Exclusive: Blowback and the Religious Right by Shawn S. Grandstaff

by Shawn S. Grandstaff
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
February 24, 2012

Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

I really do care about the direction this country is heading and the way the church is trying to fix it.

These are just some thoughts to think on and issues that should be of concern to us as believers when dealing with a world that is rapidly growing with a scientific mentality denying all things pertaining to God while the church continues preaching to the choir, especially in the self help department. I don’t see the methods of Jesus’ teachings being applied in the religious right’s mentality. I think in many ways it is doing more damage than good and the blowback it could cause is making Jesus look like something He is not. If you’re not sure, blowback is an interesting term the CIA came up with that you should check out. It will also answer a lot of questions as to why the rest of the world hates us due to our Foreign policy not because of our freedoms. If anything they are probably more jealous about that.

I know that is bold of me to say and who am I to judge, but this is one thing that I have researched and put my life into studying how and what Jesus taught in regards to our involvement in government. So I’m not attacking an individual or judging their hearts just this mentality that has infiltrated the church, especially in the political arena. We are adults here and should be able to speak what we see considering there are millions of souls out there who will go to a hell that we preach if they don’t have Jesus. That’s all I’m doing is speaking my heart and only saying what the world is so we can understand why they may not want anything to do with us.

It really scares me as a believer how it’s being done and how politicians use Christianity as a tool just to get elected but when they’re in office it’s as if they forgot everything they said and represent Jesus in a way that He is not at all. The world doesn’t know that they just think it must be how Jesus is so they want nothing to do with Him. If you really want to know what I mean you should check out the book that David Kou wrote titled Tempting Faith: An inside Story of Political Seduction. He was the former Bush White House Deputy Director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and how Bush spoke about it once he was elected. In so many words without going into great detail he said, “That the Republican Party, under the leadership of Karl Rove, hijacked and manipulated faith organizations to ensure their support of Republican candidates.” It was all about the votes and getting Bush in office.

I will not say his name but do you remember the preacher who fell into the sin he condemned that worked under the Bush administration? Not to attack the man because we all struggle with sin and have certain ones that tend to bother or linger in our lives that are harder to overcome than others, anyways, he was also involved with the attacking the homosexuality community very very very seriously yet he was living the life himself in private. He even said later in February 2011, “…probably, if I were 21 in this society, I would identify myself as a bisexual,” yet he attacked the gay community showing no love whatsoever to them. Then he had the nerve to ask for donations in August 2007, he released a statement asking for monetary donations to help support his family while he and his wife attend classes at the University of Phoenix, a university offering online degrees. Here is the point I want to make about it and how the people in the church world who are involved in politics live. He received $115,000 for the 10 months he worked, also, a $85,000 anniversary bonus shortly before the scandal broke then after it broke $138,000 severance and had a home that is valued at more than $600,000 while still receiving royalties from books he has authored. Yet, in light of all that he has the nerve to ask for donations while the rest of the world suffers to just make ends meet to go to school. The point is how does that make Jesus look when Jesus never was involved in politics to begin with?

I witness to people all the time about Jesus and what He has done for us and I always run into this. People believe that is how Jesus is and what Christianity is all about even though we know it’s not. I think politics and Christianity should never go hand in hand and only does more harm than good. It’s also all over the scripture how the two don’t mix. This is my issue and what I mean when I speak about a collective mentality that has taken hold of a huge part of the church who say they are representing Jesus calling themselves Christians yet fighting the world when the scriptures says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” It’s not the people we are wrestling with so why do we continue fighting the world instead of loving the hell out of them?

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Shawn S. Grandstaff‘s book, I’m Tired of Being a Hypocrite, Naked Christianity in a Demoralized Democracy is available here.

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The Christian Fascists Are Growing Stronger by Chris Hedges

Exclusive: Why unbelievers love Christian hypocrites by Rocket Kirchner

With God On Our Side: George W. Bush and the Rise of the Religious Right in America (2004)

American Crusaders: The rise of Christian nationalism in Post-9/11 America (2008)

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