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Christ the Radical
Jesus Christ would not have many friends in contemporary society. That is the conclusion I reached reading through the gospels.
This might seem hard to believe. America is a religious place, at least compared to other western democracies. A Pew study last year found that ninety-two percent believe in God, and sixty-three percent say they believe in sacred scripture as the word of God.
Scripture is often invoked in our politics too. Opponents of gay marriage love to quote Leviticus—“you shall not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable”—to justify their position. For their part, religious liberals like Christ’s declaration that “whatever you do to the least of these you have done unto me.”
But in their zeal to invoke Jesus, liberals and conservatives alike have neglected much of what he taught during his life. For example, Christ didn’t have great things to say about the materialism that is so rampant today. When a rich man asked what he had to do to become perfect, Jesus replied that he needed to sell all of his possessions and follow him; the rich man wept for he had many possessions.
Christ then says that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to go to heaven. Some economic conservatives might be inclined to accuse anyone else who said this of stirring up class warfare. Many Americans would likely leave a church where the pastor told them that their constant pursuit of wealth made it harder for them to gain entry into heaven.
On sexual morality, Jesus would be far out of the mainstream today. He said “whosoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” All the young men who look at porn would mock someone who told them that their movie collections made them adulterers.
Jesus would appear just as out of place in discussions on divorce. He said “whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her.” Today, around half of all marriages end in divorce. It’s probably fair to say that these people don’t consider themselves adulterers. They would resent anyone who told them they were. To be sure, there is debate about whether there are some just causes for a divorce. However, it is hard to believe that Jesus would think that half of all marriages have such a just cause.
It drives me crazy to see the Bible selectively invoked like it is. Many of the people who use religion to make their judgments about gay people have said not a word against people who watch porn every night on their computers. They don’t spend nearly as much time complaining about how couples who divorce are undermining the institution of marriage. We aren’t supposed to pick passages we like to follow, and ignore passages that challenge our behavior.
Hypocrites ready to use the Bible to condemn others would benefit from another one of Christ’s ideas: let he who is without sin cast the first stone. When subjecting our behavior to Christ’s rigorous standards, it becomes clear that there aren’t a lot of people qualified to be throwing stones around these days.
The Jesus of the Bible clearly defies political classification. He was neither liberal nor conservative. But he was radical. Probably too radical for most of us.
-Marcus Gadson
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Judge Not That Ye Be Not Judged
Just two weeks ago, almost no one knew who Mark Sanford (R-South Carolina) was. Now everyone does. Normally that would be a good thing for a politician. Unfortunately for Sanford, he is infamous instead of famous.
There has been almost nonstop coverage of every last, tawdry detail of Sanford’s affair with his mistress in Argentina. A South Carolina newspaper even posted the e-mails that went back and forth between Sanford and the Argentine.
No doubt, Sanford has brought much of this on himself. He cheated on his wife, left his job without telling anyone where he was, and flew to another continent, all he tells us, because he needed to cry. His argument for why he shouldn’t resign was plain wacky. Said Sanford, “what I find interesting is the story of David, and the way in which he fell mightily, he fell in very very significant ways. But then [he] picked up the pieces and built from there.”
Translation: David had an affair with Bathsheba and didn’t resign, so why should I? Fair enough, but David also slew Goliath and was ordained by God to be king of Israel. Comparing himself to David hardly projects an image of humility that would be helpful for him. And certainly, he could have done without providing us every last detail of his extra-marital activities as he did in his ill-conceived press conference.
Still, this whole saga raises useful questions. Should we force Sanford and politicians who have similarly sinned to resign? How harshly should we judge them? I’ve come to the conclusion that we are often too quick and too harsh in our judgment of politicians in these instances. Many observers claim that politicians who have strayed in their marriages are unfit for public office.
