertarians but in the end they will vote for every neconservative the Republican Party throws at them. If they did vote for the Libertarian Party or folks like Ron Paul maybe they’d make some progress. Instead, they’re just an angry crowd full of the fringe right that will never do any good for this country.

We’re all confident in what we believe. It is no crime to be opinionated and it’s normal to be confident in our opinions. Having spent a lot of my life on the internet discussing various issues with different types of people I have a well grounded understanding of how individuals communicate online. You can take a well rounded individual that is humble and full of respect and unleash them into the internet world and watch as they become arrogant and cocky. What is with that?

Is it anonymity? That has to play a big rule in the way people talk with one another online. I’m not going to lie, I have not always been polite while talking with people that I find disagreement with. I have tried to lay off, I have tried to be the better man. It becomes harder over the years as people online become more and more arrogant and incapable of civilized debates. What is the point of shouting over someone? Calling them names? Hypothetically spitting in their eyes? To feel bigger? To feel victorious? I am becoming frustrated with this mentality.

The best discussions and most rewarding arguments I have with people are ones that are civilized and with good intentions. The ones that end in arguments and bickering always leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Perhaps the reason people talk this way is because it is not face to face? It is in the privacy of our own homes where we can feel free to say whatever we want while feeling like there are no consequences. Who benefits from this? No one.

What is the point of arguing with people online? Do we puff our feeling of self worth up? That has to be part of it. We have to find satisfaction in shutting someone down. How many times have you tried to argue with someone only for them to point out spelling errors? Perhaps point out a grammatical error–I know that has happened quite a bit with my blogs. That definitely has no use in a discussion about politics. Is that going to prove your point or just make the other person look stupid? I suppose if you can’t win an argument on a topic you can always try to win an argument against the person’s intelligence. How juvenile.

I want to be a good person, I want to feel like I am treating others like I treat myself. For that reason I try to stay away from such discussions. I have about three or four of these discussions online a day. I try to be reasonable, I don’t want to end in a yelling match with someone. Of course that is almost impossible online. How likely are you to fight with someone like that in person compared to online? I would say there’s at least a 80% chance such a thing will happen online. In person it has to be a lot lower. Perhaps the possibility of being held responsible makes us think twice before insulting someone in person? Or maybe because getting punched in the face over the internet is literally impossible?

For the love of God, or the love of yourself, try and stop fighting with each other so much. It’s pointless and accomplishes nothing. If there is one good reason to debate online it is to learn something new. Maybe to sharpen your debate skills or to prove a point. It should never be to cuss someone out, to threaten them physically or humiliate them personally about an issue that doesn’t usually have to do with them directly. Let’s stop calling on another idiots, let’s stop calling one another unAmerican, let’s stop treating others like we are in grade school. YES, I am being a hippie, I am being mushy, let’s try and respect each other.

I have been thinking about it a lot lately and want to put this out there. If you want to shame yourself and the cause you carry than continue being stupid. Keep pointlessly fighting with people and keep using your blog and Twitter to demean people. I’m going to try my best to stay away from this activity. You want to talk about the issues I am more than happy to do so. If you want to call me names and provoke anger in me I’m going to walk away. Let’s try and act like adults shall we?

Giving, it’s the American Way.

Whenever tragedy strikes the benevolence of the American people always pours out. The world media may paint an ugly picture or America but when it comes down to it we are willing to put our words into action. We may be a politically split nation but one thing is common among most Americans; we are a very charitable people.

It may just be five or ten dollars but when you add it all together it becomes something significant. The last solid figure I was able to find in regards to text messaging donations was over $10 million. Even though it has been reported that the funds raised will take at least 90 days to be put to use there is no doubt that the money will be needed much longer than 90 days from now.

Corporations Doing Their Part.

The mega corps of America are pitching in as well. According to 24/7 Wall St., companies including Wal-Mart, GOOGLE, AT&T and Morgan Stanley are all helping out in one way or another. For the sake of not being cynical I won’t get too in-depth on the amounts compared to personal donations but I will say that most of these companies can afford it, and it’s a write off, but it’s still great to see them helping out.

Here is a small example of giving. You can read the whole article here, pasting the entire article would be a bit redundant.

“Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has pledged $600,000.00… $500,000 in cash and and $100,000 in pre-packaged food.  Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is donating $500,000.00 and more than 1 million meals.” … “McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is donating of $500,000.00 to be matched with donations from Arcos Dorados, the company that operates nearly 1,700 McDonald’s restaurants in Latin America, and combined are estimated to total at least $1 million.” … “T&T Inc. (NYSE: T) pledged $50,000 donation to Telecoms Sans Frontieres to support relief work in providing telecom to victims in Haiti; while AT&T wireless customers can send donations to the Red Cross through a text message to be added to the customer bill.”

