Everyone has seen them. The sign-wielders, the protesters, the “like and share if you love Jesus” posts on Facebook that you may wearily smile at for a second, then ignore. They are Facebook evangelists, the gay marriage protesters, the pro-lifers and the 2nd amendment warriors. They are the religious right.
By religious I mean, of course, Christian, and more specifically, white evangelical Christianity. This group of people has had its fingers in the workings of government since the founding of the United States. Regardless of the calling for a separation of church and state, there has been a continuous call in the recent years from the conservative Christian population to bring back prayer in schools, to deny marriage to certain people because of their sexual preferences, and to outlaw abortion because it is “murder”.
Here’s the thing though. Religion doesn’t get to mix with politics, period. Christianity, ideally, should have no control over people’s lives or their governments, but for some reason, this isn’t the case in the United States. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at Facebook, FOX news, or even the presidential debates. Religious conservatives find a way to make everything a Christian issue.
Gay marriage has to be illegal because it says so in the Bible and we don’t want to make God angry. And besides, it’s just too weird to be allowed. Abortions have to be illegal because again, our religion says so. If they aren’t, we’re offended. Women who have abortions are murderers. We need to build a wall to keep dirty immigrants out. We don’t want them taking our jobs and killing people, or dealing drugs. We need to bring prayer back into the public school system! That’s why it’s so bad. Everyone who doesn’t agree is oppressing us. And Barack Obama is definitely a Muslim. Can’t have a Muslim as president, because all Muslims are terrorists. Why are they taking my religion off of Starbucks Christmas cups? There’s a war on Christianity in this country. People need to stop oppressing my religion.
Sound familiar? We’ve reached the underlying hypocrisy of it all. Fetuses are humans, but you can forget about Syrian refugees praying for shelter and Mexican parents looking for better lives for their children. Gay marriage should be illegal, because marriage can only be how an old book defines it, regardless of the love shared between two people. Keep the death penalty, but don’t take assault weapons from the streets. Don’t you dare touch the guns. Put prayer back in schools but don’t accommodate the religious needs of Jewish or Muslim children. Refuse to help the needy and poor because “it isn’t my problem”, and “they need to learn personal responsibility”.
What are you doing? This behavior is not Christian in any sense of the word. Christianity, in its purest and best form, is about love. Love for your neighbors is second only to love for your God. How dare you try to put people down or refuse them basic human rights in the name of Jesus, a man who loved completely and unconditionally. He didn’t just die for his followers, he died for everyone-- the refugee children and the mothers who had to give up their babies, the immigrants and the poor, the atheists, the Muslims, and LGBTQ community. Jesus died for love, and this country was founded on freedom, so anyone can be or believe anything.
To try and restrict these rights on the basis of religion isn’t Christian, and it isn’t American, at least in the way our country should be. As Hillary Clinton once said, “Our country is great because it is good.” Christians, the time to take an eye for an eye has passed. Turn the other cheek, and make America good again. We have spent too much time fighting on Facebook and on television, and the time to change is now.
Love your neighbor. Pray for those who would do you harm. Stop whining about how “unchristian” the country is and go out and show the world who you are and can be as followers of Jesus Christ. Your actions speak louder than your words.
Most of all, just love each other. Love everyone, regardless of race, sex, religion, or political affiliation. Honestly, I think it might do you good.
