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Voices of the Northwest
Mr. Bush and The Good Book: A Personal Christian Perspective
As a former fundamentalist, I can assure you that a well-chosen Biblical reference will be much more effective in talking to these folks...
By Carol McBrian
Posted on Oct 29, 2004 |
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Some Christians in this country seem to believe that George Bush is God's chosen vessel, and that it is their Christian duty to vote for him. But when the policies of the Bush Administration are looked at in the light of the Bible, most of them actually go against Biblical teachings.
In this article, I give some examples. I want to make clear the strengths and limitations of this article. I do not claim to be an expert on current events. I have trouble following the details of the news, because I get so upset that I become ineffective. What I do have some expertise on is the Bible. I spent almost four years as a fundamentalist Christian. During that time, I memorized a lot of Bible passages and got a sense for where to find things in the Bible. When the Christian Right behaves in a manner that is not Christlike, I know immediately which Biblical teachings they have violated, and where to find those teachings.
I am assuming that my readers have a good grasp of current events, and can cite many examples of how Bush and Kerry do or don't follow the passages I am about to cite. What I will provide are the Biblical references, complete with chapter and verse, that my readers can use when talking with their conservative friends and acquaintances. As a former fundamentalist, I can assure you that a well-chosen Biblical reference will be much more effective in talking to these folks than an appeal to political reason or common sense would be.
This article does not deal in detail with Kerry's actions or policies. I am leaving it to my readers to use the following passages to evaluate Mr. Kerry's merits or lack thereof. I am choosing instead to concentrate on the inconsistency between the actions of Mr. Bush and The Good Book that he claims to follow. I hope that you will find it useful as you talk to family, friends and neighbors. I have used abbreviations for the Gospels writers: Mt is Matthew, Lk is Luke, Mk is Mark and Jn is John. – CMcB
The Bush Administration and the Golden Rule
Jesus' teaching to "do unto others..." (Mt 7:12; Lk 6:31) is so well-known that it has acquired the title of "The Golden Rule." But while the Bush Administration is full of supposed Christians, it often violates this teaching. There is, for example, the issue of privacy. Mr. Bush places a high value on privacy. This Administration is well-known for determining policy in closed, secret meetings. Here in Oregon, we experienced that love of privacy first-hand during campaign visits by Bush and Cheney. The Cheney rally was at a secret location revealed only to those who signed pledges to vote for Bush. The Bush rally was closely monitored for people wearing shirts with "offending messages" on them. Three Oregon teachers were ejected for wearing shirts saying "Protect Our Civil Liberties".
But although Bush values privacy for himself, he has denied it to others. The "sneak and peak" sections of the USA PATRIOT Act allow government agencies to secretly search the homes of any US citizen, without having to give a reason. They can also search our medical and library records, as well as the records of books we have purchased. Given the Bush passion for privacy, I sincerely doubt that he would want this type of treatment for himself.
The Greatest Commandments
When Christians argue about the Bible, they frequently accuse their opponents of taking verses out of context. That is why I am including the things that Jesus himself said were most important. When asked what was the most important Commandment, Jesus said to love God with all your heart, mind, and strength. Then He added that the second most important commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself. (Mt 22:35-39; Mk 12:30,31; Lk 10:25-37) He said that these two commandments "contained all the law and the prophets". (Mt 22:40) While there is no real way to tell how much a person loves God, we can infer the extent of that person's love of neighbor by the way he or she treats others.
During the third debate, both Bush and Kerry referred to the greatest Commandments. In giving an example of loving his neighbor as himself, Mr. Bush cited the elections in Afghanistan, saying that "spreading freedom" was his way of loving his neighbors. Whether most Afghans would have freely chosen to experience American bombs followed by American-backed elections is doubtful. However, there is no doubt that democracy here in the US has suffered under the Bush Administration. One glaring example of the attacks on our freedom is the USA PATRIOT Act, which rolls back our Constitutional rights under the guise of fighting terrorism.
