$h*T Jesus Says: Weapons and Walls Edition

Further proof that the GOP is working overtime to distance itself from the faith-based voter: the agenda now includes taking school lunches and healthcare away from poor kids, while trying to maneuver an extra $54 billion for the military.

I recognize that our service men and women are, in many cases, grossly underpaid. That some need food stamps just to make ends meet, and many cannot get the vocational and mental health support they need after returning from combat zones. If most, or even SOME of these additional resources were going to pay our soldiers a living wage, I would be a bit more supportive–or at least a little less disgusted. But, best I can tell, very little of this requested increase would go towards supporting our military personnel and families.

Instead, it will be more guns. More tanks. More mysterious “programs” that cost more than we can possibly understand or get our heads around, as our tax dollars get absorbed into some budgetary black hole…meaning, into the pockets of special interests and “contractors” who have, coincidentally, spent big bucks to elect certain officials who are, coincidentally, pushing the funds for these contracts.

Let’s be real. It’s not that mysterious.

What is mysterious is the ongoing “Christian” support for this particular party and platform. What do you reckon Jesus would say about literally taking food away from hungry children so that we can buy more weapons? I do not have sufficient words for that level of righteous anger. But I assure you, his response to this outrage would make turning over tables in the temple look like a fun party game.

Not only is this a gross misuse of funds–when we already have the strongest and most well-funded military in the world–it is an appalling mis-characterization of what it means to be secure. “Security” is not just about walls and guns and how many boots we have on the ground. What makes us secure is our ability to equip and educate future generations; our commitment to protecting natural resources; shared faith in our democratic process; and widespread access to quality healthcare. Dan Rather articulated the value of these other elements of “security” yesterday, far better than I can.

Our safety, as a society, is a complex organism. And, as always, a certain brand of politician wants to reduce a terribly complex and nuanced whole to a black and white issue with a single right answer: force.

Weapons and walls. That’s all they can see.

The funny thing about walls and weapons… they aren’t super effective for keeping the bad stuff out, when so much of the bad stuff is at work here at home. The other thing is–walls and weapons don’t just keep others out. They keep us in. In more ways than one.

Weapons and walls limit our ability to foster healthy global discourse. What good is the strongest military around, if we effectively alienate the rest of the free world?

Weapons and walls make us small and afraid… inwardly focused, afraid of what might be “out there,” and blindly dependent on whatever force or voice within promises to protect us. This is the ultimate goal of the current administration, fostering this sense of trembling trust that doesn’t ask hard questions or look too closely at the fine print… And that, more than any outside force, should make us afraid.

What I know is this… Jesus tells us to love our neighbor. He quotes the prophets who spoke of beating swords into plowshares–transforming our weapons into something that will feed people rather than destroy them. He mentions some things about welcoming the stranger; he references ancient laws about care of the alien and the refugee.

Did you ever think you’d see the day when liberals were the ones railing in the streets, quoting Leviticus and demanding that God be let back into our government? The irony is laugh-out-loud funny sometimes. But here we are. Ranting and raving and beating the Bible like its our job. Because for this moment, it IS our job. We will not concede the faith-based vote to politicians who align themselves with Jesus, but have clearly never met him.