James Madison, fourth President of the United States, in his Federalist Papers No. 10 explained that factions, alliances, were the natural state of man, that the like minded would form in groups. But he warned of the inherent danger when these Factions turned political to the detriment of the public interest.
The adherents of the Religious Right focus on the “me” society rather than the “we” society. Therein lies a major conflict with the Bible: Matthew 25:45 “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”
The Religious Right is an exclusive group choosing the phrases in the Bible exclusively to further their prejudices.
Another difference between the members of the Religious Right and mainstream Christian Churches is the former are political, and Republican. The so-called christians who subscribe to the various groups do so willingly knowing the positions that the hate groups stand by, albeit refuse to identify them as hate groups. Moreover, these groups claim to be christian but they take passages out of context from the Bible and twist the meaning to further their agenda: money.
Here is an example of an un-christian religious ceremony introduced and promoted by Randy Wilson. At public display, the father ceremoniously marries his daughter to hold her to swear before God her virginity which the father swears before God to hold until she marries his choice. Totally sick and creepy! This religious ceremony is against the Bible and a sacrilege:
Matthew 5:34-37 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
James 5:12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let you yea be yea; and you nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
There are many issues with so-called Religious Right Christian views. The Jews are going to hell as one Religious Right person told me years ago. These mis-directed sycophants are carrying on the same instilling of hate towards the Jews carried on generation after generation since the Diaspora of ancient time to the Holocaust of the 20th Century.
In his acceptance of the Ecumenical Council of 1960-1965, Vatican II, Pope John Paul II asserted that as a descendent to the throne of St. Peter, the true message of Jesus was all inclusive, that all people of the world were saved. I believe all main-stream Christian Churches believe the true message of Jesus was love for all religious communities since all mainstream religions believe and practice the same love.
But let’s not forget the Evangelical Religious Right homeschooling who believe that it is the parents right to instill in their children the need to save this country from the Jews, Catholics, the LGBT, the Liberals, and anyone who does not believe in the views of Mike Pence. Let’s take back the Country for Christ.
Here’s what Mike Pence stands for: He’s very pro-gun; he’s very anti-abortion. As Governor of Indiana, he signed a law mandating funerals for fetuses; he’s hostile to LGBT rights; he supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); he wants to cut taxes for the rich.
The LGBT community is the target of Focus On The Family and has made anti-LGBT activism a cornerstone of it’s “pro-family” cause. The millionaire James Dobson is not an ordained minister of the pulpit, but a graduate Psychologists who discovered the propensity to make money selling religion to the vulnerable.
It is one thing for a person to hold his opinions to him self but for a person to act out his prejudices by pursuing organizations that cause harm to others is wrong.
Former President Jimmy Carter, who in 2000 officially severed ties with the Southern Baptist Convention after the SBC declared its opposition to female pastors and reiterated its calls “for wives to be submissive to their husbands.” He condemned the mistreatment of women by religious leaders, writing: “the words of God do not justify cruelty to women.”
In an opinion piece published “Losing my Religion for Equality.” President Carter said that a “twisted interpretation of the word of God” taught by male religious leaders has been used to justify the oppression of women: “The truth is that male religious leaders have had — and still have — an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter.”
There are phrases in the Bible that exalt women and here is just a sample of many: Romans 16:1New International Version (NIV) Personal Greetings 16 “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae”; Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”; Romans 2:11 “For God shows no partiality”; Ephesians 5:21 “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ”.
How can this faction be morally right when its leaders, like Franklin Graham, James Dobson, Pat Robertson do not condemn President Trump in his relationship to racism and white supremacy, but praise him and campaigned for him?
I refuse to live in their world. A world where men are superior, where women are subordinate, controlled, and relegated to motherhood.
What’s right is St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: 1 Corinthians 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
The Bible is replete with God’s message of Joy and Salvation for all religious communities of the world. Inherent in a gift is there is no payment in return.
Trump canceling 500 tons of emergency food aid, enough to feed 1.5 million malnourished children, and having it incinerated instead is a great antithesis to Matthew 25 - feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, invite in the stranger clothes the needed, tend to the sick, do for the least of these.