A second example is the compromising of this country's electoral process. Ever since the dubious election of 2000, there have been reports of Republican officials denying the vote to minority voters for false reasons, intimidating Democratic voters and those registering minority voters, and even destroying ballots of those expected to vote Democratic. Then there are the voting machines companies , which, under the Bush Administration, have taken over a third of this nation's elections. The abuses associated with these machines are so numerous that I can only list a few of the most egregious. These include: a voting machine (Diebold?) CEO at a Republican fund-raiser promising that his state would vote Republican; several voting machine executives who have served time for white collar crime; an election won by a man who had recently resigned as the CEO or the company whose machine counted the ballots; that man's opponent asking to look at the paper trail, only to be told that no one outside of the company could look at it. *
Loving our Enemies or Hitting them First?
Jesus' most famous sermon was the Sermon on the Mount. (Mt 5:1-7) In this sermon, He told His listeners to "exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees" (Mt 5:20) , or, in other words, to go beyond the letter of the Law. While the Law told them to love their neighbors and hate their enemies (Mt 5:43), Jesus instructed them to love their enemies as well. (Mt 5:44) While the Law allowed retaliation for evil, Jesus instructed them not to resist evil (Mt 5:39), but to turn the other cheek (Mt 5:39) and go the extra mile. (Mt 5:41) The Bush doctrine of "pre-emptive strikes" does just the opposite. Instead of waiting to retaliate for an injury, this doctrine allows the US to strike first. Rather than exceeding "the righteousness of the Law", the idea of "getting them before they get us" does not even live up to the standards of the Law.
Breaking the Ninth Commandment
I'm certain that Mr. Bush believes the Ten Commandments are important. Yet his Administration has routinely broken--and continues to break the Ninth Commandment--the one that tells us not to bear false witness against our neighbors. (Exodus 20:16) The most egregious example of this is the use of the nonexistent "weapons of mass destruction" and the nonexistent link between Saddam and Al-Quaeda as an excuse to invade Iraq. Even though these stories have been proved false, the Bush Administration has not made a big effort to repudiate them. To this day, many Bush supporters still believe these stories. As the leader of this country's Republican Party, President Bush has allowed, if not actually encouraged glaring examples of false accusations by his party against the Democrats. The worst of these is the attack on the patriotism of triple-amputee Vietnam veteran Max Cleland for his stand against the Iraq war.
Inconsistent Stand on the Sixth Commandment
Like most conservative Christians, Mr. Bush is vigorously anti-abortion. The supposed rational for the Christian opposition to abortion is the Sixth Commandment--the one that tells us not to kill. (Exodus 20:13) However, like many conservatives, Mr. Bush is extremely selective in supporting this Commandment. For example, he sees nothing wrong with leading our nation into two wars, which directly caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people. (See the Lancet study about 100,000 civilian deaths since the US occupation of Iraq began.) He also let the ban on assault weapons expire, which will also cause the deaths of many innocent people. (He also has signed more death sentences as governor in Texas than any other governor.)
Some people may respond to this argument by saying that Bush supports killing enemy combatants while Kerry supports killing innocent babies, so Bush is better. There are many rational ways to answer this. For instance, Kerry does not encourage women to get abortions, but simply wants this last resort legally available while Bush directly caused the war, and even used false evidence in the process. However, I prefer the following Biblical argument: Jesus was extremely gentle with desperate women, (Jn 4:16-16, Jn8:11) and saved his wrath for the powerful and self-righteous( Mt 23:2-35; Lk 11:42-52, Lk 6:24-26). Anyone who doubts this can compare Jesus' response to the adulteress: "Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more" (Jn 8:11) with his response to the religious elite: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore shall ye receive the greater damnation." (Mt 24:14) Abortion is the act of a desperate woman. The desire to reproduce ourselves is part of natural instincts. When a woman feels a need to resist her natural instincts and terminate a pregnancy, it is because something in her life has gone terribly wrong.
Wars, on the other hand, tend to be started by the powerful and self-righteous. Given the Biblical accounts of Jesus' actions, I think that He would be less concerned with a desperate woman's efforts to get an abortion than he would be with Halliburton's war profits.
