Religious Right

Jesus Christ

The sanctity of life is the corner stone of the Religious Right's position of stem cell research and abortion.

The Right claims that all human life is sacred and therefore using discarded embryos for stem cell research is immoral, and that abortion is never a moral option. Their position changes with the death penalty and the war on Iraq, where it is moral to kill.

Christ said it is the soul that is important, not the body (Lk12:24), and that who wants to save his life will lose it (My16:25), to be His disciple you must "hate" life, (Lk14:26) life is less important than your love for your friends (Jn15:13). Christ was concerned with your soul and eternal life and found that human life, in itself, wasn't sacred.

Science believes that stem cell research can develop incredible cures for many of man's most persistent diseases. 

The Right says that all life is sacred and the embryo is every bit as sacred as any human. They claim the research using this embryo it is murder. The Right does not address the soul nor does it provide for the bringing to fruition all other embryos created during in vitro fertilization that are eventually discarded. They do not explain why God would grant a soul to an embryo which was destined not for life but to help cure diseases.

Christ never condemned stem cell research or abortion. Christ mandated that we care for the sick as a condition of salvation (Mt25:43), he gave his disciples the commandment, power and authority to cure diseases (Lk9:1-2), he waived one of the Ten Commandments when it interfered with this mandate. (Mk3:1)  He lived his life curing diseases. Very few things in Christ's teaching were as important as helping others and particularly the sick. 

Abortion

The Right says that all life is sacred and the fetus is every bit as sacred as any human. They claim all abortion is murder. The Right does not address the soul nor does it provide for the woman who faces financial, medical, or emotional devastation from an unwanted pregnancy, possibly resulting from rape or incest. They do not explain why God would grant a soul to fetus destined for abortion. 

Christ did not condemn abortion and certainly did not designate the human body or life as sacred. He never referred to the fetus as human with a soul. He said that you had to be born (and born again) to reach salvation (Jn3:3). He always referred to people as having been born, not conceived. If abortion is as terrible as the Right claims, Christ would have mentioned it, he promised nothing would be hidden in his message (Mt10:26).

Morning After Pill

The Right aggressively fights the morning after pill, and its use with out parental approval. If abortion is as abhorrent a sin as the Right claims the best was to eliminate it is to eliminate unwanted pregnancies. The morning after pill is a tool to do just that. This opposition shows the hypocrisy of their position.

Christ did not condemn any form of contraceptives. It isn't even clear that he was opposed to premarital sex, he did not specifically condemn it as he did with extra-marital sex. So, the balance is between a possible sin (depending on personal interpretation) and the health and well being of a young girl who make a mistake that she does not want to pay for, for the rest of her life. Its fairly clear which side Christ is on, he did preach forgiveness as well as care for the less fortunate.

AIDS - The Right has significantly impacted funds and organizations that do not adhere to their "abstinence only" programs.

The Right believes that the use of condoms as a tool to fight AIDS has the potential to increase promiscuity and that it is necessary to restrict financial aid internally and overseas for those organizations than do not subscribe to the abstinence only programs.

Healing the sick was mentioned approximately 40 times in the gospels, sexual promiscuity never, sexual immorality twice, lewdness, once, adultery 14 times. Christ was significantly unconcerned with promiscuity, except as an issue in marital fidelity. In contrast healing the sick was a major issue. 

The Right led by the past Attorney General aggressively tied to suppress the use of legal medical marijuana used to relieve the suffering from the effects of various diseases and chemo therapy. 

The Right views marijuana as an illicit drug and projects that legalizing it in any manner will do harm to the war on drugs. It does not explain why marijuana is different from legalized opium derivatives like morphine which have immense benefit but are far more destructive if misused.

Heal the sick! This relatively minor issue is ample proof that the Right has absolutely no regard toward Christ's commandments requiring us to help each other.

Homosexuality

The Right continues its aggressive campaign against homosexuality. They quote the Old Testament and the Epistles in reaching their conclusion that it is a sin against God. 

Christ never condemned homosexuality, it simply was not an issue that he was concerned with. He did however forbid us from judging that any one else was committing sins, (no judgment or condemnation). Even if violate we these commandments and conclude that someone else sinned, we are required forgive that sin. The attack against homosexuals contradicts the very essence of Christ's prime commandment to love our neighbor. The Right makes up scripture in saying that they love the sinner but hate the sin. There is no basis in Christ's teachings for such an attempt to circumvent Christ's commandments. 

The government has attached procedures to the the licensing of marriage enabling couples to care for each other and the children under their protection. 

The Right wants to restrict those procedures, including hospital visitation, to emergency medical decision-making, and inheritance to heterosexual unions licensed by the government. 

Christ demanded that we care for the sick, the poor, the less fortunate and the children. Homosexuals do not have anyone but those who love them to care for them and their children. Government impediments to this care violates the essence of Christianity. 

The sanctity of marriage

The Right claims that licensed homosexual unions will destroy the sanctity of marriage. They attribute to the Government, not to God, the ability to "sanctify" a marriage by issuing a marriage license.

