Christian pastors plan to defy the government on Sunday!
This particular witches cauldron has been brewing for some time. Fundy Christianists following the fascist right believe their "religious" rights are being trod upon if they can't tread upon the U.S. Constitution and its notion of separation of church and state.
Part of the problem for the rest of us is that Christian fascists have been treading upon us for some time but under different venues. They've submerged their nastiness by supporting far right causes and programs under different names, such as Americans for Prosperity, for years.
Now these unchristian pastors plan to give the IRS (and the rest of us) the finger by participating in "Pulpit Freedom Sunday." Fourteen hundred christian fascist pastors plan to stand in front of their congregations "preaching biblical Truth about candidates and elections" tomorrow, October 7.
This is against the law. The IRS has specified that tax-exempt organizations such as churches may not preach politics from the pulpit; they may not "campaign for or against political candidates."
This so-called "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" is, as noted by Salon, "a project of the Alliance Defending Freedom ... [a] Christian legal group which specializes in taking cases where they think 'religious liberty' is at stake. Christian pastors have a right to preach whatever they wish from their own pulpits, says the ADF.
It would be fun to test their theory about "rights" by having an Imam stand in front of his Muslim followers and preach a sermon favoring the take-over of the country by Islamists, specifically naming a Muslim leader chosen to complete such a project - in the name of Allah, of course.
Fundamentalist Christianists like to yammer about the anti-Christ, scaring the bejesus out of their parishioners. The truth is they are the ones who are anti-Jesus. Almost everything they say and do is opposite of what Jesus either taught or the way he lived--according to the Gospel tales. Jesus said "Pay your taxes to Caesar" and shut up. Stop whining. Get about God's work on earth - take care of the poor and the needy. Don't be a hypocrite. Don't pray in public. Turn the other check. Walk the extra mile. Visit the sick and those in prison. Jesus said if you are a rich person you're not going to get into the heavenly kingdom. Jesus never spoke of turning Rome into a Christian empire. He never mentioned overthrowing the temple and turning Palestine into a Christian state! He said to obey the law and that he came to fulfill the Jewish Law!
If Jesus were to return to earth today, he would be appalled at what goes on in his name by these fundamentalist christianists who spend their time telling other people how to live their lives, or turning their religious beliefs (which have nothing to do with Jesus) into law, or trying to promote their biblical illiteracy in our schools and our military and our government!
Jesus would not recognize groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom. Such a group is contrary to everything he taught.
Personally, I hope all 1400 of these unchristian pastors get arrested and tossed in jail for breaking the law. What's funny is that these christianist churches are exempt from paying taxes (even though Jesus said they should pay taxes); they get all kinds of tax breaks for their schools and parsonages and other pursuits! Soldiers in Iraq still carry weapons with Bible verses inscribed on them!
The government is not anti-Christian, it promotes Christianity and for many of us that is an abomination! And unconstitutional.
And finally, Christianist fundys, as we have noted, are, almost without exception, tied into the fascist right in this country. They are ultra-conservative and serve the rich and powerful. They are against science, freedom for people different than themselves, people in need and the sick. They are skilled liars operating on the principle that "the ends justifies the means," and thus fundy Christianists such as Sarah Palin can fantasize about health care "death panels" even though she has to know there is not, and never has been, any such thing! They lie about capitalism and about socialism. They do not follow Jesus, no matter what they claim, but rather use Jesus to bolster their right-wing political ideology. They are fascist because many of their leaders have stated publicly that if they ever gain power they will ignore our constitution and enact new laws based on their understanding of the Bible, a collection of material written by ancient and ignorant men who knew nothing of science and thus precious little as to how the world really works and how life came to be on this miserly little planet.
As someone once said, "God save us from his followers"!