Not Just an American Affair.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not pointing out American giving to make it sound like no one else is giving to the cause. Being an American I am just speaking from a personal point of view. Of course everyone else is doing their part to help Haiti as well. As diverse as each race is, as human beings we all share the spirit of giving and will come to the aid of our fellow man when they are down and out.

The following data is taken from The Guardian and may not be 100% all inclusive and doesn’t take account of individual country contributions, ie ships or aid trucks. You can get more detailed information on that by going to ReliefWeb.

According to The Guardian the United States has made the most contributions, their total show $131,014,571 in aid, which equals out to be $0.42 per person and 8.33% of their numbers. Right behind America is Canada, with $130,733,773 which ends up being 8.31% and $3.89 per person. They are followed by Europe, UK and France.

The totals don’t matter much to me. I am not pointing them out to hold one country above the other. The reality is that the response to the crises in Haiti has been unsurprisingly astounding. The only thing that equals the level of tragedy in Haiti is the outpouring of money and donations from people around the world. It happens everytime tragedy strikes and is proof that the individual can always be more effective than any government could.

In Closing?

Putting aside political, religious and racial differences to help out other human beings is the root of the spirit of giving. Regardless of religion or political affiliation people are inheritably good. I really believe that. Tragedy and events in life may cause some to turn for the worst but at their core is a spirit of love and kindness. If we focus on that, and push aside the bitterness and dark tendencies of human nature we can really make a difference. The outpouring of caring in the form of hard earned money is a perfect example of that.

Group hug now. Just kidding, but seriously, it’s nice to reflect on the positive for a change.

Racists, homophobics, polygamists and Pat Robertson; they all can rely on the bible to excuse their behavior. The bible in itself is not a racist or homophobic book but if you look deep enough you can gather the scriptures to excuse your actions.

The Old Testament is usually the tool of these types of Christians. With so many diverse stories about ancient individuals it is not hard to find the examples they need to prove their feelings. The trick is simple, find a scripture that seems to mean its ok to do what you want and ignore those that insist you are wrong.

I call these people Old Testament Christians. Like the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, the subhumans responsible for “God Hates Fags”—what a crummy site, what, no homophobes in your “church” that can design a website?—and “Thank God For Dead Soldiers.” They love scriptures condemning homosexuality, even though they were written in a different time for different people. They have to ignore the scriptures of forgiveness and not being judgmental by Christ, but those scriptures are boring and too lovey dovey.

Let’s take Pat Robertson for example. He’s famous for saying stupid things. You know how people say “the devil made me do it?” Well, for this guy, the bible made him do it. Better said, his misunderstanding of the bible made him do it. How can I tell people there is love and hope in Christ with people like this around telling the exact opposite? The message of God’s wraith is popular with these old testament Christians. But the New Testament brought a totally different message. One of forgiveness and love. Regardless of what God considers sin, through Christ we are forgiven. God is not roaming around the earth conjuring earth quakes on the sinful. Silly man.

Considering the Christian faith? Maybe just considering that we all aren’t judgmental, old, senile fools like Robertson? Well, you can start off by turning off your television when you see these people come on.

Pat Robertson

Robertson has been in the news lately for his statements about Haiti, claiming the earth quake was a punishment from God for making a “pact with the devil.” The bible talks about earth quakes and other natural disasters occurring more frequently in the end times. I don’t recall hearing about God dishing them out, killing thousands of innocent poor men, women and children as a punishment. Scripture is an inconvenient thing for a man like Robertson.

“… something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it, they were under the heel of the French, uh, you know, Napoleon the third and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the devil, they said, we will serve you, if you get us free from the French, true story. And so the devil said, ‘OK, it’s a deal.’ And they kicked the French out, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free, and ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor.”

Fred Phelps

Fred Phelps deserves his own article all about the dumb, ignorant, homophobic, unChristlike things he says. He is the man behind Westboro Chuch, the God Hates Fags group, the people that picket funerals. For a man that runs around damning every person that isn’t perfect in his eyes he sure does a great job of portraying the Antichrist. If God hated anyone, it would surely be this man.

There is a great documentary called “The Most Hated Family in America” that goes into further detail about this abomination claiming to be messengers of Christ.

Fred has thirteen children. I guess homosexuality is a sin but don’t ask him about his own promiscuity. How much you want to bet this guy likes the whips and chains in the bedroom? In the documentary when asked about his kids he gets a bit defensive.

I could quote Fred for ages but what he is known for is his catchy signs so let’s take a look at some of those instead.

What’s really terrible is the poor children brainwashed and stuck out on the street to hold his signs. It’s child abuse, these poor children are vulnerable and innocent yet have to be burdened with the hate that should be directed at the adults and not them. The only thing worse than their protests is the way they are raising their poor children. Disgraceful and disgusting.

