I'd like to discuss why one particular Republican Ideal is anti-biblical. There are several to choose from -- the support of the wealthy despite many condemnations of wealth-gathering, the support of arms-bearing despite protests in the bible against self-defense and rebellion, the support of racism over loving your neighbor -- but there's one main one that I find a pretty basic foundation of Republican ideology that most Christians seem to think is bible-based, and that's support of a Meritocracy, defined here as a system of government that rewards the deserving.
If you want to say that the Republican Party isn't the part of God, then I'd would agree with you, however, the Republican Party still most closely aligns if you want to taught in the Bible. I don't vote Republican to get out of hell, but because I can't stand child sacrifice. There's is no talk of Molech, but Molech served the same function of getting rid of unwanted babies on the altar of convenience, so it essentially the same thing with just being dressing it up. So I am willing to vote for a Party that is far less than perfect in order to try to put an end to that abomination.
The Bible does not speak against wealth gathering and in man cases wealth was seen as a sign of God's favor, but rather the Bible warns against the love of money. God does not bless us with money so that we will hoade it, but so that we can be more generous. Likewise, the Bible does not speak does not speak against self-defense. The idea that Republicans support racism over loving your neighbor is absurd propaganda, especially considering how Democrats have acted in the past and are still acting, and that Republicans give more to charity. The Bible also does not speak against rewarding those who are deserving, but just the opposite.
One question that will cut to the heart of this discussion is this: in a system where people get exactly what they deserve, how does one show grace? Grace, I'm assured time and time again, is "an undeserved gift", which is one of Jesus' characteristics and a virtue. Why would a Christian Republican desire that people only get what they deserve?
There are many examples in the Bible of people getting what they deserved and with God dealing with people in the same way that they dealt with others. The Bible also says that we will get what we deserve, but there is a difference between saying that we should get what we deserve and saying that we should only. God shows His grace to us by teaching us how to rightly live and we can reflect God's grace to others teaching by example how to rightly live. This teaching is an undeserved gift, but the virtue itself is not in being an undeserved gift.
The second-greatest commandment is to "love thy neighbor", and was illustrated with the story of The Good Samaritan. The victim in this story did nothing to earn love from the Samaritan, but was simply a "neighbor" to the Samaritan as well as a person in need. Why would a Christian Republican ever see a person in need and argue against helping that person, but rather giving to a person who is "deserving"? Charity in this case isn't simply a virtue that one volunteers but instead the second-most-important command. Why wouldn't a Christian Republican want their government to follow the bible and make charity an important cornerstone of its function? And why would a Christian be Republican while the GOP advocates against charitybut instead for a Meritocracy?
There is a difference between being against helping someone in need and being against a particular way of helping someone in need. Another way to put it, is that Democrats are in favor of giving a man a fish while Republicans are in favor of teaching a man to fish. The best long-term way to help someone is to give them a job, and while are times when an immediate need needs to be met, causing someone to become dependant on government handouts for the rest of their life is actually detrimental to them. Furthermore, it is the wealthy who provide jobs, not the poor, so it is good to have lots of people who are wealthy. Also, there is no virtue in being generous with other people's money. I am reminded of this:
I was talking to a friend’s little girl, and she said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, ‘If you were to be the President, what is the first thing you would do?’
She replied, ‘I’d give food and houses to all the homeless people.’ ‘Wow - what a worthy goal.’ I told her, ‘You don’t have to wait until you’re President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and sweep my sidewalks and driveway, and I’ll pay you $50. Then I’ll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food or a new house.’
She thought that over for a few seconds ‘cause she’s only 6. And while her Mom glared at me, the little girl looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Why doesn’t the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?”
And I said, “Welcome to the Republican Party, sweetheart.”
