I would consider myself a devout Christian; a Baptist, with
a strong Baptist heritage. My grandfather was a Baptist minister and probably
had the most influence on my brand of Christianity. I was raised in the church
and saved in 4th grade. I have been a member of a Baptist church my
whole life. I go to church as much as I can to hear the how to become a better
Christian; to act more and more like Christ. I’m also a proud Democrat and
enthusiastically vote for Democrats whenever I can (and that includes Hillary Clinton). I think my devout Christianity informs
my embrace of the Democratic Party.
I want to address a few of the points that this article
touches on by the so-called All-Star panel. There was a quote from Samuel
Rodriguez saying he “will vote my Christian values. It’s life, the family ethos, it’s religious
liberty, it’s limited government.”
First of all, how is limited government a Christian value? Don't remember Christ discussing this.
By life, I’m assuming he’s anti-abortion, because there is
nothing else in the Republican platform that enhances the life of underserved
and less fortunate born people. Republicans want to defund head-start, defund
school free-lunch, remove all social services, and institute policies that only
help the wealthiest and most powerful of American Capitalists. (As an aside, I don't think there is anything about Capitalism that jives with the Christianity described by Christ.) The care of life referred to is only extended to the unborn. The life of mothers, of poor children, of
minorities are denied that care.
Who has the better family ethos between these two
candidates? It’s not Trump, who has had several wives and once said that he
would probably be dating his daughter… if she wasn’t his daughter. Anyway, this
is obviously a reference to LGBT rights and what Republicans are considering
the war on Biblical values. This is a difficult question to be sure, but Christ said in John's gospel that unbelievers will know us for our love and compassion, not for
our hatred and oppression.
The USA is an amazing
country. It is a country full of Christians and that’s a good thing. But we are
not a Christian nation, thankfully. Whose brand of Christianity would be King?
I sure don’t want this to be a Catholic nation and I’m sure Catholics don’t
want this to be a Baptist nation. We believe very different things.
We are a nation born from the pursuit of religious freedom as a rejection
of the Christian Kingdom of England. Our government is not formed, nor ruled by
the Bible. It is a secular government that has a secular constitution guaranteeing the
certain rights of its citizens, one of which is the separation of Church and
State.
Religious liberty, in the context of Mr. Rodriguez’s quote,
means the right to practice your religious beliefs without regards for
the rights of those who don’t chose to practice like you. I couldn’t disagree
more. My religious liberty means I can believe in God and meet with other
like-minded Christians without fear of government reprisal or imprisonment. It
does not mean that I can force people that work for me to adhere to my
practices. It does not mean I can discriminate against a group of people whose
life choices I disagree with, nor can those same people discriminate against me
for being Baptist. The legislative bills that are passed across the Republican
controlled legislatures in the guise of Religious Liberty are nothing more than
legalized discrimination.
Franklin Graham was quoted as saying the Americans “have let
progressives take God out of government.” I would argue that our founding
fathers did that with the first amendment, and we are better for it.
