Wednesday 7 November 2012

America's unchristian Right

We know that the American conservative right is strongly imbued with Christianity. This is somewhat bizarre. The reason I suggest this is that many of its attitudes are decidedely unchristian. Did Christ not effectively argue that people should pool their economic and social risks by sharing property and agreeing to help those less fortunate than ourselves ? The parable of the Good Samaritan says we should not pass on the other side but should make a special effort to help the disadvantaged and the wretched even if they are culturally or ethnically different to ourselves. Christ affirmed the ancient Jewish tradition that the love of money disqualifies us from salvation. When the multitude, who had come to hear Jesus speak were starving, he told the disciples to feed them before they looked after themselves. How can such Christian values be so assiduously ignored by the American Right in their opposition to welfare, socialised health care, foreign aid and some redistribution of income ? It's a mystery to me.

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