The Use and Abuse of the Faithful by the Conservative Right

I come from a fairly conservative family (on my father's side-he was the black sheep). This is not surprising, considering my Grandfather was a Baptist Preacher. So I know the ins and outs of the conservative mindset. And I think it is a vital component of a healthy society. Many of my gay friends find that shocking; they feel that the conservative fundamental portion of society is the enemy. And while I quite agree that Organizations like National Organization on Marriage are the enemy, as are their leaders, like Tony Perkins, Maggie Gallagher, and Orson Scott Card, I don't think of them as Christians. Their mission of hate proves they have no clue what the message of Christ is.

So where does this deep seated anger at Fundamentalists come from? I am not one to feel something that strongly, and not understand the root, so I sat down to examine my feelings and see what was the source of my rage. Yes, I am angry that there has been a red backlash in the mid-term elections, and I am angry that the Ohio judges were ousted by a concerted effort of Fundamentalists. But I am not angry at Fundamentalists for voting their conscience. I am angry with them for letting themselves be manipulated.

I know the power and the passion of the faithful. I joined in many prayer circles in the wake of 9/11 and prayed for our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. I have seen the sincerity of their faith, and their need to do something to help. I do not see that sincerity today. I see anger, and I see something darker.

Where were these people protesting the torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo? Where was their outrage when they discovered that the Bush Administration had lied to them, that there were no weapons of mass destruction, nor had there been credible evidence? Where were their collectively raised voices when one of our CIA operatives, Valerie Plame, was outed to hurt her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had objected to Bush's clearly illegal actions in involving America in the over throw of Iraq. I can't tell you where they were, but I can tell you where they weren't; they weren't in downtown Texarkana, protesting.

And yet as soon as Obama was elected, they were there, protesting, wearing Tea Bags as a symbol about the economy, and taxes. As I see it, Obama can't fix what took eight years and two wars to create over night, and taxes are lower under Obama than under Bush. This is a fact, not an opinion. Yet here are all these people screaming "Taxed Enough Already!" Let's make this clear. George W. Bush drove the country into debt. When he came into office, he inherited a surplus. Then in the wake of 9/11, he involved us in two wars, one of which is dubious, the other was clearly illegal. He drove our debt through the roof. Our jobs market crashed. We were on the verge of a depression that likely would have drug the world economy down with us. And in 2008 America voted he, and his NeoCon cronies out.

Obama inherited a mess. And he took decisive action to fix the situation. The bank and auto bail outs, the stimulus package. And he has done a remarkable job turning the country around. Not since LBJ's Great Society have we seen such sweeping reforms, or the country pull back from the brink of disaster so quickly. And Obama did it with one hand tied behind his back. The Republicans have voted in lock step against everything the president has put forward; even legislation they themselves proposed, if Obama gave it his endorsement. Yet, the economy is up, job creation has grown, and it looks as if disaster has at least been delayed, if not averted.

And yet the far right of the country is screaming for Obama's blood, as though he were a traitor, selling our future to foreign powers. And many of the people screaming the loudest are the fundamentalist Christians. Why is that?

Well, George W. Bush discovered that Fundamentalist Christians could be a very powerful voting bloc. Why? Because Fundamentalist Christians are very comfortable with "Should" and "Ought" and "Duty." Their mindset is fairly straight forward, there is a way you should live your life, there are things you ought to do, and you have many duties, to you family, community, and country. And one of the duties you should and ought to do is to vote. When it is so hard to get American's off their ever expanding behinds and out from in front of the TV, Fundamentalist Christians will get up from their sick beds, bundle up well, and go vote because that is what you SHOULD do. So they have a really high turnout rate. Good for them.

The problem comes when the Republican party started telling the Fundamentalist Christians who they should listen to, what they ought to be supporting, and where their duty lies. Now, many Republican leaders are good and ethical people. But their primary duty is not to their faith, but to their politics. And they began to see the Fundamentalist Bloc as a tool, not as constituents. Rupert Murdock's little propaganda machine, Fox News, began putting a ever more conservative spin on things until they stopped being a news organization, and became the media arm of the Conservative movement.

Now, let's challenge some political truthiness with some clear thought. It's okay, my Christian friends; these are secular matters, and they are NOT to be taken on faith.

