It hasn't taken very long for the Republican House leadership to put their agenda of revenge and hatred on the table. We'll see if some of those who won elections with razor thin margins in districts where their win hinged on their claims of actually doing something about inflation or crime or the border (Arizona 6 comes to mind) will go along with the phonies like Marjorie Taylor Green or Jim "Gym" Jordan or if they will keep them from getting a majority on the potential investigation and impeachment votes they are looking to hold. I have my doubts, but when it comes to Republicans, I am never surprised by their extremism and their lack of concern for their constituents.
Aside from the circus that all of that will be, it will also be a losing political proposition. They actually thought that a "red tsumami" was coming, based on their extremism, but election denying and insurrection supporting lost big. A majority of the electorate, a significant one if the exit polling following the mid-terms is correct, believes Trump's impeachments were justified, support the investigation into his theft of classified documents, and don't think there's anything wrong with the way elections are operated and ballots are counted. Even extremist gubernatorial loser Kari Lake, in Arizona, has not been able to find a single voter who was denied the opportunity to vote, or whose ballot did not count in spite of the glitches affecting a few hundred voters in a few scattered precincts.
A Bigger Moral and Ethical Issue
But I'm aiming this narrative at conservative Evangelicals who read this, are looking at this and thinking that they can somehow separate this tsunami of hatred and vengeance from their claims of belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and in doctrine and theology they claim is based on the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible. How is there any connection at all between what the extremists in the Republican party want to do, and what conservative Evangelicals claim to believe are the core principles of Christian faith?
Daily Kos: Trump May Finally Be Losing Evangelical Support
It is difficult to center positions taken by conservative Evangelicals on Christian doctrine and theology. Most of the churches, even those affiliated with denominations and fellowships, are independent and autonomous and if they have a pastor or church leader who wanders off the beaten path and tries to build personal loyalty from a congregation around unique interpretations of obscure Old Testament passages of scripture, there is no way to hold them accountable because they intimidate their own church members into submission and there is no other means of accountability. People like Trump's "spiritual advisor" Paula White, or the Tennessee pastor who likes to make headlines, Greg Locke, are actually heretics by the more widely accepted standards of Evangelicals.
But political power has trumped Biblical truth, bringing Mormons to the pulpit of Liberty University among Baptists and other ultra-conservative Fundamentalists who characterize Mormonism as a demonic cult. The lust after worldly power is a temptation that is hard to resist. So it's not surprising that they're willing to compromise sacred beliefs for political gain. Trump, who is not a Christian by his own admission, demands, and gets, their loyalty. Don Jr., at the Trump political organization's "Turning Point" rallies, tells the young Evangelical-leaning audiences who show up to abandon Jesus' teachings, that "turning the other cheek" and "loving your enemies" may be nice things to do, but "they won't get you anywhere in this world."
Most of the members of Congress who wear their Christian faith on their sleeve, and use it as a political wedge lost my interest, respect and lost their credibility with me, and with millions of other disgusted Christians, a long time ago. The most salient point of Christian theology in the Bible is that those who are Christians are most clearly and easily identified by the way they treat other people.
"Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers and sisters are liars; for those who do not love their brothers and sisters, whom they have seen cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also." I John 4:20-21, NRSV
"Brothers," or "brothers and sisters" in this particular translation, is not an exclusive term. The Apostle who wrote those words did not allow for defining the terms as "only those who agree with you politically or religiously." He meant everyone.
So it would not be judgmental, in a Christian sense, to expect politicians who use their Christian faith as a part of their political identity to look out for the interests of all of their constituents. It would not be unreasonable to expect that if their focus in winning election or re-election to office was to do something about inflation, the economy or the crime rate to actually come up with a plan to do exactly that. And it would not be unreasonable to expect them to set aside the rancor, the hostile rhetoric, the name calling and the vindictiveness in favor of the people they are supposed to represent.
It would also not be judgmental or unreasonable, in a Christian sense, not to take their claims of faith seriously based on their behavior, and their words. "Blessed are the peacemakers," said Jesus, "for they shall be called the children of God."
I'm linking a post here by Julie Roys, who is an investigator of scandals and issues among Evangelical churches and related institutions. It's not directly related to the Evangelical support for the vitriol and hatred that they support in Congress, but it is relevant to the point I'm making here. The post is about yet another failed investigation into issues of sexual abuse taking place on a Christian college campus, about which those in charge went about business as usual and worked hard to defend their own power and position. She makes a poignant point in this story that is worth quoting here.
"Because the lying and corruption is rampant in evangelicalism..."
So will any Republican, conservative, Evangelical stand up to the extremists in the GOP? I think that question has been answered by the conduct of those who continue to fail to allow their faith to affect their politics. Evangelicalism is now too much of a business, and too little of a church, and it has lost its connection to the spiritual power of God, laying a foundation of dependence on worldly power, popularity and prosperity, and abandoning its principles and values when those things are threatened. There are those who do take a stand, and who do call out the sin and corruption.
I hope they prevail.
Julie Roys: Issues at Cedarville University Could Be Evangelicalism's Chernobyl
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