A lot of people then, are unfit for their jobs. Infidelity is hardly limited to politicians. Plenty of law firm partners, hedge fund managers, teachers, and police officers commit adultery. Moreover, traditional morality is eroding in society-at-large, and not just in Congress. About half of all new marriages end in divorce. Premarital sex, cohabitation, and having children out-of-wedlock have become accepted behaviors. So perhaps we should take the log out of our eyes so we can see clearly to take the speck out of Mark Sanford’s.
Essentially, many critics of Sanford argue that we should hold politicians to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. They’re supposed to be role models for society. If we can’t trust a politician to be faithful in his marriage, how can we trust him to conduct public affairs well? Besides being unfair, that attitude could deprive of us of the service of a lot of talented politicians. People who can write a good tax code or create an efficient health care scheme would be kicked to the curb because they weren’t perfect.
Politicians today aren’t any worse than they were fifty years ago. FDR, JFK, and LBJ all had extramarital affairs. The only difference between them and Mark Sanford is that Sanford got caught, largely because the media has no respect for privacy anymore. Despite their misdeeds, you’ll find no pundits bloviating about how we shouldn’t have trusted Kennedy or Roosevelt.
As for the bit about role models, I doubt that seeing Mark Sanford committing adultery will cause someone else to also have an affair. The sad truth is that they are more likely to think such behavior is acceptable from seeing all the adults they know personally engage in it. They think of divorce as normal not because some politicians got divorced, but because their parents did. Instead of outsourcing the responsibility to be good role models to politicians who already have difficult tasks, we should take it upon ourselves.
-Marcus Gadson
check out my blog: http://thegadsonreview.blogspot.com/
Hey Mark Sanford, Shut The Hell Up
Disgraced Gov. Mark Sanford is keeping his apology tour going strong with new and unnecessary revelations.
I think Sanford has completely lost his mind. He won’t just shut the f*ck up about his personal life. We already know more than we ever wanted to and sure as hell don’t need to know anything else.
Sanford is now flapping his gums about “crossing lines” with other women as well, but never the “ultimate line.”
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said Tuesday that he “crossed lines” with a handful of women other than his mistress – but never had sex with them.
The governor said he “never crossed the ultimate line” with anyone but Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine at the center of a scandal that has derailed his once-promising political career.
“This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story,” Sanford said. “A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day.”
During an emotional interview at his Statehouse office with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Sanford said Chapur is his soul mate but he’s trying to fall back in love with his wife.
All this crap about a “tragic love story” is truly touching, but the real tragedy here is what a scumbag Mark Sanford turned out to be.
This guy is a disgrace and he should resign as governor. He’s clearly not in the right state of mind to be running a state or anything else.
Incredibly, his wife has said she’s interested in trying to patch things up with him. I’m sure knowing he’ll have to settle for her in place of his “soul mate” must really make her feel good.
I guess later in the week we’re going to hear about how times he’s beat off in the shower thinking about other women.
All this talk of soul mates, crying in Argentina, and tragic love stories is about to make me lose my lunch.
This guy is the biggest pussy I’ve ever seen and one sorry excuse for a human being.
Someone has to put a muzzle on this clown or send his ass back to Argentina or something. I just can’t take it anymore.
-Chris Jones
The Ugly 8: The 8 Cap and Tax Republicans
The democrats in The House were able to get their gruesome “cap and trade” bill passed on Friday.
It was a razor thin victory thanks to a small but stupid group of republicans.
The following 8 republicans are a disgrace and should be thrown out of office in the next election.
These “ugly 8” don’t give a damn about the American people and chose to vote in favor of the most hideous job killing bill in history.
John Boehner: Climate Bill A Pile Of Sh*T
Republican Minority Leader John Boehner on the “climate change” bill:
When asked why he read portions of the cap-and-trade bill on the floor Friday night, Boehner told The Hill, "Hey, people deserve to know what’s in this pile of shit."
Well said.
(hat tip The Hill)
Mark Sanford Admits To Chasing Skirt In Argentina
I had a sick feeling that whatever the hell Gov. Mark Sanford was doing when he supposedly “disappeared” wasn’t good.
When I heard his phony story about disappearing to Argentina to “clear his head” I knew with absolute certainty this wasn’t going to end well.
