In Which I Rant About the Republican Myth of "Judeo-Christian Values"

Almost every Republican politician will tel you that the United States needs to return to the "Judeo-Christian values this country was founded upon". I'm not going to argue about whether or not the U.S. was even founded upon said "values", or if the U.S. ever followed said "values". But whenever I decide to come to this barely-read blog to rant about something, it means that something has really ticked me off I need to rant. Today I'm going to attempt to dispel the Republican party's myth of "Judeo-Christian values" and how their use and abuse of this term is a mockery of Christianity, my faith, as a whole, using both scripture and objective fact.

First off, let's get the term itself out of the way. "Judeo-Christian" is a political buzzword that attempts to not single out one religion, in this case Christianity, as the preferred religion, and attempts to be inclusive of the religiously similar Judaism, so as not to blatantly violate the First Amendment. What Republican politicians mean when they say "Judeo-Christian values" is actually "Christian" values (emphasis on quotation marks). If "Judeo-Christian values" truly included Judaism, the Republican party would advocate for banning business on the Jewish Sabbath and enforcing Kosher diets. "Judeo" is, to Republican politicians, a meaningless term used for nothing more than political inclusivity. "Judeo-Christian values" is simply Republican code for "Christian values". So for the sake of the remainder of this argument, I'm removing "Judeo" altogether, for two reasons; firstly because it's easier to not have to type "Judeo", and secondly because it means nothing to the Republican politicians, so there's no point in including it anymore, since it's entirely meaningless.

Now with "Judeo" out of the way (and let me clarify, I'm not trying to exclude Judaism or its values, nor am I trying to communicate any antisemitic sentiment [I'm not intentionally an anti-semite], I am simply trying to argue against the values and rhetoric the Republican party puts forward, which only uses "Judeo" as a political buzzword, not as an actual word with any meaning or value.), we can dissect what the Republican party means by "Christian values".

"Christian values", as referred to by Republican politicians often includes, but is not limited to, banning abortion, banning homosexuality, legally recognizing biological men and women as only men and women, capitalism, low taxes, unrestricted firearm access, the death penalty, blowing Muslim terrorists to Hell, and strict immigration policy.

What?

Yes, some of this can be found in the Bible and is supported by scripture (before you start judging me, I'm still very much against abortion and believe it's scripturally backed up), but the "Christian values" that the Republican party tends to refer to is really just equating scripture with conservatism. The Word of God says false teachers will be judged more harshly. Decide for yourself whether or not Robert Jeffress, Jerry Falwell, and Paula White are all false teachers by boasting American conservatism as "Christian values", similar to prosperity gospel preachers, but what I can tell you for sure is that American conservatism does not always equate to the values in the Bible.

Republican politicians cherry-pick issues like abortion and homosexuality and claim that if we apply the Christian stance to these issues, then America will be great again, but while touting "Christian values", the Republican party supports an administration whose immigration policy separates children from their parents and puts them in giant cages like cattle, treating them inhumanely. (and if you're going to cry "FAKE NEWS!!!!" because my links aren't from Fox or InfoWars, or if you think that because the verses I'm about to quote are evil because they're not KJV 1611, please click off, because you're clearly beyond reasoning with at this point.)

I thought the nuclear family unit was sacred, and we shouldn't abort babies (again, I'm still against abortion) or allow homosexuality because families are so sacred.

I thought the Bible said

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 19:33-34 ESV, just a chapter away from the same verse used to argue against homosexuality)

and

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Hebrews 13:2, ESV)

and

"You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless." (Exodus 22:21-24, ESV)

and

"He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt." (Deuteronomy 10:18-19, ESV)

and, in the red-letter words of Jesus Christ

"Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 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? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." (Matthew 25:34-40, ESV)

and, directly after this, the even more sobering words of Christ

 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The list goes on.

The Republican Party cannot tout "Christian values" if they support an administration that goes directly against the words of Jesus and oppresses the poor, the foreigners, and the "least of these". And we as Americans or as Christians cannot blindly follow Donald Trump's personality cult because he lowers our taxes and promises to "make America great again". I find nothing in the Bible that supports Trumpist nationalism. What I find in the Bible and in the words of Christ are to welcome the foreigners and refugees. I too believe that if America is going to be great, it needs to repent and follow Christian values, but not the "Christian values" the Republican party claims. The Republican party takes my faith, twists its scripture, and uses it for its own benefit, unfortunately leading some astray to place conservatism above Christianity, the Constitution above the Bible, and Donald Trump above Jesus Christ.

