The God of Hate

When I was younger, I lived in rural Georgia for two years.  Buford in the early 80's was the most purposely ignorant place I've ever lived.  Not only was the community seeping with racism, the bigotry went in many other directions as well.  I had a girl in junior high tell me "Catholics murder babies in the basements of their churches and then drink their blood!"  This was news to me, and after I told her how insane that sounded, she never talked to me again.

This was my first warning the southern Christians, mainly the Evangelicals, would gleefully turn on the Catholics in a heartbeat.  They might pretend it's one big Christian tent, but they are looking to vilify the other 'outsider' denominations whenever they can, especially the Catholics.

"But MATT.  That was one junior high kid raised ignorantly.  You shouldn't judge all southern Evangelicals the same way!"  I agree it's wrong to paint with a wide brush, and most Evangelicals are decent people, but little miss sunshine wasn't the only person in rural Georgia I came across with extreme anti-Catholic views, and today, the Republican strains on Christianity are creating a new battle front between the Catholics and the Evangelicals.

Evangelical Pastor, and major Trump confidant, Robert Jeffress recently did a video blog piece which called the Catholic Church the result of a Babylonian cult system and a "cult like pagan religion."  He also said the Catholic Church's success was due to "the genius of Satan."

Escaping the fact the Catholic Church is the basis for all denominations of modern Christianity, Jeffress' comments are based in the same hatred of that junior high girl from 1982, but his bigotry has become more refined in the push by the Right to turn Christianity into a wing of the Republican party.

After Nixon's resignation, when the Republican Party was in shambles, they turned to the Roe v. Wade decision and appealed to outraged Christians to become their foot soldiers in the fight against the Democrats.  Partially because of the unabashed incorporation of religious doctrine into a major political party, and partially because the Democratic Party didn't take this tempting of the far right Christians seriously until it was too late, it worked like a charm.  By giving religious leaders seats at their table, the Republican Party reinvented themselves, and brought with them a loyalty which is near unsurpassed.

The problem for the Republicans was how do they keep these religious minded people in the fold if they actually followed through with their promise and passed a Constitutional Amendment to outlaw all abortions.  Not only would the Republicans and their bankrollers not be able to give themselves an exemption from such an rights stifling Amendment, afterwards the religious right might actually start reading the rest of the Bible and realize the GOP platform is FAR from Christian pure.  They decided to only bring up the Constitutional Amendment as a GOP saving hail Mary (2018?).  So far, there have been three times the GOP could've easily passed an Anti-Abortion Constitutional Amendment.  During those three times, they balked.

It's with Trump and the modern Republicans where this worshipping by Jeffress and the rest of the religious far right is getting comical.  They have to ignore 80 - 90% of Christian biblical teachings in order to devote their faith to such a tarnished cause.  This is where the real hatred of other non far right Evangelicals comes in handy.  They can't convince you Jesus wants billionaires to get tax credits if other members of the Christian faith are actually talking about Jesus's real teachings, caring and loving one another.  The Republicans are now using the long simmering distrust Evangelicals have for the Catholics to help people swallow their anti-Christian agenda, and continue the distortion of Christianity into something it was never meant to be.

The Catholic service I went to on Sunday is a great example of the real teachings of Christianity, which Jeffress seems desperate to purge from the Bible.  First, two disclaimers.  1) You do or don't do whatever you do or don't want to do.  I'm Catholic.  2) The Catholic church has done a TON of things you can be critical of.  This is not about overlooking their sins, but rather trying to stop a major American religious war by pointing out the behind the scenes positioning.

Father Bill, my priest, had a message centered around the Jesus parable from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke; 'love thy neighbor as much as you love yourself.'  The fact is shows up three separate times in the original gospels should signify it's importance to all Christians.  Bill started by defining what are 'neighbors.'  Since it doesn't go into details, Bill pointed out this means everyone, from the immigrant, to the poor, to the criminal, and even your enemies.

Father Bill then focused on what does it mean to 'love thy neighbor.'  He gave a long list of qualifying actions, including making sure health care is supplied to the needy, how you shouldn't sexually harass co-workers, and how we should be doing everything in our power to stop the epidemic of gun violence in this country.  He then addressed anyone thinking he was getting too political.  He stated boldly, "this is not politics, it's scripture!"

You can see why someone like Jeffress, who wants Christianity to be filtered through a Republican sieve, would feel as if this Christian enlightenment is more of a threat than a blessing.  To be fair, Jeffress would've REALLY hated the fact our mass featured a lesbian acolyte and prayers for the Minnesota's Somali Americans.

The far right religious leaders, primarily Jeffress and the Evangelicals, are starting to get desperate, and are now embracing their once hidden hatred of the Catholics to try to further their cause.  Their God clearly is not one of love and peace, but rather one of hate.  I feel sorry for them.

Father Bill made a comment: there are two questions you need to ask yourself every week.  First, what have I done for the needy? And second, what are my excuses for not doing more to help the needy?  For the record, there is a lot more I could be, and should be, doing, and I will continue to strive to be a better person, but I guarantee my excuse for not doing more to help others won't be 'my political party told me not to waste my time.'

As a Catholic, bless the anti-Catholic Evangelicals and bless Robert Jeffress.