Scott Walker and Christianity

Oh, good!  President Obama is not even running for anything and Rudy Giuliani who used to have a shred of respectability lost it this week when he said he didn’t think the President loved his country.  But he was not impugning the President’s patriotism!!  And right on the heels of that, Scott Walker implied that President Obama wasn’t a Christian!!!  Other than the fact that the U.S. Constitution under Article XI states, “…but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”  So what’s up with all of this range-land waste with whether someone is a Christian or not?

And just what is Walker’s definition of Christian?  Is he referring to the deceased pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church that protested at the funerals of soldiers for some obscure reason dealing with homosexuality?  Is he referring to the brand of Christianity that Jeff Sharlet described in his book, C Street, Jesus plus nothing?  That is, all one needs is a personal relationship with Jesus so that when one prays for guidance, Jesus will let you know what to do.  With this one, as Sharlet pointed out, it was amazing how many times Jesus agreed with the person doing the praying.  Some churches proclaim that all one need do is accept Jesus as your personal savior, and read the Bible.  Others say that if one accepts Jesus, God will reward you, so that if you are poor, you don’t love Jesus enough. But the problem with that is which translation is being read.  As one infamous Texas preacher said, “If the King James Version of the Bible was good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for me.”  Or is it one of the more theologically vague, but social justice very savvy Protestant churches.  How about the politically conservative rigid and monolithic church that Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI tried to lead, and Cardinal Burke, et al, tried to force on American Catholics?  How about the Catholic Church Pope Francis is leading, with an emphasis on the love of God first and equally necessary, mercy, love and compassion for everyone else?  There are so many ways to say one is Christian that it boggles the mind if one is not an adherent to any of them.  It is hard enough if one is an “insider”.

This is what really is obnoxious about the current bunch of radical religious right people in our Congress now, who are putting pressure, financial or otherwise, on their buddies in Congress.  All of this nonsense about how it is the Christian thing to do to cut taxes on the wealthy so corporations will have more money to invest in their companies, and the result will be a “trickling down” of that wealth to the poorer people. That in their view is compassion.  No one has said just what century this is supposed to occur in, since trickle down started in the 20^th century, and now it is the 21^st. 

The contention is asinine that it is the Christian thing to do to cut the safety net for people all the way from seniors with Social Security and Medicare down to children with no health insurance, no food stamps, and no education, etc., in order to force people to get out to work which will then enable them to realize their potential.  Rand Paul made the comment that people on Social Security Disability are “gaming the system”.  Some probably are, but the majority simply require it to survive, or for their families to survive.

One of the Bible stories that is told often is that of the Good Samaritan.  For those who may not be acquainted with it, it is the story of a man who belonged to a tribe not accepted by the Jewish nation as a whole.  And it is the story of another man who was travelling, was met by robbers, beaten, robbed and left for dead.  A couple of upstanding citizens came by, but not wanting to be involved, crossed to the other side of the road, and went on their way.  But the Samaritan stopped, put the battered man on his donkey, took him to an Inn, paid the innkeeper to take care of the man, promised to stop on his way back to pay more if the Innkeeper required it, then the Samaritan went on his way.  This story is told as the reason why churches need to teach compassion.  Which is a good thing, but it is only half the story.  The Samaritan did not care for the man himself.  He went on his way, after paying the Innkeeper to do that. 

My point in citing this story is that it is directly applicable to our current political situation.  The upstanding citizens now could be those who just want to go by the people who are hurting and hungry.  The Samaritan now is the rest of us, who want to help out and do what we can.  Now instead of paying the Innkeeper and going on our way, we pay our taxes to the government to supplement what our churches and other non-profits simply cannot keep up with.  The Samaritan did not care for that battered man himself.  He paid someone else to do it for him.  The Innkeeper then; taxes now.

Scott Walker is probably one of the most hard-hearted governors in this country.  There are quite a few, but he takes the cake.  For him to impugn our President for not being a Christian, I wonder which of the above definitions he would claim as his own.  Or is he an upstanding citizen who simply crosses the road before he might have to be involved.

 

 

A Traumatic Experience

Yesterday I had a very traumatic experience that left me shaking.  Really!  The unflappable me! What was it?  I had to listen to Fox News for about 10 minutes!!!

I needed a test at French Hospital (nothing serious).  I checked in quickly, but then had to wait for a while.  Bill got tired of waiting, and said he would dash to Farm Supply and would be back and would look for me in the same waiting room.  That sounded OK to me, and I continued to watch a home renovation channe.  So, I eventually had the test, came back to the waiting room, and there was a woman watching Fox News.  She turned to me and asked if I could hear it, to which I not very nicely responded that I would probably take out my hearing aids since I didn’t like Fox News.  She not only didn’t take the pretty overt hint, but said that she did like it.  So, there I was trying to convince myself that this would be a learning experience, and that I should just be quiet and treat it as such.

