Jesus Approves of This Message *

*not necessarily an accurate statement. Jesus may NOT approve of this message, but I can almost guarantee he doesn't approve of a lot of the messages being espoused in his name in this day and age.

So Jesus votes Republican. We all know this. How do we know? We've been told. Jesus votes Republican, and if you're for Jesus, you better vote Republican, too. What's wrong with this picture?

America was founded by Christians. Don't you know? Founded by Christians on Christian principles, so therefore Christianity is obviously the religion of America. Right? What's wrong with this picture?

I've just presented two ideas that are running rampant in today's culture. In recent years (mainly since 9/11 or since Bush) Religion and Politics have become as enmeshed as Meat and Potatoes, or Hamburgers and French Fries (wait...that's meat and potatoes, too....). Americans are turning out in record numbers (*cough* not really) to the polls to vote their religious beliefs into practice. Gay marriage? NO! Abortion? Not on their watch. Bush? A God-send, so send him back to the Oval Office.

Again I ask: What's wrong with this picture?

Now, I'm not saying that Christianity is bad, nor are Christians (myself included) inherently bad people. Nor is Christianity bad for America (The Evangelical movement...another animal altogether). Christians (or at least some Christians) did found this nation, and many of the laws can be drawn back to Christian ideology. But also back to Muslim or Hindu or many other religious ideologies. Or even the Code of Hammurabi, or writings from the Greek Culture (famously polytheistic). To say that America is a Christian nation because our laws bear a striking resemblance to the 10 Commandments, is like saying that my Civic (I do not drive a Honda Civic) is a Ford F-150 because they both run on gasoline.

I may be reaching.

However, it is when the American populace brings Religion to the Political table that problems arise. People like Becky Fisher (the woman in the picture above, famously depicted in the documentary Jesus Camp which I highly recommend) are claiming in America today, and teaching our children, that Religion and America/Politics are inseparable. And this, my readers, is wrong.

I'm not going to go into a spiel about "separation of Church and State" because, for all intents and purposes, this is not written in the Constitution. Sure, letters between Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers mentioned the importance of this separation, but those five words do not appear in the Constitution anywhere.

However: Americans are given the right to form/follow religions of their choosing, and the Constitution mentions that the endorsing/formation of religion by Congress is a no-no. But in America today, Christianity has risen to the forefront of politics and is effecting real change in all branches of our government.

What are the headlines today out of Washington? The banning of partial birth abortion; the resurgence of opposition to Roe vs. Wade; posting of the 10 Commandments in governmental buildings; prayer in public school; etc. (the first two have been discussed recently, the last two: probably on the dockets before too long).

Now, in my personal opinion, abortion (especially partial birth) is wrong, unless in cases where rape or incest is considered, or if the mother's life is in danger. However, my political opinion (amazing that the two can be diverged from one another) it should be a woman's right to choose.

Gay marriage? I personally am not for it, but politically, how does this effect my life? How can we take rights away from people? Is that really what America is all about?

If more Christians were like that, America could, as Bill O'Reilly fears, drift into a secular-progressive mindset, but is that such a bad thing?

Jesus preached a few things in his day, and a large portion of those things were peace, love, happiness, tolerance, etc. et all. He did not preach warfare or hatred or interfering with governments (famously he said: "Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's"). Jesus would not be at the forefront of American Politics if he were around today. He'd be somewhere, with outcasts and sinners, preaching the good word while the "Christians" led a "Culture War" that doesn't exist.

What's wrong with this picture?