| Compassionate" Conservatives use the Christian
concept of compassion as a justification for a conservative political
philosophy that bears no relationship whatsoever to Christianity.
By Dr. Gerry Lower published
in OpEdNews.Com June 12, 2003
A few years ago, eastern South Dakotans experienced a devastating tornado
which virtually destroyed a small ranch town on the prairie. After the
storm subsided, one woman and her young son emerged from the debris of
their basement quite safe and sound. The mother told how she had grabbed
her son and carried him to the basement. There she laid him on the floor,
she laid down on top of him, and she grabbed a firm hold of the water
pipes anchored to the basement wall.
Overjoyed at being alive, the mother was, of course, asked by reporters
how she had ever managed to survive. The mother's response was,
"Jesus saved us. We prayed and Jesus saved us." And the people
did rejoice that Jesus, once again, had come through for the few,
nevermind the many. Thank god almighty.
There are several points to make about this story in terms of religious
and Christian content.
Jesus had nothing to do with it, all right? If we examine the woman's
actions, heading to the basement and hanging on for dear life, her program
falls into the category of common sense precautions, the likes of which
most people have heard about at some time or another, especially people
living on the open prairies. This sort of knowledge and a little luck
always go further than anything else we currently can summon up to help.
There is no need to thank Jesus, and here is why He wouldn't appreciate
the applause.
Without realizing it, the woman's statement (coming, no doubt, from a
warm-hearted Christian lady) is admirably anti-Christian and religiously
self-righteous. She did not intend for this at all, but that is what comes
out when Christian values are compromised by those of the Old Testament
Roman world. If we must applaud Jesus for saving this mother and her son's
lives, then we must condemn Jesus for allowing so many others to perish in
the tornado. In other words, by assigning her survival to Jesus instead of
to her own common sense and good luck, she has placed herself into a
self-righteous position in which an ethereal Jesus has presumably employed
supernatural powers to show her preferential favoritism over others.
Praise the lord.
Nowhere in New Testament scripture is there an indication that Jesus
wanted credit for every wonderful and lucky thing that happens on this
planet. He just wanted people to be honest with and caring of each other.
He just wanted people to do as He did, think for themselves. That is all,
and that is everything. Indeed, it was precisely because the woman in
South Dakota thought for herself, with knowledge provided by others with
experience, that she and her son survived the storm. Bravo! Christianity
(the real thing) works.
Constrast this with the approaches promoted by right wing
"compassionate" conservatives in America who urge our national
leaders to rely not at all on their own knowledge or any human knowledge,
who urge our national leaders to not think for themselves. Rather, they
urge pursuit of a self-righteous, belligerent stance in the world in the
name of America's rich and the the religion they use to justify their
cause, which embraces no one but themselves.
In other words, "compassionate" conservatives use the nascent
Christian concept of compassion as a justification for a conservative
political philosophy that bears no relationship whatsoever to
Christianity. No, I am afraid that Jesus does not directly save us from
anything. He died nearly two millennia ago, you may recall. By Jefferson's
time, it was clear that nascent Christian values were a rejection of
traditional religious values.
In Jefferson's mind, Jesus saves us from ourselves by promoting a little
honest introspection and cogitation as to what causes what in the world,
this knowledge providing the path to wisdom. Jesus saves us from ourselves
by exposing the dark side of vengeance-based moralism, absolute legalism
and penalism, and marketplace pragmatism. These are the cultural beliefs
which now dominate America at the expense of nascent Christian and
American values, compliments of the Bush administration and the Texas
Southern Baptist political party.
The American Temple has fallen at the hands of the very same men whom the
first Christian threw out of the Temple, men who would wrap their
self-styled agenda up in spiritual and nationalistic attire in order to
leverage their way with the people.
So, next time you hear someone praising Jesus for saving lives, please
remind these people that Jesus only saves us by teaching us to think for
ourselves. That is all, and that is everything. Be devoutly honest, be
compassionate, and think for yourself, my friends. It is all the more
Christian you need to be, it is all the more Christian you can be. Just
think for yourself, and you will end up not talking about Christ but
thinking like Him. That's all He ever asked, so sure He was that you would
find Him inside yourself.
Dr. Gerry Lower
lives in Keystone, South Dakota. He can be reached at: tisland@enetis.net
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