Michelle Bachman, Herman Cain, Rick Perry and finally Rick Santorum all claimed that God told them to run for President. Now Rep. Ryan is claiming that his budget was shaped by his Catholic faith.
what eye thynk: Four Republican candidates, each trying to become his/her party's nominee for President of the United States, each claimed his/her campaign was the result of divine guidance. Each of them tried to claim the crown of "top Christian conservative" and each of them failed. Of course, when you become so vainglorious that you mistake the voice of your own ego for the voice of God, failure is pretty much guaranteed.
I don't like anything about Romney, and personally, the more I read about Mormonism, the more it sounds like nothing but a well-organized cult; but at least he isn't claiming that God called him to run.
As for Rep. Ryan's assertion that his budget is molded by the teachings of his Catholic faith, it seems that the Catholic clergy assert differently. Last Friday almost sixty Catholic priests, nuns and theologians spoke out against Rep. Ryan's claim. John Gehring, Catholic Outreach Coordinator at Faith in Public Life issued this statement: "If Rep. Ryan thinks a budget that takes food and health care away from millions of vulnerable people upholds Catholic values, then he also probably believes Jesus was a Tea Partier who lectured the poor to stop being so lazy and work harder. This budget turns centuries of Catholic social teaching on its head. These Catholic leaders and many Catholics in the pews are tired of faith being misused to bless an immoral agenda". Amen!
God doesn't care about politics. You can claim that He chose you to lead your political party, you can claim that He spoke to you and told you how to apportion your country's monetary assets; but, really, God is too busy to worry about your personal career goals or whether the national checkbook balances.
Instead of claiming to be on God's speed dial, these so-called "Christian" conservatives, would be better served, (as would the rest of us), if they were to spend some time re-acquainting themselves with a few Bible verses that explain how Christ really expected Christians to act. Luke 10: 30-37, The Parable of the Good Samaritan, might be a good place to start.
I've said it before and I will say it again: to make such claims ("God told me to run") is a clear cut case of using the Lord's Name in vain.
ReplyDeleteTo lie about such a thing in order to gain a Christian fundamentalist's vote is just bad karma ~ period.