Wiley Drake

Some folks really hate President Obama, a lot. Some hate him so much that they are wishing death on him. Scratch that, some so-called preachers are praying for his death. How Christlike, let he who is without an understanding of Christ cast the first stone! Please, not all at once.

That has led other WWJK (Who Would Jesus Kill) Christians to pray Psalm 109:8 with President Obama in mind. The scripture says “let his days be few; Let another take his office.”

Moronic statements are nothing new for Wiley. In 2008 Wiley decided to send out a letter using official church stationary endorsing Mike Huckabee for president. Since he endorsed Huckabee in such an official manner he was put under investigation by the IRS and his church’s tax-exempt status was challenged. Wiley’s response was to ask his supporters to pray for the death of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the advocacy group that reported his violation of tax-exempt law.

Wiley was pretty excited upon hearing about the assignation of controversial abortion doctor George Tiller stating he was glad that he was dead. I’m sure he felt it was the answer to his prayers. Wiley is one of the best examples of an old testament Christian. Live by Matthew 5:39, turn the other cheek, Mr. Drake, put down the old testament and try and follow the teachings of Christ, the guy that represents the Christ part of Christian.

Jeremiah Wright

I couldn’t leave this guy out could I? You didn’t think I was just going to name a couple right-wing morons and leave out the left-wing guys did you? No, you see, here at Liberty Den we like to point out all idiots, regardless of political affiliation. It’s how we roll folks.

Wright is an important example because of his significance. Having been Obama’s pastor for a large part of his life, only been left behind after the media was having a field day with his statements, and the affect he had on the race he is forever a part of American political history.

Not God Bless America…

While the other folks on this list make Jeremiah look like a fuzzy little kitten, using the pulpit to spread your political agenda is wrong. Let that be the place to teach about caring for the poor, about loving your enemies and about what Christ would have us do on this earth. The people on this list have failed to carry out that simple mission. Tolerance and caring is missing from a lot of pulpits today and it’s a shame.

What do you think? I’m sure there are a lot of other examples of radical preachers that are misrepresenting Christ. Christian or not, we can all agree that these people are misrepresenting the loving and caring Christ presented in the New testament scriptures. I leave you with a Ghandi quote that sums up this article perfectly.

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Whether faithful, or just a loving person, we all need to take care of the weak and the sick. The Christian, the Muslim, and everyone in between. Not for any glory but the glory of knowing you are sharing love. For me, I will do it for the Glory of God, and so that I know at least one Christian on this planet is actually trying to be like Christ.

There are a lot of resources on the web to help you give wisely to the devastation in Haiti. I have brought together all the reliable information I could find so that you can see it all in one place. If you are able to give that is wonderful, I want to help make sure your money is put in the right hands.

Giving Tips

As outlined on Charity Navigator.

• Avoid Newly-Formed Charities and Give To An Established Charity That Has Worked In Haiti. – Find a charity with a good reputation. New charities may not be capable of dealing with the Haiti situation. So, don’t give your money to the first charity you see. Make sure they are legit and effective.
• DO NOT GIVE To The Haitian Government
• Designate Your Investment – Don’t count on your chosen charity to use the money in the way you want. Be sure to specify the Haiti disaster.
• Do Not Send Supplies – You may be tempted to send a care package, do not. The infrastructure needed to handle packages from outside of the country is not functioning and you would be wasting your time and money. If you are going to give, give cash to a reliable charity.
• Be Careful Of Email Solicitations– Sadly, in a time of crises there are people out there trying to get their own piece of the pie. People are willing to give and people are willing to take, even if they don’t need it. Basically, do not reply to any emails you receive and do not open any attachments in the emails. If you don’t know the sender, delete it. Resist the urge! How could they have access to a computer? Delete it!

You can read the full article at Charity Navigator.

Who To Give To?

Charities Providing Relief with star rating from Charity Navigator.

Action Against Hunger-USA

ActionAid International USA

ADRA

American Jewish World Service

AmeriCares

Beyond Borders

CARE

CHF International

Childcare Worldwide

Convoy of Hope

Direct Relief International

Doctors Without Borders, USA

Feed My Starving Children

FINCA International

Food For The Poor

Haitian Health Foundation

Hands Together

Hope for Haiti

Hope for Haiti Children’s Center

International Orthodox Christian Charities

International Relief Teams

Islamic Relief USA

Love A Child, Inc.

MADRE

MAP International

Medical Benevolence Foundation

Operation USA

Oxfam America

Partners In Health

Saint Boniface Haiti Foundation

Samaritan’s Purse

Save the Children

United Methodist Committee on Relief

United States Fund for UNICEF

Water Missions International

World Help

World Hope International

World Vision

American Red Cross

American Refugee Committee International

International Medical Corps

The Lambi Fund of Haiti

Lutheran World Relief

Mercy Corps

Project Concern International

Other Ways to Give

A great way to donate is through text messages. Huffington Post reports that Americans have given more than $9 million via text messages. It makes sense, it’s a quick and easy way to show you’re support.

