Sharpening our wits on the grindstone of Life: Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. .comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Sharpening our wits on the grindstone of Life

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.

It's been seven days since my last cofession. In that time I've had evil thoughts about the president, the indicted House Majority Leader, and everyone else who is trying to run this country into the ground in Your name.

I believe in the teachings of Jesus. He embodies what a Christian should be. He fed the hungry, healed the ill, and taught love, compassion and tolerance. He hung out with reforned prostitutes, theives and common folk. The only time he got angry, according to my Bible studies, was when the moneychangers in the temple were profiteering from the faithful.

Oh, how things have changed in 2000 years. The moneychangers are not only profiteering from the faithful, they've changed what it means to be a Christian. The new morality is not about love, compassion or tolerance, or even caring for the poor, hungry and ill. It's about strict adherence to a lifestyle dictated by the priveliged few, or risk losing rights guaranteed to citizens in the Constitution.

It's about losing the right to die with dignity and without pain. It's about taking choice away from those who are most affected by those choices, such as women whose lives are at risk by an unwanted pregnancy. It's about those who choose life partners that don't meet the approval of the theocracy losing basic insurance and visitation rights.

What has historically been a political party dedicated to minimum government intervention in our lives is now populated by self-righteous hypocrites who want to control every aspect of our lives except those that allow us to profit from the most vulnerable among us.

It's about allowing those most vulnerable to go hungry while oil companies rake in record profits. It's about allowing companies like Halliburton to pay less than minimum wage to rebuild the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast using migrant labor while that region's own citizens are struggling to find jobs they lost because of the storms.

Christianity has had its dark ages as it matured into one of the three major worldwide religions. There were the Crusades, the Inquisition, even McCarthyism. And now it seems like we're headed into a new "dark age" as the focus of mainstream Christianity seems to be condemning lifestyles other than their own and denying rights and dignity to those that don't match their ideal - an ideal that they themselves have a history of failing to live up to.

Lord, I pray that that You show these people the error of their ways. Not through fire and brimstone, because I believe that Jesus would have shown compassion and mercy, but if it takes pestilence to get their attention, then so be it.

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