The first segment I came in the middle of, so don’t know what set them off, but there were two people talking about how Obama’s (no title) executive orders were unconstitutional, were thus illegal, and were his way or the highway.  Nothing about the 291 executive orders George W. Bush (W) signed, or what they contained.  Nothing, for example, about the executive order Bush signed on 10/08/2001 creating the Department of Homeland Security.  Nothing about what executive order President Obama had signed, though as I said I came in late, but only how awful President Obama is to be signing these orders.

The segment ended, and the next one included a Republican Congressman from some State back East (where I live everything is back East).  I think it was Ohio.  Anyway, the subject was voter fraud, and how it was very necessary to curtail voting in order to stop voter fraud.  In the discussion it left me with no doubt they were talking about stopping brown, black, young and old people from voting.  They did everything but blatantly say that it was necessary to keep “those people” from voting because they would not vote Republican, and any other vote was fraudulent.  And with Obama and the left-wing so awful it is absolutely necessary to make sure there is no voter fraud.  Nothing about how very important voting is – for everyone.

I could feel my blood pressure start to go up, but not to worry.  It is low anyway.

The next segment included John Bolton, former Bush appointee to the United Nations, and a very “interesting” person with a radical right-wing religious perspective discussing the recent events in Yemen.  There was nothing on what had led up to the problems; nothing about anything the Yemeni government had or had not done to prevent the problems.  Only that it was Obama’s fault; that he didn’t know what he was doing; if only he were someone else, and on, and on.

But the final straw started out with a sort of hysterical introduction that federal employees had been caught watching porn on their work computers.  Then came, “Federal employees watch porn on their work computers, and are wasting your tax dollars, etc…”  At that I came unglued.  The segment started out with the proper setting that federal employees had been caught, although it did not mention whether this was two or two hundred, or two thousand.  But by the time it got to inferring that all federal employees watch porn, I was livid.  It was another right wing attack on legitimate government.  There was no corresponding study done on how many private-business employees watch porn.  The study needn’t include Fox News employees because in my opinion they were spewing porn the whole time I was watching. 

At that point, I told the lady that I deeply resented the inference that all federal employees watch porn because my husband had been a federal employee, and I could assure her that neither he nor anyone else in his office had ever watched porn.  At that point I left the waiting room and went out into the hallway.  Fortunately Bill arrived about 2-3 minutes later, so didn’t have to stand there for any length of time.  When he realized how pissed off I was, we went to the cafeteria.  When in doubt, feed me!

It was so obvious to me in that 10 minutes that this is where the current divisiveness in our society is coming from.  It was hate and fear, hate and fear.  I was so angry to the point I was shaking because to me this was a form of evil.  I don’t use that word lightly, by the way.  A deliberate distortion of the truth for either personal or political aggrandizement is evil.

More Irrelevant Stuff

There is so much on the national level one could write about, but this week I will write about other stuff.  Like the fact we have had a tad over 3 inches of rain this week.  For those overseas readers, I live in the very, very darkest red of the red covering the drought area of California on the maps.  We have our own water supply so to celebrate the rain, I let the water run while I rinsed off the dishes!!!  Not for long – just enough to feel decadent.  We are so dry here that even after 3 inches there are no standing puddles.  It just soaks in, and in, and then in some more.  We are supposed to receive more rain about Feb. 17, but haven’t read whether that will be some or a whole lot of it.  Hope for the whole lot.

We have lived in our house for 35 years now.  When we were building it from 1977-1979, we lived in Fresno, CA.  For those two years, all but about 4 weekends, we would leave Fresno at 3:00PM, arrive here about 6:00 PM, work on the house all weekend, then leave here at 6:00 AM, and arrive back in Fresno by 9:00 AM.  A good friend of ours had a contractor’s license, so he would work on the house while we were in Fresno.  One weekend we arrived to find that he had decided to fit the ceilings to his height, which was about 6’9”.  He had always wanted a house where the ceiling was way above his head, so our ceilings are about 14’ in our living/dining room!  We have heated with wood, primarily, so after 35 years this room has really needed painting.  We did it last time, but no way could we do this again.  So, we have professional painters.  I’m looking forward to when they are finished.  They are not only going to do the walls, but will paint the bricks behind our wood stove.  The bricks are beige, but our friend thought I would like black grout with those, and they were done before I saw them.  So, finally, the bricks, and grout will all be one color to match the fireplace at the other end of the room.  Oh, joy!!!