The Wrong Road to Armageddon
Many Christians believe that Mr. Bush was justified in breaking the Sixth and Ninth commandments because he was carrying out God's will in some kind of Apocalyptic crusade. They believe that the US is engaged in a holy war in the Middle East, because John the Apostle's Book of Revelation places the Final Battle will happen there. Since this battle will supposedly bring on the Second Coming of Christ, they are anxious to see it happen. (Some people take this mystical saga of the soul in history as literal prophesy.) There are several Biblical arguments that can be made against this position.
First of all, there is the relative unimportance of prophecy when compared to love. Jesus said was most important, love of God and our neighbors Now I will talk about what the apostle Paul said was most important. Paul devoted the entire 13th Chapter of I Corinthians (pronounced "first Corinthians) to the importance of love, and its superiority to all the "spiritual gifts," such as prophecy. I Cor 13:2 states: "And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge. . . and have not charity (love). . .I am nothing." If making prophecies is of such little value compared to love, then trying to carry out a prophecy must be of even less value. Any effort to bring about the Second Coming by bearing false witness and bringing about innocent deaths is bound to be displeasing to God, because such an effort would not be done in a spirit of love.
Then there is Jesus' statement about the fate of Judas Iscariot. Speaking of His betrayal at the Last Supper, Jesus said: "...the Son of man goeth, as it was determined, but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!" (Lk 22:22) Jesus considered his death to be a bad thing, even though it brought about his resurrection, which was a good thing. By the same token, the Battle of Armageddon would be a bad thing, since it would bring about total devastation, even though it would bring about the good result of the Second Coming. Jesus did not thank Judas Iscariot for bringing about his death, and he would not thank George W. Bush for bringing about the Apocalypse. Finally, there is Jesus' response to Satan's temptation to jump off the top of the temple. (Mt 4:5,6; Lk 4:9-11) Satan had dared Him to do this, saying that He would be safe because of a prophecy about the angels keeping Him from harm. (Jesus replied "....Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. "(Mt 4:7; Lk 4:12) Starting a battle that would result in the destruction of the world in order to bring about the Second Coming would be an example of tempting God.
The Sheep and the Goats
When Jesus spoke of the Last Days, He did not say much about the Final Battle. He did, however, give an account of the Final Judgment, which He compared to a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats (Mt 26:31-46). According to this account, we are going to be judged on how well we treat the poor the sick, and the prisoners. The Bush Administration has cut services to the poor and sick, and set up prisons (at home and abroad) whose inmates are abused. This seems more like "goat" behavior than "sheep" behavior. Is this why Mr. Bush found the book about the pet goat so fascinating?
Walking the Talk or By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them
President Bush and many of his top officials profess a faith in Jesus Christ. But Jesus said on several occasions that he was not satisfied by a profession of faith without the accompanying good works (Mt 7:21-23) Jesus expected His followers must walk their talk. On one occasion, He asked His listeners, "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Lk 6:46) Perhaps he would have addressed this question to President Bush.
*These examples come from the book Black Box Voting by Bev Harris. Readers wanting further information can log onto www.blackboxvoting.org.
A note about our author in her own words:
The Sufi reformer and mystic Rumi said that when we don't have the answers, we should live the questions.
For the last thirty years, I lived the question of what to do about a faith that gave me personal satisfaction, but theological torment. (For instances, are all good unbelievers doomed to Hell?) My path led through two Pentecostal congregations, a stint as the piano player in a black Baptist congregation, several years of attending Al-Anon meetings, and thirteen years in a liberal Presbyterian church with a dynamite prayer circle. In between these group experiences were several periods when I put religion aside for reasons that included anger at God, utter confusion, and a desire to think about something else for a change.
Gradually, through a process too long to explain (call it grace), I found a way to hold on to the mystical experiences and personal transformation, while letting go of the oppressive theology. I eventually realized that the
only reason I remained a Christian was that I believed that God wanted
me to be part of a spiritual community. One day it occurred to me that
I could join a Quaker meeting, where I could be part of a spiritual community whose beliefs were closer to my own. I remained in the
Presbyterian congregation until I had fulfilled my remaining responsibilities there. Then in June of 2001, I became a regular attender at the Eugene Friends Meeting.
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