Sure enough, Sanford held a rambling press conference (thank God without his wife present) and admitted to having an affair with some broad in Argentina. (I hope it was a broad)
“I have been unfaithful to my wife. I developed a relationship with what started out as a dear, dear friend from Argentina,” Sanford said in a rambling and often emotional news conference at the state capital in Columbia.
“I’m a bottom line kind of guy I’m just gonna lay it out. It’s gonna hurt and I’m going to let the chips fall where they may,” Sanford said.
He does say his wife was aware of the affair prior to his leaving for Argentina and that they’re pretty much separated.
He went on to apologize to his family, blah, blah, blah:
Sanford apologized to his wife, Jenny, and his children. “To Jenny, anybody who has observed her over the last 40 years of my life knows how closely she has stood by my side in campaign, after campaign, after campaign,” he said.
I’ve got no sympathy whatsoever for this charlatan. If he really cared about his family he wouldn’t be cheating on his wife and causing them public humiliation.
Thank God, we discovered Sanford’s true colors before he ran for president. I can’t believe this guy was dumb enough to pull a disappearing act and think no one would notice.
Secondly, if he and his wife really were separated then why not just say that publicly long ago? It wouldn’t have damaged his republican credentials to have a failed marriage — look at Newt Gingrich.
Our country’s economy is on life support, the republican party is in shambles, and Mark Sanford is chasing skirt in Argentina?
What a disgrace.
-Chris Jones
UPDATE: Here’s the uncomfortable press conference…
Video: Michael Steele’s RNC Speech
Here’s the entire 30-minute speech from RNC Chairman Michael Steele:
(hat tip Townhall)
Video: Michael Steele Delivers Solid Speech
Here’s a 10-minute snippet of Michael Steele’s speech today:
(hat tip Hot Air)
My Beef With Meghan McCain’s Beef With Ann Coulter
In her latest column, Meghan McCain opines on why she dislikes Ann Coulter and finds her damaging to the republican party.
To make matters worse, certain individuals continue to perpetuate negative stereotypes about Republicans. Especially Republican women. Who do I feel is the biggest culprit? Ann Coulter. I straight up don’t understand this woman or her popularity. I find her offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time. But no matter how much you or I disagree with her, the cult that follows Coulter cannot be denied…
Coulter could be the poster woman for the most extreme side of the Republican Party. And in some ways I could be the poster woman for the opposite. I consider myself a progressive Republican…I have been a Republican for less than a year. Still, even after losing the election, I find myself more drawn to GOP ideals and wanting to fight for the party’s resurgence. And if figureheads like Ann Coulter are turning me off, then they are definitely turning off other members of my generation as well.
I’m often criticized for not being a “real” Republican, and I have been called a RINO—Republican In Name Only—in the past. Many say I am not “conservative enough,” which is something that I am proud of. It is no secret that I disagree with many of the old-school Republican ways of thinking. One of the biggest issues from which I seem to drift from the party base is in my support of gay marriage. I am often criticized for previously voting for John Kerry and my support of stem-cell research. For the record, I am also extremely pro-military and a big supporter of the surge and the Iraq war.
I understand where Meghan is coming from to a great extent. Putting aside her vote for John Kerry (which is inexcusable under any circumstances) I think she feels the way a lot of young republicans do. I’m only two years older than Meghan and my republican friends are certainly more liberal than our party elders. I’m a hardcore republican that also happens to be pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-guns, and pro-God. I’m also pro-marijuana legalization and pro-comprehensive immigration reform.
But at the same time, I can’t stand liberals. Let me be clear, I didn’t say I can’t stand democrats, I said I can’t stand liberals. Basically, all democrats who call themselves “progressives” — I don’t like you. Even though I believe some changes in our country are needed like allowing gay marriage and legalizing pot, I don’t want to radically and fundamentally change everything about America. I would rather die than sit back and allow Nancy Pelosi to remake our country into another broken down Europe.
