How Would Jesus Vote?
By Nancy Greggs

During an appearance on CNN’s Larry King Live (October 12, 2006), guest Dennis Prager responded to a question about the impact of the recent scandals (Foley et al) on voters from the religious right. Prager was quick to point out that although they were “troubled” by these events “religious Conservatives will not stop voting Republican” due to the fact that the alternative, i.e. the Democratic party, “is a party that does not share any of their values.”

While this is certainly not the first (nor, regrettably, the last) time I have heard someone toss out this kind of reasoning, it never fails to astound me.

For discussion purposes, let’s accept the argument from the true believers that incidents like the Foley scandal, the Cunningham scandal, the Ney scandal, etc., are not indicative of a pervasive climate of corruption existing within the Republican party, but merely a case of a few bad apples who, drunk with political power and tempted by forbidden financial fruit, fell off the Virtue wagon with a publicly-humiliating thud.

Let’s also, for the sake of discussion, accept the fact that the biggest hurdle for many voters who consider themselves to be religious Christians in supporting Democrats is, was, and seemingly always will be the issue of pro-choice versus anti-choice vis a vis abortion, and its attendant issues of access to birth control, sex education, and the like.

On this single topic, the Christian Right have been traditionally willing to throw the Baby Jesus out with the bath water. Upon hearing the words “right to choose”, they invariably stick their fingers in their ears in order to shut out everything else the Democratic party has to say. That is an unfortunate fact, but a fact nonetheless.

So having put aside those two issues for the moment, we are left with the obvious question: What else is it that the current crop of elected Republicans stand for, and have crafted into policy, that is in keeping with values of religious conservatives – or, for that matter, any people of faith?

The disconnect between what is morally just and the actions of the elected Republicans in control of our government for the past few years should be glaringly obvious. Where is the morality in a war that has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis? Where is the adherence to Christian teaching in abandoning social programs that assist the hungry, the sick and the homeless? How does one equate moral rectitude with policies that have enriched and empowered the wealthy, while plunging the hard-working middle class into debt? Who can honestly condone the use of torture and consider it to be in keeping with anything remotely resembling Christian values?

“As you do to the least among you, so you do unto me.” And what has been done to the least among us by the Republicans currently in office is not, I would humbly suggest, what Jesus would consider to be a monumental display of moral values – not by a long shot.

On the other hand, the Democrats have traditionally championed strong social safety-nets for those “least among us”, as well as other moral concepts the GOP have abandoned – things like obeying the law of the land, and rendering unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, without simply handing everything over to Caesar without regard for God’s share of the action, such as stewardship of the planet, and a helping hand extended to our fellow man in His name.

What Mr. Prager, and people who spout the same rhetoric, seemingly fail to recognize is the fact that as we head into the mid-term elections, the poll numbers have shown a distinct Democratic lead over the party that has proven, beyond any doubt, to have a total inability to walk the walk despite an annoying penchant to talk the talk at every available opportunity.

While it may come as a shock to the Dennis Pragers of the world, a lot of those people who are planning to vote Democratic next month are good Christians – as well as good Jews, good Muslims, good Buddhists, and others of moral fiber who have finally had their fill of the GOP slogan-in-practice, “Come for the Sermon – Stay for the Hypocrisy”.

There has been much discussion of late about how Democrats should strike while the political iron is hot, and reach out to the Fundamentalists in an effort to secure their loyalty and their future votes.

I, for one, dismiss this idea out-of-hand. It is not for the party that has proven itself to be more in keeping with the tenets of Christianity to prove itself worthy; it is for those espoused followers of the teachings of Jesus to prove the strength of their own convictions by supporting what is right, what is just, what is morally responsible.

If the religious conservatives of whom Mr. Prager speaks find the Republicans – the party who have placed the Power of the Almighty Dollar over the Power of the Almighty God – to be the party that shares their values, so be it. But perhaps it is time for the so-called Religious Right not to assess the moral values of the two political parties, but their own commitment to the values they allegedly hold so dear.

In the current political atmosphere, where the topic of morality is about to play a key role in the voting choice of millions of Americans, it is not fitting for people of faith who cling to Republican ideals to ask why God has forsaken them and their party. It is, I would humbly submit, more appropriate for God to ask why He has been abandoned by those who claim to be His staunchest supporters.