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What Would Jesus Do?

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?"

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

Matthew 25: 35-40

The health care debate has finally come to a dramatic conclusion.  President Obama and the Democratic majority can finally put health care to bed and work on some other legislation that I am sure will lead to more months of heated debate and scare tactics by the Republicans.

For the last couple of days, I have been engaged in a spirited debate with some of my “friends” on Facebook about the whole issue of health care and the current legislation.  Towards the end of one of these debates, my opponent wrote the following message, “God bless you, I will pray for you.”  This message really irritated me for a couple of reasons.  The first, I consider myself a non believer, an atheist if you will, so the thought that I somehow needed praying for because I am in favor of the health care bill, and for universal health care or “socialized” medicine.  The second thing that bothered me about this comment was, how can this Republican, who is advocating against health care coverage for all Americans, sit there and act all high and mighty, while at the same time advocating against something that his god would clearly be in favor of.  I am shocked about two things.  First thing is that I didn’t think of this obvious argument before.  And second, that nobody in the media, even the ultra left liberals, have not mentioned this.

We are all well aware that the vast majority of Republicans consider themselves Christians.  For the longest time, the Republicans have considered themselves the party of the religious.  George W. Bush can thank the Evangelicals, along with the rest of the Christian right, for his election in 2000, and re-election in 2004.  But somehow this party that encompasses the “moral majority” goes completely against everything that Jesus taught.  These right wingers really should take a page out of the Bible that they hold in such high regard, and actually follow its teachings.

First of all, Jesus was more of a socialist than President Obama could ever hope to be.  If anyone would have been against Capitalism, it was Jesus.  If Jesus was not in favor of the distribution of wealth, then I don’t know who is.  Jesus spoke openly against obscene wealth.  Remember that whole line about how it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to pass through the gates of heaven?  Does that concept seem like anything that any Republican member of Congress would subscribe to?

Let’s get back to health care.  I often hear these Tea Party protesters say that if you can’t afford health insurance, then you’re just not working hard enough (see my post titled, This Video Makes Me Sick).  They also say that health care is a privilege, not a right.  Let’s assume for a second that Jesus is alive, and here on Earth right now.  Now let’s assume that there is a poor, sick person in the hospital who does not have health care coverage.  Do you really think that the omnipotent son of Christ would say, “I’m sorry that you are sick, but you just didn’t work hard enough to afford health care?”  I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that Jesus would be more likely say something like, “It’s okay that you don’t have health insurance, let’s all chip in and pay for this sick, poor person’s care.”  There is no possible way that anyone who claims to be a Christian, can truly believe that Jesus would be against universal health care.  It is unbelievable to me how these Christian Conservatives can’t recognize this glaring hypocrisy.

The thing that really amazes me is that these Christian Conservatives can act all holier than thou, but can’t admit to themselves that the god they claim to worship would be vehemently against their position on almost every single issue of political debate.  Jesus surrounded himself with the poor and sick, the criminals and prostitutes.  Jesus would have been deeply in favor of equal civil rights, welfare programs that help the less fortunate, Medicare, Medicaid, and every other social program that the Republicans protest against.

There was a story yesterday, on Fox News of all places, about some Tea Party protesters yelling racial epitaphs at a group of African American Democratic Congressmen.  I can’t help but remember a famous quote by Jesus that said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”  Apparently the Tea Party protesters are perfect.

In the end, these hypocritical right wingers are not real Christians.  They are “Un-Christians” as a friend of mine likes to call them.  These Un-Christians claim the moral high ground, and then completely disregard everything that their god preached.  The Un-Christians use religion as a way to lure gullible people into thinking that they represent the Christian population.  The Un-Christians know that they can easily manipulate their minions into trusting them.  The Un-Christians know that if they just hone in on hot button issues like gay marriage and abortion, they can tap into their base's hatred and bigotry, then the sheep will follow them on any issue they want.  The Un-Christians have manipulated the flock into believing that universal health care is bad, and will ruin the country.  When will people stop being so easily manipulated and start practicing what they preach?

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