A cartoon that speaks a thousand words

Oy, get out of the shot!

The Juxtaposition of Faith and Politics

One might suggest that looking at the unwillingness of those on the far right to effectively tackle immigration reform, the isolationist and xenophobic stance taken and the hate filled rhetoric and use of dog whistles by those who support Trump in the US, or Brexit in the UK, that there is a fundamental failure on the part of those on the far right to live up to Christ’s commandment to love thy neighbour as thyself, or they are not seeking to follow the example of the Good Samaritan, in helping foreigners down on their luck.

Is it possible for you to be a Christian and vote for a far-right candidate? If Christians find themselves voting for these people, fundamentally they are on very shaky doctrinal ground. The very fact that the far right has racist policies rules them out from a seat at the table of mainstream Christianity. Now we know that the far right will claim Christianity for themselves. They wear it on their sleeves while advocating hate for other; they will claim their dissenters are demonic in their policy and practice. If one examines parties that self-identify as Christian, they are overwhelmingly parties of division. LGBT rights, the rights of immigrants, woman’s rights, policies on people of colour, all have their rights diminished in the name of the far right God.

The far-right exploit policies areas that divide society. By exploiting division in society, they are pushing us back to a time when acceptance was a dirty word. Surely however Christ’s teaching is about love and acceptance to name but a couple of his attributes.

This chap says it better than me: (Abridged)

Force your religious beliefs and practices on others. One of the strengths of the faith Jesus taught was in its meekness. The faith he taught valued free will over compulsion – because that's how love works.

Advocate for war. There's a reason why he was called the Prince of Peace. Sure, you can quote, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword,” and even two or three other verses, but they don't hold a candle to the more than fifty-some verses where Jesus speaks about peace and peace-making.

Favour the rich over the poor.. Favouring the rich over the poor is a slap in the face of Jesus, his life, and his teachings.

Cut funding that hurts the least of these. Hurting the poor? Well, that's just … just ... um, something a whole lot worse than despicable. Despicabler? Über-despicable? When Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do it to me,” he meant it. When you cut funding and it hurts people, according to Jesus, you are hurting him.

Let people go hungry. Spiritually, Gandhi said, “There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” Politically, hunger causes problems with education, production, and civil behavior that are all necessary for a successful nation. More importantly for Christians, Jesus said when we feed the hungry, we are feeding him

Withhold healthcare from people. When people who were sick needed care, Jesus gave it to them. If we are following Jesus, we will imitate him as closely as possible. No, the government can't repeat the miracles he did but I've seen modern medicine do things that are about as close to a miracle as I expect to get.

Limit the rights of a select group of people. Jesus loves everybody – but he loves me best. Kind of sits the wrong way with you, doesn't it? Well, it should and with good reason. If you spend any time reading the Bible you know that we all were made in God's image. Exactly which part of us is in God's image is less clear, but what is clear is that we were equally made in the image of God. Any law that doesn't treat people equally is as good as thumbing your nose at God. Even worse? Doing it in the name of God or based on religious beliefs

Turn away immigrants.. As Exodus says, we know how it feels to be foreigners in a foreign land. If you don't think being foreigners in a foreign land is still our story, ask the Native Americans. At best, turning away immigrants makes us hypocrites; at worst, it makes us betrayers of our ancestors and our God.

Devalue education. We learn in Proverbs that wisdom is something in which God delights daily.

Support capital punishment — execution. Jesus died by execution. He was an innocent man. Every year, innocent people die by execution in our nation. It's time to be a shining city on a hill. It's time to express the fullness of love, to express the value of life. It's time to stop the government-sanctioned killing.

[link:https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thegodarticle/2016/05/10-things-you-cant-vote-for-while-following-jesus/

Greba Cras

Straightsplain, Whitesplain or Mansplain - take your pick every single day

During a recent chat with a gay friend of mine about the use of the phrase ‘old queen’ and whether this is a pejorative term when used as a descriptor to dismiss the opinion of a gay man we decided it was – even though he might on occasion call himself an ‘old queen’. Quite a lot of straight people that he has met over the years have decided that of course it is not, after all they are not offended using the term, so why on earth would anyone else be? But context matters. Whether or not people within the gay community may have taken ownership of the word is neither here nor there, how a minority community chooses to express themselves has not a jot to do with what is and what is not acceptable use of language.

I hate the C word. I hate it with a passion. I hate the fact that men try and explain to me why it should not offend me. I hate the fact that because some women have decided to try to take the power out of the word by using it means that somehow the rest of us should accept the use of what is a vile pejorative used to be highly dismissive of women and their voices. It is a pejorative term and when it is directed at a woman, we have every right to be offended – whether the pejorative is directly attached to us or not. Chaps you do not get to decide that we should not be offended by the c word because you ‘did not mean it like that’.

I cannot stand the N word. It sets me on edge every time I hear it – even when it is within a context that places the N word within the black community. The phrase should have been consigned to history a long long time ago. But, shamefully, it has not been. So white folks do not get to decide whether or not they get to use it because some people within the black community have decided to try and take some ownership of the word to take the sting out of its tail. You do not get to lecture the black community on the use of the word or decide if they can use it then so can I.

I despise the P word, the Y word and the R word. What I despise most of all however is when people who are not within a minority community try to straightsplain, whitesplain or mansplain away all the reasons why you should not be offended when they use a pejorative term. Being dismissive of people’s thoughts and feelings is part of the human condition, but using language that tries to shut people out of the discussion, based on their inherent characteristics, is not only wrong, it is vile, and I am unsure whether a clearer definition of supremacy could be found. Many words cause offence – it is the way of the world - however there are some words which do much more than that. They strip away ones power and dignity in a very fundamental sense. Might one suggest that the community to whom the pejorative is attached gets to decide what words they are?

If...

Well, that is CERTAINLY one way to do it...

Of Ancient Times

Why would a loving God send people to Hell?

Religious Right Circles Like Vultures Over Supreme Court; Hopes to Replace Ginsburg With 'Anointed'

Amy Coney Barrett