Nasty Little Man

No war on Christmas, but there is a war on Jesus

"Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." --Matthew 25:40

Let's get real: Jesus was a liberal. Forgiveness? Loving thy neighbor? That reeks of liberalism! A rich man has as much chance of entering the Kingdom of Heaven as a camel has of getting through the eye of a needle? That's class warfare!

While Sean Hannity, John Gibson, Bill O'Reilly, and Jerry Falwell and the American Taliban spent much of December crying incessantly about the fake war on Christmas (and then whining more about the real ruling on the fake scientific theory of intelligent design), three important social justice issues flew by with either apathy or even hostility from the thugs mentioned above: the death penalty, budget cuts for programs that aid the poor, and torture. What would Jesus do? It's hard to imagine that he would torture, execute, and cut programs to help the least among us.

(It pains me to be fair to O'Reilly, but it is worth noting that he is a death penalty abolitionist.)

The death penalty
The execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams of Crips gang fame drew the most attention, but there were two other very important stories that slid by, barely noticed.

In Texas, the Houston Chronicle revealed that it is likely that a man executed in 1993 was innocent. The national media yawned. I heard that CNN did a segment on this on a Sunday afternoon, but that was the only noticeable coverage. It's possible that others touched on it, but it did not receive nearly the attention that Tookie's execution received. The proven execution of an innocent person could lead to the ultimate downfall of capital punishment, but if the press doesn't bother to tell anyone, it won't even be noticed. The idea that the media has a liberal bias is laughable.

Meanwhile, in a first in the blogosphere, TheAgitator.com broke the story of Cory Maye, a man wrongfully caught up in a drug raid. Maye shot and killed a police officer when the officer broke into his home at midnight while executing the raid. The police were raiding Maye's next door neighbor, who lives on the other side of a duplex, and broke into Maye's home, thinking that it was one unit. Maye was home alone with his 18-month old daughter and fired at the officer because he thought the officer was an intruder. A jury of 12 Mississipians convicted Maye and sentenced him to death.

Finally, there's Tookie. We often hear from the AT (American Taliban) that this is a Christian nation. Tookie's case is clear proof that we are not. Our feelings about redemption were on trial here, and it's apparent that redemption has no place in the American criminal justice system. Plus, a recent study revealed significant problems with race and the death penalty in Cali. In a similar situation, Maryland Governor Parris Glendening declared a moratorium on executions in 2002. Ah-nold felt no need to do the same.

I tune in Hannity about once a week. If I listened any more than that, I'd probably want to set myself on fire. One week, Hannity was crying about the attacks on Christmas. The next week he was calling for the murder of Tookie. He told his audience that he believed Tookie would have to face God and that He is a just God. If that's true, sir, then you, too, will have to face God. Good luck with that one.

Torture
America hit a new low when the Vice President lobbied Congress to allow the CIA an exemption under the McCain amendment against torture. By all appearances, Bush finally came around to McCain's way of thinking, but the Birmingham News reports that the Prez only signed off on it because he realized that the votes were there to override his threatened veto.

Meanwhile, the ACLU filed suit on behalf of a German man wrongly imprisoned and allegedly tortured by U.S. officials. The ACLU was roundly criticized by some of the same propagandists who claim Christmas is under attack. Apparently, torture is acceptable in their brand of Christianity. That's truly taking Christ out of Christmas.

Budget cuts
115 people of faith bravely committed an act of civil disobedience to oppose the U.S. House budget proposal that would inflict cuts to programs that aid "the least among us", including cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and student loan programs. The Religious Wrong, meanwhile, wanted nothing to do with it and was happy to let the cuts happen.

The House passed it, but the Senate passed a modified version, although the Senate version includes cuts to the programs mentioned above. The House will have to vote on the Senate version when they return from the holiday break.

Although I do not view Jesus as the world's saviour, I recognize and respect the impact of his teachings on social justice on my own life. Thus, it's insulting to see these faux Christians doing very little to truly carrying out the Word.

posted by Kinder Gentler Little Man @ 2:01 PM