Which is where Ann Coulter comes in. I happen to be an enormous fan of Ann Coulter. I think she’s one of the smartest women in our party. Does she say controversial things frequently? You bet your ass she does — and I love it. The far left in America are the most hateful, vicious, slimy, despicable cretins that God ever put on this earth. They own the media, Hollywood, academia, congress, and The White House. The cast of left-wing bomb throwers they trot out to bash republicans on a constant basis is too lengthy to even attempt to list. Kids are indoctrinated in colleges across the country with radical Marxist viewpoints from “distinguished” professors like (unrepentant terrorist) William Ayers. Parent’s are paying $30,000 dollars a year for their kid to graduate a Jew hating, Hamas loving, Anti-American, global warming whacko.
Therefore it’s important to have someone like Ann Coulter who isn’t afraid to walk into the belly of the beast and take the cretins on. When republicans try and play fair they get eaten alive. So it’s nice to see Ann Coulter stick liberals right in the eye and do it with a smile on her face. The best thing about Ann is that whatever vicious thing she’s saying about liberals is 99% of the time true, but most republicans are too pussy to say it. When Ann called John Edwards a faggot, I swear the clouds parted and it got just a little brighter outside. We all knew Edwards was the biggest phony assed little sissy boy we’d ever seen — but Ann was able to perfectly articulate it.
Nobody makes liberals squirm more than Ann Coulter. No liberal can out debate her and that makes them absolutely frothy with rage — and makes me cackle with delight.
What Meghan McCain doesn’t get is that if we are a party of only moderate, calm voices we’ll get rolled over. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. The liberal media uses every low-down dirty tactic imaginable to damage republicans and smear them or personally attack them. Through her books and television appearances, Ann delivers a swift kick to the groin right back at them — only she uses facts rather than lies.
The problem the republican party faces right now is that we only have the Ann Coulter’s, the Rush Limbaugh’s, the Sean Hannity’s, and the Mark Levin’s. What we need is some real leadership in the party who can backup the fiery rhetoric of Ann Coulter with some substantive policies. To just have Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh howling about the left, without republican politicians offering real policy alternatives then we have nothing.
Ann Coulter is a valuable member of the republican party and an extremely important voice. If we can just get some ballsy GOP politicians to step up with Coulter we’ll be in good shape. One of the biggest misconceptions about the GOP that young people have (courtesy of the left-wing media) is that republicans are intolerant. Nothing in reality could be further from the truth. We need to make sure that pro-choice folks know they’re welcome, gays are welcome, and minorities are welcome.
It’s the left that is intolerant. If you don’t follow progressive orthodoxy to the letter you had best pack your bags. Not only will you be thrown out of the party, but you’ll smeared and viciously maligned. Character assassination and black balling are hallmarks of the left and more and more moderate democrats are coming to realize this.
Jim Cramer who hosts “Mad Money” on CNBC had the nerve to attack Obama’s economic plan and got a little taste of left-wing “tolerance.” He said he was shocked at how mean, nasty, and personally he was attacked. The same goes for NPR’s Juan Williams who’s a frequent guest on Fox News. He said there’s no question as to who’s intolerant in this country. Liberals don’t seek to defeat their political opponents — they seek to destroy them and their family.
I don’t want to veer to much off topic, but those are the reasons people like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh are needed. For some reason, many republicans don’t understand this. Politics is a blood sport and we have to have soldiers on our side willing to crack some skulls every now and again.
-Chris Jones
Video: Rep. Tom Price Gives Speech Outside Nancy Pelosi’s Closed Office Door
Breitbart: We Need Young, Hot Republicans
If you haven’t read Andrew Breitbart’s column this week in the Washington Times — you should. He offers a plan to get the GOP winning again. In short, he suggests what the GOP needs is more young, hot republicans.
A humorous column — but as usual there’s a lot of truth to it.
-Chris Jones
Jonah Goldberg Calls Out Kathleen Parker
Kathleen Parker wrote another ridiculous column — but this time Jonah struck back.
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