DISGUSTED

By PraetorOne and BibleBelted

I always thought that the far right, so called “religious right” (I just can’t bring myself to call them Christians anymore) were dead set against social programs and social spending. Well, as it turns out, it appears as if they don’t mind social spending as long as they’re the beneficiaries of those social programs. And I am not talking about the way in which they want to eradicate the wall between Church and State which prevents the government from favoring one faith over the other. Although I am certain that is their idee fixe.

No, I am talking about right wingers who complain about social spending by established programs when it benefits the lower classes and racial minorities but who have no problem when it comes to playing the system for their own ends. I recently had the dubious pleasure of encountering people such as these, and the lengths to which they will go to play the system are astounding. One of the individuals who I encountered is a dyed in the wool Republican, a member of he Religious right, who is currently attempting to apply for Medicaid. This comes after an extended use of Medicare. Having bilked that program for God only knows how many thousands of dollars, he is now attempting to apply for Medicaid and the length to which he will twist the system are nothing less than amazing. Assets are being shuffled from family member to family member. Possessions are being purchased in family members’ names so that he won’t have too many. Luxuries are being Orwellianized into necessities, ad nauseam. To make the situation even worse, this same individual sees no contradiction in his attitudes and behavior as he issues veiled remarks which demonize and blame the poor and minorities for their own poverty and inequality.

As a liberal I really don’t mind if these people want to use the system. That’s what it’s for. But it seems to me that programs like Medicaid and SSI Disability are for the weakest and most vulnerable of our society, not for the upper middle and upper classes who are content to bilk the very people, the very taxpayers who these programs are meant to benefit. And that irks me. How can you talk about the poor and racial minorities as if they were somehow deserving of their plight when you yourself are a part of the problem, when the greediest members of your class are themselves a part of the problem (some might say corruption) that is undermining our social programs. Again, I thoroughly believe that these programs are there to benefit people. There should be no shame in utilizing them. And yet the upper middle classes reveal their hypocrisy as they condemn social spending on one hand but manipulate it for their own selfish purposes on the other. It seems to me that these people have benefited very nicely from Republican economic policies since 1994. Do they really need to rob from programs that were meant to help the most needy in our society? Doesn’t their religious upbringing tell them something about theft, about the proper way to treat the poor and downtrodden? Just about every organized religion on the face of the earth has its “commandments” referring to the poor and those commandments usually include qualities such as generosity, compassion, and forgiveness. Indeed, they should be giving alms to the poor, not robbing them blind through Social Darwinist economic policies. The fact that they don’t GET this tells me that they not only lack basic human compassion–they also lack a basic understanding of their own religion. Which as far as I’m concerned is little more than a bastardization of the Christian faith.

But should we be surprised by the fact that these people would try to bilk the taxpayers and the people who social problems are meant to benefit? Probably not. This after all is the same constituency that wants to channel funds meant for social spending into “faith-based (social) programs. I suppose that if they really were interested in clothing, feeding, and, sheltering people that there might be a few upsides to faith based programs, but let’s be honest with on another. Do we really believe that the primary motivation here is the physical comfort of the less fortunate? Of course not. The primary focus will be on conversion. I’ve heard these people talk, both in private and in public forums and their idea of “helping people” often translates into “join us or suffer.” Moreover their idea of a church is also a little unusual. When most of us think about churches we think about the local House of Worship in our home town–not glass cathedrals, Christian amusement parks, hotels, and other luxury items which are designed to raise funds, not preach to the needs of the human soul. Let’s face it–do we really want a Jimmy Bakker or a Jimmy Swaggert, or some other right wing pick pocket grabbing up governmental funds to pay for palace-like churches and theme parks? Do we really want right wing televangelists (or for that matter even local pastors) to use government funding to pay for their sexual transgressions? I don’t. And yet the GOP constantly promotes the idea of the religious pick pocketing of governmental funds which are designed for the physical comfort of the less fortunate. In fact, the largest recipient of such funding will probably be the Catholic Church which is still trying to get a handle on a devastating scandal involving the molestation of innocent children. Yup, I know that makes me feel safe and sound, knowing that tax payer funds are being channeled to such a worthy organization.

To further complicate the situation you had better believe that a fair share of this faith based funding will be funneled into political activities which are designed to both, further undermine FDR’s New Deal and to further undermine the rights of Gays, Lesbians, and anyone else who the Radical Religious Right considers morally unacceptable (read “subhuman”).

All in all the Radical Religious Right is a study in corruption and they are seeking tax payer funding, faith based funding, to promote a very brutal and destructive agenda which not only cheats the tax ayer and society’s most vulnerable; they also want to establish a very brutal agenda, a government which is based less on “we are all in this together” and more on “everyone for him or herself.” And that is neither sacred nor Christian. That is little more than Christo-fascisim with the name of Jesus connected to it to generate undeserved respect ad support.

Finis

Author’s note by PraetorOne:

The hypocrisy doesn’t only apply to economic programs. The cultural warrior aspect of their agenda doesn’t always make a lot of sense either. We all know how eager these people are to censor what we watch, read, and listen to, and yet when you talk to them they seem very well versed in the violence and sexual activity which is presented by our very conservative media which will broadcast violence for pure profit. In one breath they condemn the “perversion” that they believe has become our corporate, entertainment-based media, but yet they know exactlywhatis going on. Their collective attitude, with occasional exceptions, appears to be one of: “you’re to spiritually weak to stand up against that kind of sinful material, so we have to watch it for you to protect you.” Can you say, “What a crock?”

PraetorOne