The Shrivelling of the American Soul

Professor Richard T. Hughes writes in today's Huffington Post on "Christian America and the Kingdom of God" and laments how the Christian Right has perverted America's understanding of Christianity and itself. Hughes is the professor of religion at Messiah College. His column is a must read, especially on his observations of how a Mormon,Glenn Beck, and Sarah Palin became the spokespeople for the Christian Right. He correctly notes that Beck, according to fundamentalists, belongs to a cult. Hughes' critique is that the Christian Right's agenda is almost exclusively non-Christian and never addresses the fundamental New Testament issue of the poor. He says that the original Christian Right avoided the issue of the poor and unfortunate among us in theory but now they have done so in practice. All you have to do is listen to Christian Right Congressman Steve King from Iowa criticize extending unemployment benefits because the "unemployed are too lazy and don't want to work."

Hughes cites theologian Paul Tillich about the necessity of a religion to be universal and not simply parochial in its outlook in order to have legitimacy and validity. Hughes addresses the overwhelming evidence ignored by Beck and the fundamentalists that the gospel is a social gospel and that the Kingdom of God is linked in the New Testament to our treatment of those less fortunate than ourselves. According to Hughes, Jim Wallis of the Sojourners and author of "God's Politics" while in seminary scissored out all elements of the New Testament that referred to the poor, the sick, the hungry and homeless and had little text left over.

The problem with the hegemony of the Christian Right over America's perception of Christianity is that it corrodes American support for those more humane aspects of Judeo-Christian values that support the idea of the general welfare and the common good. A side effect, in my opinion, is that the younger generation is fleeing Christianity in the United States not because of the appeal of a more secular philosophy but rather because of the bigotry, homophobia, and the downright hate shown the poor by Christianity's most vocal proponents. This has led to the "shriveling of the American soul".

And speaking of which, Judge Henry Hudson, an appointee of George W, ruled today in Virginia that the individual mandate of the healthcare bill was unconstitutional. This was the case brought by Christian Right Attorney General of Virginia The Cooch. So that's 3 to 1 so far in favor of the healthcare reform bill. As I said yesterday, the GOP finally found the friendliest judge.

And just down the street from my office, a grand jury is sitting here in Alexandria to indict Julian Assange of something. Lawyers have said that the Espionage Act of 1917 is a little moth-eaten to be used against Assange and Wikileaks. So we'll see how imaginative the court is.

ABC has a story today that demonstrates what's wrong with the press. The article is whether the rejection by Republican Governors of the high-speed jail money jeopardizes OBAMA's PLANS. It jeopardizes alot of things like several thousand jobs but the high-speed money is being parked in California and Washington and Florida. At least part of the national network will get built. I look forward to riding the Vancouver-to-San Diego run.

But the story is really about the states' affected--Wisconsin, Ohio and New Jersey. I read a blog by an Ohio Democrat, who blasted Kasich's decision. The writer pointed out that the high-speed rail was an integral part of the state's redevelopment plan. It was to link Cleveland to Columbus and then to Cincinnati. The immediate effect of "not taking federal funds" is the layoff of 10,600 workers. The Wisconsin newspapers are going nuts over their new Republican Governor turning down the high-speed rail. Here the regional plant for making the tracks,etc. will have to relocate to Illinois and over 6,000 people will be laid off.

One thing we know about Bobby Jindal is that, whatever ideology, he never turns down money for an infrastructure project. The Stimulus money for the rehabilitation of the rail system and new trolleys for New Orleans has brought in 11 private sector dollars for every Federal dollar. We call that the multiplier effect, which is exactly what was going to happen in the Midwest states, which have been in a state of Depression since the Clinton days. Challenge to Obama's Plans--not the way I would look at it.

Today we are heading to the tax vote, which looks like it will pass the Senate. Again this vote is framed as a challenge to President Obama. I sort of understand but one of this year's resolutions for the press is to refrain from making every little political event a "challenge", a "hurdle", a "test" for Obama. Think back to the 2008 campaign, we have not had a single day since when Obama wasn't being tested over something and placing everything in jeopardy if he doesn't triumph. I don't remember anyone saying "Torture presents a serious challenge to George W."

Meanwhile, Republicans are trying to throw a new spanner in the works on the START Treaty. They want longer hearings over the Star Wars provisions in the treaty. Since they have lost all reputable Republicans on the merits, might as well revisit the past with the Gipper.

The Dream Act would save from $2-3 trillion on the national debt. It passed the House but is being hung up in the Senate because Republicans oppose it. Over the weekend, Republican congressmen were caught in flagranti making racist comments on the bill. Curiously, some of these were self-identified Christian Right members. Lest we forget, this bill was first generated with massive bipartisan support under the W regime. After all, if an undocumented immigrant volunteers and serves in our military, don't you think they should have a crack at citizenship? Or should we ensure they die and award it to them posthumously? I give this bill very little chance to pass.

The new House will bombard us with anti-abortion legislation. They have one specifically aimed at defunding Planned Parenthood. They have another one, which is really tricky, aimed at preventing any insurance company that covers abortions in other medical programs from participating in any of the healthreform programs such as the state exchanges. And of course, they have a Stupak on Steroids bill, which will prevent any government entity anywhere for all time to even contemplate abortion. Just last week we heard people like Senator Coburn claim that there were problems with the Defense Appropriations Bill because it "might" allow abortions under TRICARE. He didn't say it did. Coburn pulled this stunt with aid to Haiti, where he made the same claim, which proved to be faolse but held up aid to the country for months.

In Haiti are Sarah Palin and Billy Graham's little boy, Franklin, to do missionary work. Ms. Palin learned that Haiti was poor and Americans have it so much better. FYI--this makes here now as qualified in foreign affairs as George W was. She's been to Hong Kong and Haiti; he was to Mexico and China.