Ezra Klein did a great chart showing the difference between the Obama Administrations proposed Tax Cuts, and the Bush Era Tax cuts extended as the Republicans want to do.

Income Level Democratic Republican

<$10,000 $53 $52

$10K-$20K $387 $387

$20K-$30K $771 $769

$30K-$40K $896 $894

$40K-$50K $916 $909

$50K-$75K $1132 $1119

$75K-$100K $1900 $1871

$100K-$200K $6743 $7152

$500K-$1M $6,701 $17,467

$1Million + $6,349 $103,835

So you see that the Republican Proposal is in the best interest of the 2% of Americans who make the most money. They say that these people having more money will stimulate the economy. How? They are not hiring workers out of their own pockets. They hire workers with corporate money. No, this money will be going into investments, whose stimulation may not be felt for years. If we go with the Obama plan, the deficit will shrink. If we go with the Republican plan, it will grow. It is that simple.

No, the number one thing Congress can do to stimulate the economy is something the Republicans voted against; extend the unemployment benefits. Every dollar that goes into that fund generates $1.53 in economic stimulation. What do people buy with unemployment benefits? Electricity, heat, water, food and gasoline. There are no people lying around in luxury, not working because of their huge unemployment check keeps them in cable TV and caviar. This is keeping American families afloat through very hard times.

So, the next time a Congressman tells you that they did you a favor by stopping the "gravy train" for all those lazy unemployed people, or they tell you they need your money to help support the tax cuts for the richest people in America, because only them getting more money will save the economy, realize that they are lying to you.

And here is another hot button issue that you can be fairly sure is being used to manipulate the Fundamentalist Christian; Gay Equality. Whether the issue is Gay Marriage, or Don't Ask, Don't Tell, lots of money has been raised for the Far Right to combat the Homosexual Hordes.

I am not going into the moral issues of Homosexuality, or What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality (that's the title of a book on the subject, if you want to check it out), but to highlight how the issue has been used to manipulate the electorate.

Dick Cheney, for his entire tenure as Vice President, was firmly against Gay Rights. This was somewhat awkward, because his daughter, Mary, is a lesbian. He carefully avoided direct answers about how the Federal Marriage Amendment would affect her. Mary Cheney herself remained silent on the issue the entire time her father was in office. But in June 2009, Cheney came out in favor of Gay Marriage. Why did he not do this when he was Vice President? Because it could have cost the Republican Party votes. Laura Bush has come out with a similar position, in a similar time frame. The wife and vice president to George W. Bush think Gay Marriage is a good thing. But they never expressed this view when it could have cost them political capital among the religious right.

It makes you wonder what other hypocrisy they were engaging in. And you should be wondering.

I think the whole effort has gotten away from the political leaders; the proof of this lies in the 2010 elections where Tea Party candidates beat Republicans. I think this is clear sign that people want change. But we should look carefully at where that change will take us. And you should look at the records of the people you are voting for.

The Republicans say they are the Party of Small Government. Bush expanded the Government more than any president ever. The Republicans say they are fiscally conservative. Yet they have run up the largest debt ever, and want to give huge tax breaks to the richest Americans, adding to the deficit. The Republicans say they will protect you from the insidious plots of the Homosexual Hordes. How, exactly? And what are the gays planning? We want to serve in the military, get married, and live our lives. It is like the Government saying they will protect you from the threat of invasion from New Zealand, or the insidious plots of the Amish. Yeah, send money to Ron Steele before the Amish take away your internal combustion engine.

The conservative right has whipped up the Fundamentalist Christian by praying on their fears. And they do have fears. As more American's lose their faith, Christians, of all kinds, feel they are holding the line in a losing war. But that has nothing to do with politics. The Conservative extreme has found the way to exploit that fear, and whip it up into a political frenzy. But what do they offer in return? A return to faith? How is a politician going to legislate that? They say they are the party of smaller government, and fewer taxes, and a return to fiscal conservatism; yet their current plans grow the debt at an alarming rate, make the rich richer, and dismantle the regulations that protect the common people from corporate greed. It says in the Bible you cannot serve two masters; now ask yourself, when they are asking for your vote, are they serving G*d, or Mammon?

Think about it. Pray on the matter. And don't let yourself be used.