The right wing folks wave around the Bible so much, that you would figure that the Big Book supports their beliefs and their preferred way of life. You would be wrong.
The NRA wants us all to have guns so we can kill a burglar. God is on their side, right? Nope. Book of Exodus, you can’t even attack a burglar if you can see him.
God hates abortion, right? Nope. Numbers 5, it actually prescribes abortion, and in Kings an Israelite army attacks a town and rips open all the pregnant women, with God’s approval. God killed millions of babies and unborn in the great flood, and kills millions more every year from disease. The Bible asserts repeatedly that a fetus is not considered a human life with the same rights as a living person, that life begins when you draw your first breath.
God loves people who watch over the godliness of others, right? Nope. James, judge not….
God’s with the far right on watching out for them colored people, right? Nope. Book of Numbers: Moses, founder of the faith, married an African. When Miriam criticized Moses for it, God punished her.
God was with the far right on invading Iraq, right? Nope. Three different prophets called for bending our swords into plowshares and ending the study of warfare.
But God told Bush to invade Iraq, just as he sends Pat Robertson messages about the Rapture in the Middle East, right? Nope. Sermon on the Mount: beware of those who claim to receive messages from God.
God loves the tea party and hates government, right? Not even close. Exodus, don’t follow the crowd in doing something stupid. Four different books of the Bible say respect the leader, obey the government, pay your taxes. Samuel, respect the people who protect us; Sirach and Timothy, take care of our veterans and their wives. And for all those Republicans sucking from the NRA’s teat: Exodus, take no bribes.
God is on the side of all those people who hate Mexicans and immigration, right? Nope. The Bible says over and over: you Israelites were foreigners yourselves in Egypt, so treat foreigners right, as you would treat natives, make sure they have food, don’t take advantage of them. These edicts run from the Torah right up through Jeremiah and the other prophets.
God loves Fox News, I’m sure…? Nope. Exodus, do not spread false reports. Leviticus, no slander. Timothy, avoid “stupid and senseless controversies”, and also argumentative fools. Matthew, condemns people who criticize no matter what – “John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; Jesus came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard!”
Actually Proverbs describes the things God hates most, and it fits the Fox people and their fans in government so perfectly I think Solomon must have had cable: “There are things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”
God loves the rich, right? Nope. James laughed at the people who fawn over the rich and ignore the poor – “isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?” Timothy addressed the link between money and evil. Luke, doom for those who are dishonest with money; Habakkuk, doom for those who build their houses with unjust gain; Leviticus, doom for the people who acquire real estate dishonestly; Nahum, we have too many businessmen; Matthew, the rich cannot enter heaven.
And James again: “Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.”
God despises the poor, they’re all lazy, right? Nope. Thirteen different books in the Bible, especially Proverbs, call on us all to feed and protect the poor, forgive debts, be fair to them; lend even to the people who can’t pay you back. Doom for people who hurt the poor, ignore their cries for help, mock them, exploit them, oppress them. Ecclesiastes, everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. Or as Grandpa Sycamore and Yoko Ono said, you can’t take it with you when you go. Ezekiel, the shepherd must take care of the flock rather than just living off of them. It was mistreating the poor, and travelers, that got Sodom in trouble. And of course Jesus was mostly homeless: “foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” He and his disciples gave away all their goods, shared what they had in common like Marxists, lived on charity, slept rough.
