It’s Below His Pay Grade

I think I should explain why I’m so irritated with the “Jesus was a community organizer” lie.

It’s not that I object to mixing religion with politics. If anything, I think we should do more of that. We should consider how political platforms comport with our religions when we vote, and when we see problems, we should point them out to others. The IRS ban on mentioning politics from tax-exempt pulpits seems ridiculous to me. To conjure an example at random, if a priest wants to tell his flock to vote against a candidate who supports convenience abortion, he should be able to do it without fear of a big tax penalty. Convenience abortion is a legitimate religious issue; the fact that it has political aspects doesn’t change that.

The ban is obviously an anti-conservative policy. Conservatives are more religious than liberals. There are more conservatives than liberals in churches every week. Even if the intent of the ban is politically neutral, the effect isn’t.

We have to be careful about inappropriate and unrealistic reliance on government to advance religious aims. But our votes have to jibe with our beliefs, as nearly as possible.

The reason I don’t like the community organizer lie, apart from the fact that I generally dislike lies, is that it’s a disgusting and hypocritical effort to portray Jesus as sympathetic to Democrat policies, which He would obviously find repugnant. This is the party that supports nearly every known type of sexual immorality. They support convenience abortion, largely because it’s a necessary adjunct to their support for sexual immorality. They support recreational drug use. They support socialism, which is the single biggest enemy Jesus ever faced; socialist governments overtly oppose Christianity. Liberal Democrats even attempt to supplant God by claiming Man can bring about his own age of peace and prosperity. They’re forcing Christianity out of public buildings, including schools. And they don’t even imitate Jesus’s attitude toward others. They give less to charity than conservatives do. Finally, they support those who oppose Jesus’s people, the Jews, and His nation, Israel.

The GOP may not be a Christian party, but we’re not nearly as hostile to Christianity as the Democrats.

When the Democrats claim Jesus, it’s as if the Republicans were claiming Matthew Shepard. It’s absurd and offensive. This is reflected in a recent news story. A Catholic bishop has asked Nancy Pelosi to come to a meeting and explain why she should be allowed to receive communion, given her support for unrestricted abortion.

“Community organization” is not a Christian tool. It’s a tool of radical politicians. Under other names, it’s a tool of corrupt but non-radical political machines. There is nothing spiritual about it. You may disagree. If you think Ho Chi Minh and Boss Tweed were clergymen.

Claiming Jesus as a liberal agitator appears to be an egregious example of taking the Lord’s name in vain. It would be bad to claim Him while engaged in a spiritually neutral enterprise. But claiming His support while endorsing abortion, sex outside of marriage, and humanism…that’s just crazy. And like sliming Sarah Palin with disproven lies, it is an offensive tactic likely to backfire.