Dear Christians
As good Christians, your involvement in community and church enables us to have a better society. In my career field, I witness Christians give a tremendous amount of time and money to charitable organizations that work to strengthen a wide range of causes. Your desire to have government participate in the fight to preserve social values is no less unworthy.
I admire those that have placed a high regard on social values. I myself believe that society must react against the dangers facing our children and ourselves. The Republican Party has been stalwart in this effort to advance protections and limit harmful threats. Your involvement with this Party is righteously so.
As the Republican Party integrates Christian values more and more, I look onward with enthusiasm to see how this Party can transform our society. Within good time, we will begin to see other ideals promoted in the halls of government. We will all watch as the Republican Party mounts an offensive against the destruction of our environment and the corporate interests that place money above our common good. We will watch as the health of our citizens is placed above the health of the pharmaceutical industry’s profits. And we will watch as the discrimination against minority groups ends and the battle against poverty begins.
It is with much anticipation that values held by Christians within the Republican Party will soon rise and join those held for so long within the Democratic Party. Within good time, we will all be ready to have our Parties fight against those overwhelming forces that pressure women down a winding path toward legal or illegal abortions. We can embolden our Parties to fight against social ills born out of a lack of education and opportunity. Together, we can move our society away from the polluting energies that keep our young soldiers in treacherous lands and push our society into the clean technologies that allow other countries to be self-sufficient.
I truly feel blessed to live in a society where Christian values have created such lasting peace and prosperity. As my fellow Christians make their migration over to the Republican Party, I wish you all the best. Within good time, the Republican Party will be in a position to continue with our campaign toward peace and prosperity for all.
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April 9, 2006 |
Jenson Hagen | Comments (19 so far)
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Comments
Posted by: LT | Apr 9, 2006 12:18:00 PM
So, "as ye do to the least of them" is not a Christian injunction, because "Christians" only care about abortion and gay marriage?
That would come as a surprise to all the volunteers in charities operated out of churches which observe Palm Sunday and Easter.
Or did you mean the "Justice Sunday" and "War on Christians" crowd who think anyone who doesn't support their agenda is not "Christian"?
Then why are there headlines these days like
GOP Sees Disturbing Reflection in The Mirror
Democrats Fell in '94 After Abuses of Power
and
DeLay's troubles expose rift among evangelicals
(sorry, don't have a link).
I do have a quote from a January church newsletter sent to me--a comment from an Episcopal priest. But I guess he isn't "Christian", only what many of us consider truly Christian.
He said
"My concern with this defensiveness
(which has turned quite offensive) is
that it completely misses the point in being
a Christian. We are not a political
party or an aggressive ideology. We are
not members of an exclusive club. We
are part of a body called to be the visible
presence of Christ in the world. As such
we are called to serve others, not to antagonize
them or devalue them for their
differences from us."
Posted by: Wesley Charles | Apr 9, 2006 12:57:48 PM
The author specifically penned his "Epistle to those Christians in the Republican Party," not to mainline Protestants in the Democratic Party.
Granted, there are self-proclaimed Christians in both main parties. However, Democratic Christians tend to be associated with older, established denominations (e.g. Episcopal, Presbyterian, United Methodist, etc) that are part of the World Council of Churches.
On the other hand, non-denominational evangelicals (including many independent Baptists) tend to be overwhelmingly Republican. I believe the author clearly understood that fact and correctly identified his intended audience.
Unfortunately, he is preaching to the choir here at BlueOregon because I seriously doubt his essay will be read by any of those he intended to reach. After all, a real Christian would never visit this site. :)
- Wes
Posted by: LT | Apr 9, 2006 1:53:44 PM
Gosh, Wes, I must not be a "real Christian"--or does the :) indicate sarcasm?
Posted by: Joel | Apr 9, 2006 3:06:42 PM
This is great. I'll have to forward it to a few people...
There's a bit of a Freudian slip in the first paragraph though - did you actually mean "no less worthy"? :-)
Posted by: jrw | Apr 9, 2006 7:33:09 PM
And this little screed includes a liberal Catholic Democrat just how?
