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Cede the Religion, Lose the Nation: What Would Jesus Really Do? [1]

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Date: 2025-09-18

Lest we forget: Speaker With Forked Tongue Mike Johnson effectively claims to embody the gist (if not all) of the Bible. Truth to tell, he foists some of the gaudiest, most Mammon-centric idolatry this side of Elvis’s gold lame suit.

The upshot: what often presents itself as God’s Own Party (GOP) is no such (political) animal. And that’s no small beer (not to say bier).

The backstory here may not gladden, but it’s vital. Post-Nixon, the KKK-touted Ronald Reagan aligned with (among other self-righteous, far-right power grabbers) the amoral, incendiary, bigoted Jerry “Holy War” Falwell to advance what they had the gall to dub the “Moral Majority.”

In all, for all its preening, egoistic, ‘my way or the highway to hell’ cant, the so-called “Religious Right” has always been dead wrong. And, accordingly, ever at odds with governance of/by/for the people. That is (as theocrats tend to be) starkly opposed to personal freedom and fundamental decency. And yes (notwithstanding claptrap from Johnson, Falwell, Jimmy Swaggert, Paul Pressler, Bob McDonnell, Jim Bakker, and others), overtly contra the Gospels.

In light of Johnson and cohort’s Big Bad Bill’s avaricious slashing of revenue from the rich AND smiting of relief (especially in terms of food, shelter, and healthcare) for everyone else, let’s glance at what the Good Book itself says. (What a concept!)

Be it resolved: the crux of Matthew 25:31-46 is simplicity itself. In an oration often titled “The Sheep and the Goats” (aka “The Judgement of Nations”), those who fail to help (let alone those who maliciously harm) the needy (aka “the least of these”) are condemned to “eternal fire” (verse 41).

This, as fate would have it, smack in line with Donald Trump’s recent confession that his own Heavenly prospects look to be rather “low on the totem pole.” (And, let’s make bold to add, looking to dive rather deeper.)

Clearly, he’ll do well to take to heart a perhaps familiar tale (sharing, by the way, much common ground with said “Sheep and… Goats”) from the Gospel of Luke. In Chapter 10, on a rural road, thieves assail a man from Jerusalem. After brutally beating him, they leave him (sans clothes, cash, or credit cards) to die.

A priest comes along- and walks by. Soon after, a member of the Tribe of Levi (known for helping with priestly functions) does likewise.

And the third guy’s the charm- with some irony. Though hailing from Jerusalem’s traditional foe, Samaria, he gets it: human needs transcend (not to say trump) politics, pelf, and self-interest.

Let it be stressed. This “Good Samaritan” eschews anything like today’s sheer, malign, GOP-wrought cruelty. Indeed, he uses his own donkey (NOT elephant, LOL) to bear the otherwise helpless victim to an inn that soon (thanks to funding from the hero) doubles as a mini-haven for healthcare (re which, in recent decades and to this very day, Republicans have waxed perversely contrary). Sad.

So, let’s get real. On one side, we find the party that created Medicaid and Medicare. On the other, one can’t help but groan at the hysterically hypocritical, ‘first DO harm,’ evidently amoral cabal of care-less, fake Christian Scripture flouters- who now take it on themselves to openly flay (if not damn) “empathy.” (Go figure.)

Predictably enough, we’re in deep. Early and often, loud and clear, while still free to do so, our sole non-despotic, decent, utilitarian major party needs to shout as much. (For America’s sake, so be it.)



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