Please note, these donations will not go into immediate effect. They can take up to 90 days to be put to use. However, these organizations will be involved with Haiti far beyond 90 days and your money will be be put to good use in Haiti.

Haiti Text-To-Give Numbers, via Gigaom and Mobile Giving Insider
•Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross
•Text HAITI to 25383 to donate $5 to International Rescue Committee
•Text HAITI to 45678 to donate $5 to the Salvation Army in Canada
•Text YELE to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele
•Text HAITI to 20222 to donate $10 through the Clinton Foundation
•Text HAITI to 864833 to donate $5 to The United Way
•Text CERF to 90999 to donate $5 to The United Nations Foundation
•Text DISASTER to 90999 to donate $10 to Compassion International
•Text RELIEF to 30644 (this will connect you with Catholic Relief Services and instruct you to donate money with your credit card)

For even more information, Huffington Post has a great article on how you can help Haiti. You can also stay posted via Twitter. As always, Americans pour out their pockets when a crises occurs. It is fantastic to see so many people wanting to help people they don’t know and will never meet. That is great but please do it responsibly and ensure your money is going to an honest and reliable charity.

My prayers go out to the families affected by this tragedy.

There are certain things in politics that make little sense. Such as how the Republicans in congress can be so adamantly against a public option while enjoying government health care themselves. Or, how people can scream and yell about “socialism” while 1.) Not knowing what socialism is and 2.) Enjoying many benefits of those ever-so-evil taxes such as roads and emergency services. Those may be head scratchers to me but nothing trumps out the pro-life, pro-death penalty issue. This isn’t just a shot at the religious right. When I say whole life, I mean it. That includes unborn children.

Like any political issue there is a for and an against. The abortion issue is no different and often one of those issues that neither side could ever find a middle ground with. Both of them have sincere reasons for the stance they take. I once used to feel that my pro-life stance was high and mighty. That no one could possibly ever support something as heinousness as abortion. My feelings towards abortion have not change but my feelings towards others being pro-choice has. It’s not as black and white as pro-lifers think and it is not as open and shut as pro-choicers think. It’s very complicated.

I won’t get into a discussion on abortion at this moment. I will soon, but right now I want to discuss the overall picture of the right to life. While I give pro-lifers the credit for being mindful of human beings that cannot protect themselves I condemn their stance on death row inmates. The compassion they have for the innocent should transfer over to the guilty in the spirit of forgiveness. I take this with a religious slant, if the religious right want to emanate Christ then they need to start by turning the other cheek. Justice will be served, there is no need for the electric chair in a civilized society.

It’s not that I don’t have the same gut feeling of hatred towards people that would commit murder. I have that itch, thoughts of personally putting them out of their misery come to mind. That’s human nature. The feeling that we need to close the book leads us to do some very carnal acts. The act of murder is unforgivable, the person that commits such an act deserves just punishment. For various reasons, including costs, being an infective deterrent and a bias towards minority and poor I cannot support the death penalty. If you are pro-life you cannot support such an institution.

On the issue of abortion we can take it to another level. Most pro-lifers are merely pro-birth. They will picket for your right to be born, blow up abortion clinics, kill abortion doctors and do whatever it takes to ensure that you exit the birth canal. After that? You’re on your own. You can’t even get health care to have the birth, pay for the hospital bills or buy formula with food stamps. All those issues of life are your own problem. They want you to get the child out so they can hand them their bills and requirements for life. Then, when they commit a crime and are sentenced to death, the pro-life circle completes. How biblical. Pro-life? No, pro-birth. It’s time to change your title.

On the issue of supporting abortion is where I find a middle ground. Yes, I feel it is wrong. Yes, I do subscribe to the belief that it is murder. But no, we do not live in a society that agrees fully with me. They decided abortion was a right, that a women deserves to be able to make the final decision in regards to something that will change their life forever. I do not support this right. I do support adoption, I do support finding a worthy home for your child. Yet, regardless of what I support the law is law. I can never bring myself to support abortion but I know the current law is not on my side.

Do I support making abortion illegal with the exceptions of saving the women’s life, incest and rape? Yes. But, for now, instead of fighting against women who make that decision I will offer my prayer and support as they make these tough decisions in life. I want them to know I know, as a pro-lifer, that they are not evil. They are not killing their child out of pure selfishness and my God forgives them. That might not matter to some, but it matters to me, so I offer those words. Life is not black and white. It’s not 1 + 1 = the simple answer. So, for those equations that never have an answer, I will always try and find a middle ground.

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!