Again, the Right is defining a lifestyle as immoral contrary to the teachings of Christ. Christ was never concerned about the concept of gay marriage, however he was very concerned about adultery and faithfulness, both of which are significant issues in his doctrine. These concepts are largely ignored by the Right in their blame of the homosexuals for the failure of the Religious Right to lead the nation into a culture where marriage is considered sacred. The concept that the issuance of a license by the government creates anything sacred is simply absurd. The source of sanctity is God. 

The Right relies heavily on the Old Testament for many of its moral positions. 

The Right quote Mk5:17 and Lk16:17 to demonstrate that the Old Testament law is still fully in effect (not one iota will change). This allows them to use Old Testament quotes to support their positions.  The Right does not subscribe to a large majority of the Old Testament, such as the dietary and cleanliness laws, the section on the execution of those who commit various sins, and many other passages. They are too inconsistent in Old Testament application to swear by any particular passage. 

Mk 5:17 actually says nothing will change until everything is fulfilled and that Christ was that fulfillment.  Lk16:17 actually says the "law and the prophets were in effect until John". Christ himself specifically negated the majority of the Old Law. In parable Mt9:14-17 he taught that the Old Laws did not apply to his new teachings. He said that he brought a new covenant Mt6:28. 

Ten Commandments

The Right holds the Ten Commandments to be the most sacred of religious scripture, so much so as to build monuments to honor them. They contend that posting them in schools will improve the morality of the children.  However, they commonly ignore the contents, such as the prohibition of work or receiving services on Sunday, and seek other sources to find worse sins to condemn others for committing. They do not guide us on what to teach the children when we honor the Ten Commandments then routinely violate the Sunday commandment. Its as if honoring is sufficient, compliance unnecessary.

Christ never specifically mentioned the Ten Commandments and he designated the two Great Commandments of Love God and Others as the highest commandments from which all others stem (Mt22:36-40). He demonstrated a comprehensive philosophy altogether different from that of the famous, but incomplete, list of sins. The Ten Commandments do not require proactive love and care for others while Christ made these a specific condition for salvation.

Purge the World of Sins

The Right holds the position that it is their responsibility to purge the world of some sins that others commit. It is their goal to pass laws against them. 

Christ said sin will always be with us (Lk17:1), and we have two responsibilities, do not cause others to sin (Lk17:1), and take extreme measures to avoid sin (Mk943-47). We are not told to purge the world of sin. Christ said just the opposite (Mt13:24-30). He repeatedly said that sinners will be taken care of by God.

Condemning Others

The Right insists that they must denounce people for committing specific sins. They claim the right to judge people on their morality. They claim that we are told to love the sinner but hate the sin, and so they can get around Christ's commandments by pretending to hate the sin.

Christ repeatedly said do not judge, do not condemn, and He did not say hate sin but said forgive sin (Lk 6:37). The philosophy was continued in the "cast the first stone" parable, where Christ told the Pharisees that they could execute the adulteress only if they themselves were without sin (Jn8:7). Christ said to worry about your own sins (Mt7:3). Christ's philosophy was that we cannot really know, nor do we have the responsibility to know, the degree of sins that others commit. That is God's job, our job is to help our fellow man through life and forgive them of any and all offences.

Let your light shine

The Right insists that moral people aggressively display their piety through public demonstrations, such as prayer, demanding the government recognize God, monuments to the commandments, etc. They quote Christ who said let your light shine. 

Christ did say let your light shine but the rest of the quote is "so that they may see your good works"( Mt5:16). He also said that his disciples will be known by their love for each other. Christ was totally against any action performed for public recognition (Mt23:5). He said, "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven." (Mt6:1)

Prayer in school and at public meetings

The Right demands that children be allowed to pray at school and that public meetings include prayers. 

Christ commanded that we pray in secret, hypocrites pray in public (Mt6:5). Christ knew, as most of us do, that the real honest prayer is between you and God, not for public demonstration. Teaching children to pray in school teaches them to pray for the wrong reason, they can already pray anywhere they want, silently, in their minds. The difference is that they receive no reward on earth for their piety, and that is what the Right is all about, reward and punishment on earth, controlled by them. Unfortunately this philosophy brings the children damnation according to Christ.

Evolution vs. creationism

The Right damns the concept of evolution, claiming that according to sacred scripture, the world was created by God in seven days, and many believe that this creation took place a determinable number of years ago. They want creationism taught in school, in some cases, instead of evolution. 

Christ twice used the term "since the beginning of creation" (Mk10:6 & Mk13:19). Clearly this means that creation began, but has not ended, as he could just as easily have said since the creation. The belief in evolution in no way discounts creationism. God created the would using the technique of evolution (he created evolution), and it is an ongoing process which proves his omnipotence and continued interest in our existence.

Immoral Lifestyles

The Right preaches that the homosexual lifestyle is destroying our nation's morality. They promote the acquisition of wealth, engage in all of the practices Christ condemned with hypocritical religious leaders, and ignore the ever growing problem of adultery.