Mary Shaw

The Republicans in Washington keep talking about God and "values". They like to make it look like they are on the side of God. And they like to make it seem like the Democrats are a party of loose morality, favoring abortion, gay marriage, and palling around with terrorists.

They are experts at crafting and delivering their message - good enough to inspire so many middle-class folks to vote against their own financial interests in the 2010 elections. Their message works because it appeals to people's base emotions, not their intellects. And reacting is so much easier than critical thinking, especially when we're so emotionally drained from these years of unemployment and home foreclosures.

They are so effective with their message that they don't think twice before selling the idea that God wanted George W. Bush to attack Iraq, God favors the Tea Party, and God wants Sarah Palin to be President.

They completely ignore the First Amendment's separation of Church and State. They publicly thump the bibles on which they were sworn into office. And they make sure they're seen praying.

But if you set aside the hysteria and look at the facts, Jesus was a liberal, and much of the New Testament condemns the attitude of the so-called right

For example:

Jesus denounced the moneychangers and condemned the greedy rich, saying, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." [Matthew 19:24] And Jesus stood up for the poor and underprivileged, saying, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." [Matthew 25:40]

So then how can the Republicans call themselves Christian (i.e., followers of Jesus Christ) as they hold the unemployed hostage while fighting for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires?

Jesus acknowledged the need for both government and tax-paid government services, saying, "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's." [Matthew 22:21]

So then how can the Republicans call themselves Christian (i.e., followers of Jesus Christ) as they rail against taxes and "big government"?

Jesus healed the sick - even lepers - for free. He didn't ask them for an insurance card first, he just healed them because it was the right thing to do. Jesus was the original "socialized medicine" machine.

So then how can the Republicans call themselves Christian (i.e., followers of Jesus Christ) as they condemn the much less socialistic "Obamacare"?

And, as he stood there on the Mount, Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." [Matthew 5:9]

Still, the Republicans call themselves Christian (i.e., followers of Jesus Christ) as they continue to call for endless war, be it legally and morally justified or not.

And they try to justify torture. So I ask them, in the words of the popular button and bumper sticker: Who would Jesus torture?

And I get no good answer to any of it.

Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist. She is a former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights group Amnesty International, and her views on politics, human rights, and social justice issues have appeared in numerous online forums and in newspapers and magazines worldwide. Note that the ideas expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Amnesty International or any other organization with which she may be associated. E-mail: mary@maryshawonline.com