Why are Republicans Christian in lip service but socially Dawrinistic?

Question

They always talk about family values, and prayer, but when it comes to society it is servival of the fittest. What would Jesus say?

TL explain yourself then.

Answer 1

Conservative Republican Christians don't apply Jesus' words & live them to their fullest extent.

Many Republicans extend their brotherly love only to the ones they love (their family & friends) and do NOT extend it to their "enemies" or the general society as a whole. Their idea of "turning the other cheek" is turning around and getting their guns to go to war in Iraq. To them, love & tolerance is only for people who are similar to them - not others who are different from them, such as gays, minorities, or Muslims. (Which is why the GOP looks so in-bred homogenous.) And because their brotherly love is mostly limited to their brother Christians, their politics and economics are extremely UNCHRISTIAN. They don't see the hypocrisy.

Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you... For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethern only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?" Matthew 5:43-47.

Many Republicans evidently don't understand this passage. They take it to mean that they should get rid of tax collectors & lower taxes. They think loving your enemy means it's OK for the US to have 7,000 nukes, and to spend $400+ billion or 50% of the budget every year on defense.

So the question is not "What would Jesus say?" , because He already DID say a lot about poverty & society.

Jesus said, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." Matthew 19:21.

Another story: "Then He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty has put in all the livelihood that she had." Luke 21:1-4.

Notice that Jesus says "Give ALL" in BOTH stories, and not just give SOME, or a tax-deductible charitable donation of 10% or whatever. Well, when you give everything, that's basically communal communism (as opposed to state communism). Obviously, Republican Christians "from their abundance" give to charity, but they certainly don't give EVERYTHING. If they did, they would have to become communal communist by necessity and share everything.

And then finally, the Son of Man will Judge the Nations: "All the nations will be gathered before HIm, and He will separate them one from another... for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer... 'assuredly, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethern, you did it to Me.'.... Matthew 25:31-46.

In this passage, Jesus goes beyond just wealth (re)distribution, and into Free Food, Clothing, Health Care, and Prison "Reform" by the Nations. That's at the very least, Socialism.

So if Jesus had to choose, He would have been a communist or a socialist - but definitely NOT a Darwinistic, survival-of-the-fittest, Republican capitalist who doesn't give a holy damn about the huge income/wealth gaps in the US, the 13% of Americans below the poverty line, or the 15% with no health insurance (ALL the highest ratios in the "developed" world), and actually blames & judges the poor for their plight and is willing to let them struggle, calling it "Freedom" & "Personal Choice".

Capitalism does not encourage conscience, compassion, brotherly love, or generosity.

Dom Heldar Camara said, "When I give food to the hungry, they call me a Saint, but when I asked why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." Camara and other like-minded priests were part of a Catholic movement in Latin America called liberation theology that was based on social justice. They weren't missionairies trying to convert people. They stood up, marched, protested, and spoke up for the poor, viewing their suffering as having economical & political causes. Because they tended to support land reform, many of these priests were assassinated by oppressive right-wing (of course) governments supported by rich landowners (and in some cases, the US government as well). In my opinion, these kind of Christians are REAL CHRISTIANS, and f*cking heroes in my book. Go liberation theology! (And I'm not even Christian, although I think a lot of what Jesus said was revolutionary & right on.)

They make conservative Republican Christians look like the hypocrite Pharisees, who talk the talk in Church, but don't walk the walk outside of Church in the world. It's a HUGE stretch for their minds, or their hearts, to understand that Darwinistic capitalism is both inhumane & un-Christian, and that democratic socialism or communism is the natural, humanitarian consequence of applying Jesus' Message & Christian values to our society, economics, & politics.

Answer 2

Most Christians are not socially Darwinist. It has been shown that Republicans donate more money to charity than Democrats.

Most conservative Christians do not believe it is the governments responsibility to support people who will not or cannot support themselves. We believe that Churches and other community organizations should be responsible to helping those in need.

Answer 3

You are 100% correct, at least that is the way it seems to me.
They do act like they are more concerned with the almighty dollar, than with being their brothers and their sisters keepers. Jesus would say that we are our brothers keeper. In fact I believe he did say that!

Answer 4

No, just because we don't believe in socialism doesn't make us social darwinists.