Wages of Sin (Caution: Bible quotes used)

Have you ever attempted to discuss current events with a Republican? I am not talking about the average republican who is business oriented, fiscally conservative, likes to keep the money in the pockets of those who work for it.

I am talking about a Republican! The God fearing, GOP stands for "God's only Party," "Real Men Love Jesus," "Guts, God and Gun," Sara Palin for President, Tea Party, type of Republican. That kind of Republican. It is an amazing discourse.

Let me lay some ground work for you before I get into this discourse. My Christian counterparts would call this "testimony."

Can I get an "Amen," Sista?

I use to be an Evangelical Christian. A good, God Fearing, conservative Baptist. Moving to Texas was a revelation. Here I was in a Christian State and in the name of God we are all going to embrace corruption, uphold scientific ignorance, rewrite history in our own image, kill the sinner and the innocent alike, and call forth hell fire and damnation on the rest of the world before we slip out the back door, steal from our neighbor, cheat our customers, lie to the public, abuse our power and sleep with our neighbor's husband or wife. Come Sunday we will brag (confess) about our sins, and do it all over again next week. I call that hypocrisy.

hypocrisy [hɪˈpɒkrəsɪ]

n pl -sies

1. the practice of professing standards, beliefs, etc., contrary to one's real character or actual behaviour, esp the pretence of virtue and piety

2. an act or instance of this

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 6th Edition 2003. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

Unfortunately, hypocrisy is one of those charges leveled so often and is so rampant that it holds no weight. The response is "Yeah, yeah, so what?" Lying is a sin. Even under the broadest definitions of both the Jewish and Christian definition of sin, lying is a sin*. This sin spreads into the political discussion as well. This is where it becomes a national, political issue and not just a personal failing due to the human condition.

If you listen to the Republicans, the GOP has done nothing wrong. Never. Not Once. There is no connection between the current economic decline in the nation and Bush's decision to cut the taxes of the top 1% of the U.S. population and go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. No, no connection whatsoever. It was Clinton's fault. It is Obama's fault. It is FDR's fault. No, our current situation has nothing to do with Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush, or King George the Usurper. Yet, the republicans have been in charge of this nation for 28 our of the last 41 years; the Democrats held control for only 12 of those 41 years. Still, nothing is the responsibility of the Republicans. They want you and I to buy their lie. They want you and I to consider them a viable alternative. They want us to embrace them. It lacks any credibility what so ever! It is insane! It is sin!

Give me an "Amen," brother!

Now James the Just wrote, "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." I tell you, look at the works of the GOP. They favor the wealthiest, and put the burden of their colonial wars upon the poorest of the poor of our nation. They let people die of treatable disease because it is too expensive for them. They let the widow and homeless suffer in the cold. They turn their back on the afflicted and injured. They deprive men of wages earned. They make those who can least afford it support the burden of the prosperity that they enjoy! So, where then is their faith? Is it in Jesus? Is it in God? Or is it in the level of wealth that they have achieved at the expense of others?

I tell you, they love their gold. Oh, they love their gold**. It glitters and entices, and gives them the promise that they too can be an abuser of others.

It was Paul the Evangelist who wrote, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." I ask you this, have they pierced themselves? Or do they pierce others? But it does not matter, they need their Gold. They need to build their fortune. It does not matter who they destroy in the quest for Gold. It is about them and only them. And, they are sinless because of Jesus! That is what they confess.

What did John the Faithful write about those who say they are without sin? He wrote, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." So ... there it is. The truth is not in them. They say they have done no wrong. They say it is the sin of others. They say they want you to trust them because they believe in Jesus, but according to Saint John, and their own confession, the truth is not in them. Yet, you and I are supposed to trust them. How can that be?

Paul wrote in the letter to Roman Church, "For the wages of sin is death ...." Isn't that what we are seeing? Are we not seeing death and destruction sown in the quest of Capitalist Gold? As they earn the wages of their sin, they want to take us all with them. And there is no call to repentance for people who are without sin. So, all they can do is continue to rain death upon us, and upon the nation. Unless we stop them.

Amen!

*See Sinless from January 21, 2010
** See Gold standard. (2010, February 5). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:01, February 7, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gold_standard&oldid=342039001