While getting ready for the painters, however, taking stuff off of the walls, etc., I came to the conclusion that I have too much “stuff”.  Some of it I don’t want to throw away, so will get a plastic bin and pack pictures away.  Years ago a friend gave me a picture of a Japanese Madonna and Child which I really liked.  Then I inherited an Italian Madonna and Child.  When our adopted granddaughters arrived, since their fathers were from El Salvador, I found a Salvadoran Madonna and Child.  Over time people have given me others from Greece, Russia, Italy, and the United States.  But I don’t want to put them back up.  I think I want to keep my walls clear for a time, but neither do I want to throw them away.  So, into a bin they will go, along with about two dozen family pictures in frames. 

I’m glad that my “office” isn’t going to be painted this time because I have a bad habit (or not) of cutting out, or typing off quips or comments that I really like and taping them to the side of my antique wood file cabinet.  One I wrote myself.  At one time, Bill was involved in a discussion on the placement of nuclear waste in unlined trenches in Ward Valley, which is very near the border of California and Nevada, and the Colorado River.  It took some time, but Bill proved that Ward Valley drained into the Colorado River in five places.   There was a hearing in Needles, CA, which, of course, we drove over to.  If anyone has driven across California to Nevada, you know what a long trip it can be, with nothing for about 90 miles of it through the Mojave Desert.  So, to occupy my mind I wrote the following take off on the old cowboy song, Home On the Range.  I will complete my blog with this:

Oh, give me a home, where the isotopes roam,

And the children play, let’s mutate today.

Where the tortoises’ are so big

They could swallow a pig,

             And the vadose zone is wet all the way. 

Home, home on the range,

Where neither deer nor the antelope can play.

Where good values of old

Have been sold for some gold

And we wait for the river to glow.

 

 

Football and Greed

Some things just stick in my mind and will not go away.  These things are like the infamous melody that gets stuck in there and just goes on and on.  Once I had to go to a conference at Disney Land, and that song, It’s a Small, Small World, got stuck in my head for days.  I still don’t like it.

That’s why, after the Super Bowl yesterday, I decided I’d better get this thought out of my head before it gets stuck in there.  One needs to mention all of the hype and stuff prior to the game – deflategate –and how the Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, would never do anything like that.  He is such an upstanding player, and on, and on.  I don’t know Tom Brady, so don’t know if he is all of the wonderful things people were saying about him, because when I watch professional sports, except for the SF Giants and ‘49ers, I simply root for the team closest to the West Coast.  On the other hand, the Seattle Seahawks attitude, so marvelously exemplified yesterday at the end of the game, made me not want to root for them yesterday.  So, as I watched, Russell Wilson seemed to me to be a pretty good quarterback as well, but Brady kept getting all of the hype, which I couldn’t understand since the Patriots were actually losing.  But the kicker at the end of the game, when the player, Butler, was a fantastic enough football player to grab that ball in a really split, split second, which won the game for the Patriots, I was annoyed no end when Brady got all of the credit for winning the game.  He didn’t win it, Butler did! 

Another thing has been stuck in my head for quite some time.  The radical right-wing Christians, regardless of denomination, for years and years have been and still are bitching and complaining about abortion and homosexuality.  I have known for quite some time that nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus mention either one.  There are some three references to some passages in the New Testament that have been interpreted to refer to homosexuality, but considering all of the translations that the Bible has undergone, one would need to be a First Century Greek academic to fully understand what the references actually mean.  After reading the supposed references to homosexuality, it occurred to me that the verses before and after the suspect ones also list many activities that should not be indulged in:  greed, gluttony, laziness, etc. 

So we get to greed.  There are 51 passages in the entire Bible that refer to greed, and some 28 in the New Testament.  I will only quote two: Matt. 6:24, Peterson, The Message Bible.  “You can’t worship two gods at once.  Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other.  Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other.  You can’t worship God and Money both”.  I Tim 6:10, same cite, “But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time.  Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble.  Going down that path some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.”  There is not too much to quibble about in those quotes.  One may not agree with them, but their meaning is quite clear.

So we have no references regarding abortion, 3 maybe about homosexuality, and 28 (if I counted correctly) about the dangers of greed.  We are not discussing here whether the Bible is true or not.  What we are discussing is the attitude of the radical right-wing Christians on Christian teachings, and one would assume that the Bible would be their foundation of belief and emphasis. 

I thought about the comment of what self-identified Catholic Christian, Paul Ryan said about President Obama’s new budget, that it is “envy economics”, with the poorer citizens wanting to take away what the poor oligarchs have.  He also said that now that the oligarchs have so much it is beginning to “trickle down” anyway.  Really?  And considering that it has been supposedly “trickling down” now for some 30 years, ever since Ronnie Baby introduced the theory of and established “trickle-down economics”, in what year does Ryan predict that it will reach the bottom 99%?  2075? 

Or is Reaganomics and his “trickle-down” the new false god of the radical religious-right?