{"id":39955,"date":"2012-11-19T12:41:06","date_gmt":"2012-11-19T19:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=39955"},"modified":"2014-12-30T11:01:34","modified_gmt":"2014-12-30T18:01:34","slug":"an-oddly-hopeful-sign-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2012\/11\/an-oddly-hopeful-sign-for-me.html","title":{"rendered":"An Oddly Hopeful Sign For Me"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>is that two readers, one of them quite conservative, the other, I think, probably a self-identified progressive could write the following (\u2018sup to you to tell me which wrote which):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>For forty years, the Republican Party\u2019s been saying that Christians must support GOP nominees because the alternative is abortion, gay marriage, and socialism.\u00a0 But\u00a0in that\u00a0forty years, we\u2019ve seen\u00a0abortion, gay marriage, and socialism become accepted parts of\u00a0America\u2019s identity.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s impossible to imagine America without abortion, gay marriage, and socialism.<\/p>\n<p>Since the GOP line is getting a bit\u00a0threadbare, I\u2019m wondering if we can\u2019t help the GOP by coming up with new tropes, new threats to distract Christians from the GOP\u2019s priorities for another forty years.\u00a0 Care to run a contest?<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m thinking we should now vote for the GOP because the alternatives are . . . . .<\/p>\n<p>mandatory euthenasia<br>\nprocreation licenses<br>\nschool-sponsored sexual experimentation<br>\ngovernment assignment of jobs and residences<\/p>\n<p>I figure that\u00a0by 2062, when we\u2019ve all been settled into our assigned jobs and housing units, and our grandchildren are\u00a0mindlessly shouting government slogans in order to have a chance at a procreation license, the four sextillionaires who run the GOP will have to come up with new slogans.\u00a0 Or maybe not . . . forty more years of Democrat and GOP rule\u00a0will pretty much do away with the need for campaining.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>and<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Aborted children\u2026unemployed workers\u2026innocents killed in \u201cprecision\u201d bomb strikes\u2026it\u2019s doesn\u2019t matter, Mark.\u00a0 The only thing that matters these days is that someone gets to make political points with them.\u00a0 For the Republicans, every aborted child is yet another log on the fire of the \u201canti-abortion movement\u201d, which conveniently has been brainwashed into voting for a political party that won\u2019t do jack to help the children who are dying, but will do everything in their power to attain political power using the blood of these pour souls.\u00a0 The Democrats are baby-killers, undeniably.\u00a0 But the GOP turns them into vampires to suck votes from trusting, decent people.<\/p>\n<p>And the unemployed, the victims of our compassionate capitalist system.\u00a0 The GOP, the \u201cpro-life\u201d party, cares less for these hard working folk.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re lazy!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re greedy!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThey want something for nothing!\u201d\u00a0 The party of Lincoln has turned the middle class into wage slaves and doesn\u2019t give a rip.<\/p>\n<p>Ah, but then there\u2019s the Democrats\u2026riding in on their white horse with all the relief programs you could want.\u00a0 Just like the doctor who keeps the patient alive\u2026alive enough to experiment experiment with, write up wonderful reports, publish books, and raise up whole political movements dedicated to keeping the poor alive, just barely.\u00a0 Yes, the GOP co-opts the middle class, pulls away the safety net, and kills the middle class on the altar of profits.\u00a0 Then along comes the Democrats and raises the zombies with just enough life support to become dependent, but not enough to become independent.<\/p>\n<p>Both sides, dedicated to keep the people at war with each other.\u00a0 All the while laying waste to our economy as sure as any locust.\u00a0 Both sides, with their infomercials, political action committees, non-government organizations.\u00a0 Joe Goebbels is no doubt proud of this as he looks on from his special place in hell.\u00a0 Our rulers have learned his lesson well.\u00a0 Repeat the lie often enough and the people will believe it.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile human children die.\u00a0 Human families lose homes.\u00a0 Human families go hungry.\u00a0 Human workers lose what little dignity they can find in this world.\u00a0 Human fathers go to bed wondering how they are going to give their child just a little better life than they have.\u00a0 Remember the American Dream?\u00a0 It\u2019s now a nightmare, playing out daily in the living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms of middle America.<\/p>\n<p>So go ahead.\u00a0 Argue over your political parties.\u00a0 Make your points for your puppet-masters while they pull the last few pennies out of your pocket.\u00a0 Democrat\u2026Republican\u2026what difference is there between the two?\u00a0 One robs you blind and makes you feel good about it, the other robs you blind and makes you feel it\u2019s your fault.\u00a0 But have at it\u2026enjoy the bread and circuses that you have been given.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Sure their assessment of the future is bleak.\u00a0 The future has always been bleak in this world, except when we are living in complete illusion.\u00a0 The future is that time when you and all you love will be dead.\u00a0 Get over it.\u00a0 We\u2019re not made for the future.\u00a0 We\u2019re made for eternity.\u00a0 We are to care for our children as best we can and entrust them to God that he, not we, will see to it that the Faith survives and they have such gifts of Providence as are necessary to do his will.\u00a0 Meanwhile, in the here and now, decoupling the Faith from tribal political allegiances and learning to judge the parties in light of Church teaching instead of cannibalize Church teaching to suit the parties is a good first step toward prudence and, in the long run, helping our children immeasurably more than political power will do.\u00a0 I am heartened to see people on both sides of the aisle realizing that.\u00a0 I can\u2019t help but think these two guys would enjoy each other\u2019s company over a beer.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>is that two readers, one of them quite conservative, the other, I think, probably a self-identified progressive could write the following (\u2018sup to you to tell me which wrote which): For forty years, the Republican Party\u2019s been saying that Christians must support GOP nominees because the alternative is abortion, gay marriage, and socialism.\u00a0 But\u00a0in that\u00a0forty [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[213],"class_list":["post-39955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-signs-of-hope"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>An Oddly Hopeful Sign For Me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"is that two readers, one of them quite conservative, the other, I think, probably a self-identified progressive could write the following (&#039;sup to you to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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