It is truly tragic.

I'm tired of seeing the Republican Party tout "Christian values" and go directly against the words of Christ Himself. And before you say "well you shouldn't conflate the individual commands in scripture as commands for the State", I absolutely have the right to do so as long as the party in charge claims "Christian values". You can't cherry-pick some passages of the Bible to support some platform positions, and ignore other parts of the Bible while you go directly against it.

"Well the illegal immigrants go against our laws! If you're gonna come into our country, you have to follow our laws!"

Jesus' worst enemies were the legalist Pharisees. I'm not saying the Christ was in favor of breaking the law on all occasions, but not all laws are just, and some laws are more important than others. It was illegal to harbor Jews during the Holocaust. Would you give up their locations, effectively leading them to their deaths, because you wanted to follow the law? Jesus Himself broke Jewish law, just like David did, because He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12). Welcoming strangers is more important than treating them like cattle because they swam across an arbitrary line in the Rio Grande.

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8, ESV)

"Some of the Muslim refugees are terrorists!"

The United States has one of the strictest vetting processes in the world for refugees. Is it more "Christian" to deny all Muslim refugees a chance at life (and a chance to hear the Gospel) and send them back home to inhumane conditions and potential death because there might be a bad apple in the bunch, or is it more Christian to welcome strangers? Both of these choices are detailed in Matthew 25 by Jesus Christ Himself, but only the latter choice is mentioned as assisting Jesus Himself. The former choice leads to a less pleasant outcome.

Again, if the Republican Party is going to claim "Christian values", then the commands of scripture apply. Unfortunately the party does the opposite. They ignore much of scripture and create a toxic culture of idolatry and ignorance of scripture, which has unfortunately infected the American Church.

Only 25% of white Evangelicals in America believe the U.S. has a responsibility to accept refugees.

This is a tragedy.

We've bought into the lies of conservative idolatry.

I'm not saying that believing in conservatism is inherently wrong, nor am I saying that a government must automatically accept refugees, but a government of a wealthy and plentiful country run by a party claiming "Christian values" absolutely has a responsibility to follow the words of Christ in Matthew 25. But instead the Church, particularly the white, evangelical church (you know, the ones with the best theology?) is putting Trumpist conservatism before Christianity.

We need to repent.

America and more importantly the Church must repent of this idolatry before its too late.

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD" (Psalm 33:12a) does not mean "Blessed is the nation who votes Republican."

It is time for a change in the American church and the Republican party. The Church needs to stop blindly following a personality cult and Trumpist idolatry because their party claims "Christian values". It is a myth. The Republican party is, in many ways, directly opposed to the teachings of Christ and of Scripture. They need to quit lying about "Christian values" and stick to the truth, but they're a political party, so that is not going to happen. The Church needs to wake up and see that the Republican Party is lying to them and stop letting the beliefs of Trumpism infect and override the Word of God, especially in the pulpit.

As Mike Rumley-Wells of Relevant Magazine points out, we go on week-long trips to Honduras and Nicaragua and similar third-world countries to help and get pictures with cute brown kids, but refuse to help them at home. Human beings are more than a photo-op.

Please don't take this as a plea to vote for Democrats. While the Democratic party, in some areas, follows the Bible better than the party that claims "Christian values", the Democratic party is also very much against Christianity, but at least they don't claim not to follow Christianity. Obama was ridiculously authoritarian and quite trigger-happy with drone strikes. I am by no means a liberal, in the American political sense.

I am not trying to endorse any particular party here. I think both the major parties are generally against the teachings I find in the Bible, but I write this because the Republican Party, the party of "Judeo-Christian values", continues to make a mockery of Christianity with its actions, and is infecting the Church with the idolatry of patriotism and Trumpism.

Trump's reign as president will end on January 20th, 2021 or 2025.

Christ's reign lasts forever.

Are we going to put all our hope and effort into following something that's temporary, or Someone Who lasts and reigns forever?

The Bible is greater than the Constitution.

Christianity is greater than conservatism.

Christ is greater than Trump.

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." (Matthew 6:24a, ESV)

Trump and the Republican Party, or Jesus Christ? The former is in direct opposition to the latter. You can't have both.

In the words of Joshua...

"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15 ESV)