Unfortunately, to me it smacks of someone on the outside who hasn't been engaged in a no-holds-barred social justice discussion and is buying into the superficial Prot Christian Republican rhetoric and does not have much comprehension that Christianity is not a political monolith, and that not all of us who claim the title "Christian" buy into the same BS that Bush and Co do.
There are plenty of us who've never bought into the prosperity theology, premillenial apocalyptic BS so favored by the Republican evangelical crowd. Some of us who actually believe that the Gospel calls us to feed the hungry, provide for widows and orphans, and do justice. Some of us have even studied the Old Testament Hebrew writings which are pretty adamant about how environmental abuse, social injustice, and abusive treatment of others leads to the downfall of a nation.
The only thing I dislike as much if not more than evangelical prosperity, End-Times rhetoric is knee-jerk Left rhetoric about how Christians are all right-wing, anti-social justice fundamentalists.
BTW, Jenson...the day that this social justice, liberal Catholic joins the Republican party will be....
When Hell Freezes Over.
It's stuff like this that alienates friends, and leads me to remember how so many of my so-called activist Democratic Party "friends" dropped me when I joined the Church--even though my politics had not changed one whit. If anything, I've become more hard-core Left.
Posted by: Wesley Charles | Apr 9, 2006 8:40:08 PM
"The only thing I dislike as much if not more than evangelical prosperity, End-Times rhetoric is knee-jerk Left rhetoric about how Christians are all right-wing, anti-social justice fundamentalists."
Well-said by a self-described "liberal Catholic Democrat."
Roman Catholics are literally all over the political map. Officially Anti: abortion, death penalty, divorce; while pedophile priests are bankrupting one diocese after another.
jrw: I'm truly sorry, but not surprised, that your Democratic "friends" dropped you when you joined the church. But look on the bright side: you share a common faith with Sean Hannity and Kevin Mannix.
- Wes
Posted by: t.a. barnhart | Apr 9, 2006 11:06:03 PM
Wes -- great methodist name you've got there! (-; just a bit backwards. do you know wesley john, by any chance?
Posted by: t.a. barnhart | Apr 9, 2006 11:13:53 PM
this is a great post to share this link: it's the episode of West Wing where Pres Bartlett dresses down a conservative talk show host who calls homosexulity an abomination. it's based on the internet letter detailing some lesser-used old testament laws, but it adds a great WW twist (requires RealPlayer)
Bartlett reads the riot act to wingnut
Posted by: BlueNote | Apr 10, 2006 8:37:54 AM
I take great offense at this post. My company and I gave thousands of dollars to progressive and pro-choice candidates last election season and we will do the same this year. I have been a precinct committee officer for the Democratic party on and off for thirty plus years. But I am also a practicing Catholic, which apparently makes me one of the "Christians" who are targeted by this post. If Jenson Hagen speaks for the majority of the current Democratic party in Oregon, then I think it is time for me and my beliefs to re-register as a Libertarian or Green or something other than Democrat. But in realty I think he is just another mumbling idiot, so I guess I will stay where I am.
Posted by: paul | Apr 10, 2006 9:52:39 AM
A terrible posting that exposes the knee-jerk, anti-religious, closed-minded sentiment within the progressive movement which does harm to the our cause.
Posted by: Pat Ryan | Apr 10, 2006 10:41:39 AM
There is a base out there on the right that only pays attention to the propaganda of the day as delivered by Newsmax and WorldNetDaily. We could classify them as fear driven Talking Point Christians.
I have known several of these folks for years and some, siblings, father, etcetera, for my entire life. These guys have on average, more kindness in their little fingers, than I do in my entire body. They generally live according to New Testament principles in their daily lives, but they are easily victimized by calculated scare tactics and deception by the Demagogues who lead them politically, as they are predisposed by their religious leaders to see themselves as a persecuted minority.
************
In our house district, we are seeing more and more Christians who are disillusioned with the greed, corruption, and outright lying from the republican leadership, and are looking to our party.
