Gary Nonnemacher’s letter to the editor contained several things that I disagreed with, but one stuck out to me the most. His statement that, “The Democratic Party seems bent on obliterating all references to God and all standards of Godly living from our culture”. Having said this it only leads me to believe that Mr. Nonnemacher, like so many of his fellow conservatives, believes that the Republican Party is “God’s Party”. This however is something I find greatly disturbing; that so many Americans are deceived into believing that the GOP is a religious party, with their Republican and supposedly Christian president making decisions with the interest of doing what Jesus would want him to do.
Take for example Bush’s tax cuts which overwhelmingly benefit only the wealthiest 1% of Americans. Jesus had little good to say about the rich and well-off. He lambastes them for their riches and finery while at the same time there are people in the gutters, dying of starvation and disease. Bush’s tax cuts benefit the rich, yet as a Christian, he is called upon to show compassion to those in our society least able to provide for themselves. No true Christian would propose or support anything that benefits the rich at the expense of the rest of us. Yet this is exactly what George Bush is doing.
The war in Iraq; where do I begin? George Bush assured the nation that, “Saddam has weapons of mass destruction” and that we needed to take military action against his country immediately. We now know that our president’s claims were false. This is called “lying” and that is a shorter term for “bearing false witness” as listed in the Commandments. May I remind whoever is reading this that when the former president was called out for lying about his personal life no American lives were lost. Yet, due to our current president’s lies close to 1,000 Americans have lost their lives. Truly if our president were being guided by the wisdom of God (as he often claims to have), would God then allow such a costly blunder to happen?
The Environment; Bush’s actions while in office have clearly shown that he is no environmentalist … and when this president tries to claim otherwise it is nothing more then a photo-op. His administration has eroded laws protecting our national treasures. Bush has gutted clean air laws and weakened clean water regulations, benefiting the polluters and big businesses that donate to the Republican Party. Yet, if I recall correctly the Bible states that as God’s servants, we have the responsibility to assist in the care of His good earth and to protect it. I doubt anyone could consider slashing forests and polluting air and water as “good stewardship of the earth”.
Gay marriage seems to be the hot topic these days, especially for a president and political party trying to win another term in the White House. Are Bush and republicans honestly trying to “save marriage” and protect its “sanctity”? Without arguing theology and the president’s use of the term “sanctity” the simple answer is no. If Bush were trying to preserve marriage in America why not outlaw divorce, considering roughly 60% of all marriages end that way? Why not outlaw television shows such as “Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire” or “Married by America”? My favorite is the Christian Republicans who say that same-sex marriage is a huge threat to traditional marriage, themselves having multiple marriages and divorces. The best example: Rush Limbaugh, who between himself and his current wife share six marriages. Yet again the GOP is playing with people’s lives and using religious intolerance as a ploy to attract votes during an election.
What I have mentioned is just a sample of our president’s religious hypocrisy. George Bush is a fraud; the president is to Christianity as Enron was to capitalism. Thanks to our president’s actions our nation’s reputation has suffered dearly. He has destroyed the budget surplus given to him by his predecessor; he has ballooned the national deficit that will burden our children, he has wrecked the economy, gutted environmental and food safety laws and destroyed international treaties as though they were nothing. In short his administration has destroyed so many of the accomplishments and progress brought about by previous presidents from both parties, only history will tell how much he has set our great nation back. We need change; four years is enough. If you feel it is your obligation to vote for Bush this November I encourage you to do so–after all, ruining America is an eight-year job.
