The article here is a scathing crtique of the lack of response by the church to this enormously unfaithful regime. I believe it to be unfaithful on many levels. First, it operates as an enemy to what I believe to be the Kingdom of God, and against what I believe are the response to which we as church are called. Second, and far below on the scale of importance, is the mockery it has made of even the most common assumptions of what America is supposed to mean. MLK said so many times. “Be true to what you say on paper” (the constitution) he said. The Bush administration is all about appearances, while they work in the darkness of back room meetings and Rove-inpired whispering campaigns and media “suggestions” passed on unedited by Rupert Murdoch to his “minions” below on the News Cahnnel, and circulated amongst the mainstream media’s pundits and “counterpoint/crossfire/hardball” matches to obscure their lack of forthrightness.
Here, read this, and then, surprise, surprise, “I got more to say!”
Pax Americana and Christian Values
America is ruled by a secular right-wing political and economic ideology. It was not elected by the people, and it has never enjoyed majority support from the people. It is, however, supported by a significant majority of Christians.
The secular ruling ideology is convinced that Jesus Christ was wrong when he said you can’t serve both God and money. With the support of most Christians, it practices the secular economic values of the Russian-born atheist Ayn Rand-the gospel of greed.
Our government nurtures the interests of business corporations. But it turns a blind eye and deaf ear toward the needs and interests of ordinary people. The secular corporate media helps facilitate this.
We now have the most corrupt, dishonest, and mean-spirited government in our history. Its performance in people programs is the worst in the industrial world. The world’s richest country is at or near the bottom in things like: minimum wage, vacation time, paternity leave, poverty rate, illiteracy rate, crime rate, prison rate, access to healthcare, access to legal services, access to decent housing, access to public transportation, and access to higher education.
Now here is something that just burns me that the church has so blindly and cluelessly missed:
The secular ruling ideology is convinced that Jesus Christ was wrong when he said you can’t serve both God and money. With the support of most Christians, it practices the secular economic values of the Russian-born atheist Ayn Rand-the gospel of greed.
“Love of Money is the root of all kinds of evil”. When I often quote that with the “love of” left off, many are quick to correct me, as if by saying this they can excuse themselves, since of course, they don’t “love” money. But this is the practical God and therefore false idol of the Bush administration. Special interests , dominated by oil and energy, are rampantly dominating the “decisions” and the “sense of justice” of this administration.
Notice how there is virtually NO talk of energy conversation in the midst of the oil price crisis with which we are now faced? It seems to me that this dwarfs the size of the “crisis” in the 70’s. I don’t know what the figures are that adjust the size of this crisis compared to the 70’s for inflation, but I remember a constant hammering home of conserving tips, and a revolution of “fuel efficient cars” (ie Hondas, Chevettes, VW Rabbits, etc., which really seemed to usher in the invasion of the US car market with foreign made cars). There seems to be an ideological reaction to such talk in today’s climate. And that, to me, is just plain irresponsible. And these idiots in charge don’t give a shit. (Think I’m pissed?) When I see the gas prices surpass 2.70 (and almost 3 for premium!), and hear nothing from our trusty leaders, I see their hubris. To start being “energy conscious” would unduly “harm our economy” (which would echo their reasoning for rejecting envirionmental agreements being signed by nearly every other “civilized” country).
It’s not that I don’t think there are not bigger fish to fry than to grant these idiots and blasphemers mcu of anytime on the stage of “concern” in my larger world. It is obvious that our political system is , and has been for some time, “out to lunch” in terms of approaching anything resembling a “servant of the people” status. After reading Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, I think it’s pretty much been that way in America since 1492 or so. More in a bit. Gotta catch my breath and breathe in some perspective in light of the only real Kingdom, the Kingdom of God.