We would be foolish to denigrate their faith as we are clear that with over 85% of the US population espousing at least Deism, and a solid majority identifying as Christian, we are in fact a Christian culture if not a Christian nation.
Evangelical Christian leaders are beginning to turn away from single issue stuff and toward bible based environmental activism, care for the poor, and most importantly a distrust of self appointed moral guardians. Bill Bennnet, Limbaugh, Scaraborough, Falwell, Reed Bush and many others are mired in various scandals or have demonstrated their lack of commitment to New Testament principles.
Real Christians are listening to The Book and are checking to see how words and deeds add up. That's the advice from the Apsotle Paul, and it's still good advice.
**********
Progressives have Tolerance and Inclusiveness as our watchwords and our dogma.
Let's live it.
Posted by: Andy N | Apr 10, 2006 3:08:39 PM
One of the main reasons the Republican party has become more religious is that the Democratic party has become more irreligious. Granted, there are some Ds who are working to reverse that trend, but posts like this one show what they are up against in their own party.
Posted by: ConcernedBlue | Apr 10, 2006 4:50:29 PM
Please tell me the purpose of this post and better yet some of the response? Is this really what Blue Oregon is for?
Is the Democratic Party an open party for all or just some closed-door cynical/sarcastic secret-society where members must now be vetted to make sure they have absolutely no religious beliefs before joining.
I want to congratulate Jenson for finally breaking the straw on this camel’s back and bid adios to Blue Oregon. Maybe after we lose a few more elections we might be able to address some of this stuff from a more mautre viewpoint.
I'm an Oregonian
I'm a Christian
I'm a Progressive
I'm a Pro-lifer (not anti-choice)
And I'm done with this blog.
Posted by: Jenson | Apr 10, 2006 5:31:34 PM
It's funny how people automatically read this as cynicism or a jab at Christians. I read this as a wake up call to Democrats. We will not be able to easily convert people that have migrated over to the Republican Party, but we can ask those that are Christians to start putting pressure on their own Party to live according to Christian principles.
I also see that I'm not going to convert anyone to having a sense of humor anytime soon or an ability to see the bigger picture on matters.
Good luck America. You need it!
Posted by: Pat Ryan | Apr 10, 2006 5:49:04 PM
I'd say it's the forum, Jensen.
If we were over on the Atheists for Critical Thinking blog, it might be funnier...............
People who are serious about their religion are.....well.....serious about their religion.
Posted by: Jenni Simonis | Apr 10, 2006 9:39:55 PM
I in no way read this as an attack on all Christians. I see it as an attack on those who profess to be Christians, yet vocally and actively follow beliefs that Jesus would have disagreed with.
I'm a Christian-- a Southern Baptist at that-- and I see every week the extreme hipocricy found among many "Christians." To me, these are the people this entry is talking about.
Posted by: paul | Apr 11, 2006 12:56:06 AM
Jenson,
I apologize, but I completely missed the humor in your post. Your use of "righteous," your sarcastic comments about environmentalism in the Republican party, your clear implication that Christian values have not created "peace and prosperity" but war and poverty are very, very clear.
Funny? I don't think so. I don't think you're intolerant, just ignorant.
I don't claim to know what Jesus would do. But I don't think you do, either. I find it utterly arrogant that George Bush does. But I don't doubt the depth of Bush's faith. But our own discomfort with faith and our inability to marshal the forces of christian tolerance and forgiveness to the progressive cause have caused great harm to the Democratic Party in the past quarter century.
And I don't think humor and sarcasm is the way to get some of that back. Humility might be a good place to start.
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Posted by: Wesley Charles | Apr 9, 2006 11:45:31 AM
"Dear Christians" is one of the most brilliant, well-written pieces of patronizing sarcasim I've read here at BlueOregon. How ironic that it was posted on Palm Sunday instead of April Fool's Day.
While the author awaits the day when Republican evangelicals support abortion, same-sex marriage and the pagan worship of our Mother Earth, he can add one more item to the waiting list:
When Hell Freezes Over
- Wes Charles