Recently the American Family Association published a screed complaining about just how the current quarantine as the result of the COVID-19 virus is hurting the American economy. Coming from that group, which is likely funded by big business and supportive of President Donald Trump, such commentary I take with a grain of salt.
Such groups have never consistently argued for Biblical principles in public life anyway, so why would they have any authority to speak God’s truth now? What we’re seeing now with the current pandemic is the utter incompetence of Trump; while it’s true that the coronavirus has, among other things, affected billions in lost wages, the real issue to the wealthy is the hit to their portfolios, including Trump’s. And since when is that a “moral” issue?
Back in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was president, the political right was doing its best to de-legitimize him but utterly failed; one reason he survived his impeachment on frivolous charges was due to the economy, at the time during the so-called dot-com boom, and he remained popular toward the end of his administration. (Clinton was founder of the business-friendly Democratic Leadership Council.) The same happened during the “Great Recession” of 2008, which combined with the lobbying scandal that had enveloped the Republican Party two years earlier and resulted in Barack Obama reaching the White House.
Concerning today’s crisis there’s been precious little, if any, concern about grocery store and healthcare workers, now on the front line of the pandemic. Nor do people seem to care about those who work in restaurants and bars — I’m a musician, so many of my fellow “cats” are suffering as well due to loss of gigs. And then you have the tens of thousands of people who have died as a result. Demanding that the economy open up thus isn’t “pro-life,” as many like to call themselves.
The problem is that such Christian groups, seeking to hang onto political power at all costs, don’t call out Trump for thumbing his nose at Christian “principles” and end up trading in their prophetic witness in the process. Not coincidentally, this represents the same thinking that causes Christians to support autocrats without regard for the rights of those that they may disagree with. And God is not pleased.
Such groups have never consistently argued for Biblical principles in public life anyway, so why would they have any authority to speak God’s truth now? What we’re seeing now with the current pandemic is the utter incompetence of Trump; while it’s true that the coronavirus has, among other things, affected billions in lost wages, the real issue to the wealthy is the hit to their portfolios, including Trump’s. And since when is that a “moral” issue?
Back in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was president, the political right was doing its best to de-legitimize him but utterly failed; one reason he survived his impeachment on frivolous charges was due to the economy, at the time during the so-called dot-com boom, and he remained popular toward the end of his administration. (Clinton was founder of the business-friendly Democratic Leadership Council.) The same happened during the “Great Recession” of 2008, which combined with the lobbying scandal that had enveloped the Republican Party two years earlier and resulted in Barack Obama reaching the White House.
Concerning today’s crisis there’s been precious little, if any, concern about grocery store and healthcare workers, now on the front line of the pandemic. Nor do people seem to care about those who work in restaurants and bars — I’m a musician, so many of my fellow “cats” are suffering as well due to loss of gigs. And then you have the tens of thousands of people who have died as a result. Demanding that the economy open up thus isn’t “pro-life,” as many like to call themselves.
The problem is that such Christian groups, seeking to hang onto political power at all costs, don’t call out Trump for thumbing his nose at Christian “principles” and end up trading in their prophetic witness in the process. Not coincidentally, this represents the same thinking that causes Christians to support autocrats without regard for the rights of those that they may disagree with. And God is not pleased.
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