The Immoral and Pious
If Martin Luther were alive today, he would hammer his Ninety-five Theses to their church doors instead of the Catholic cathedrals’.
I am not religious for several reasons; one of them is the visible hatred masquerading as pious love espoused by so many Christians today. It is a hatred that is so vocal that despite spending my life in religious communities, it became a motivator for me and many of my friends to leave the faith when it became clear that secular society was far more Christ-like than the former.
The evangelical practice of dedicated — sometimes fanatical — study of the Bible has perhaps blinded them from its moral lessons, as it has become a source of confirmation bias for their animus. By using the chapters and verses out of context, they fuel the hatred and oppression that drives others from the religion and the Republican party.
In the parables of Cain and Abel, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Exodus, the Old Testament warns us of the perils that can befall followers who turn away from God with sins like idol worship, pride, or envy as some common downfalls. The New Testament teaches followers a devout way to live their lives through lessons in kindness, charity, and love for others as your own. These are themes that require little study: do good by others and receive heaven; be cruel and sow your own destruction. Through the combination of the Old and New Testaments, the Bible teaches us the principle of reciprocity.
At the start of the new decade, we were handed a disaster grab bag, with COVID-19 forming the backdrop to the presidential election. It is easy to surmise that evangelicals could claim this as the wrath of God, and in the past, preachers have used natural disasters to shame non-believers for their sinful lives. Despite what they proclaim, I do not believe it has ever been the fault of the perceived moral failings of the rest of us. That condemnation is nothing more than piety from the pulpit; if God were angry, his anger would most likely be directed at the large group of would-be believers who abandoned his word to grasp for money and power.
The evangelicals decided long ago that someone who is the embodiment of Christianity’s moral teachings, like former President Jimmy Carter, was not the version of moral authority they wanted to see in elected office. Instead of aiding others and spreading the love of Christ, they instead endorsed bigotry, hatred, racism, murder, abuse and a president who has allowed more than 346,000 Americans to die of COVID-19.
These Americans — fixated on abortion — threw away their morals in support of a man who could deliver them a sympathetic Supreme Court. A man who early in 2020 used the Bible — instead of reading it — as a political prop. Then never rebuking him for the ugly and angry vitriol he constantly spouts, letting the rhetoric become amplified by Fox News and echoed by its audience — it went so far that they remain silent as he attempted a coup.
Over the past four years, the Republicans and their evangelical supporters have shown an unrepentant embrace of greed, pride, wrath, gluttony, sloth, lust, and certainly envy. They frequently twist the words of the Bible as justification for their wanton cruelty and lust for power.
If I believed everything that happened in the stress-inducing hell that was last year were a punishment from God, I would not blame the women who had an abortion, the same-sex couples who got married, or the people wanting to live as their authentic selves — would you? No, I would blame those who are Christian in name only, those who worship their golden idol of hate and lies instead of God. If Martin Luther were alive today, he would hammer his Ninety-five Theses to their church doors instead of the Catholic cathedrals’.
This majority of voters support a party that cuts taxes and federal funding of programs like food stamps (SNAP), instead of supporting politicians fighting to save them or serve more people. During the pandemic, the lieutenant governor of Texas and the president shockingly pushed to prematurely reopen businesses, telling the nation that the economy is of greater value than human life, and their evangelical support did not sway. They have long supported a party that pretends — when it is convenient — that fiscal responsibility is important, even if it could prevent a national eviction crisis, lest the poor get too comfortable. These methods are so routine it is undoubtedly out of animosity towards the minority voters across America.
They praised the lawmakers who drafted bathroom bills or religious freedom acts so they could again discriminate under the blessings of the law. Then after the election, they cheered their support as Donald Trump staged his “I’m bad at this too” coup attempt. Yet they will allow themselves to be the willing victims of mega-churches and their pastors. Swindlers that frequently ask for money to “spread the word of God” but instead purchase multimillion-dollar homes and private planes. These are the actions of immoral and pious people that do more virtue signalling than living a life according to the Gospel.
Today, I call myself an apatheist — someone apathetic to religion. I still find great comfort in the religious teachings of the nuns and priests that answered my questions as a boy, no matter how big or small the questions were. And in-between the towering pillars of the basilica I used to attend, the homilies never carried the venom of hatred, because that would not be the good news of Jesus Christ.
Christians are not bad people; I have known so many loving believers, and the church is where I made many of my friends. The group of Christians who support Donald Trump and the Republican Party believe the ends justify the means and have lost their way.
So, I feel sympathy for the true kind-hearted Christians in this country who found their peace by being a source of God’s love on earth. They are the true silent majority. We should pray for them because the hateful have turned their beloved beacon of light to black.
However, their brothers and sisters can no longer perceive the darkness they embrace, as they have chosen to support a man and party who use hatred as a tool. Whether the reason was to spread their moral authority across the country or to protect a few unborn children, they believe they are saving the soul of this nation. But the road to hell is often paved with good intentions, and they sold their souls long ago.
The Bible teaches love and forgiveness clearly in its words, but the pious always find their hatred by reading what is not there. I hope that one day these wayward believers will reflect and repent. May they never know the pain they have inflicted, and may God have mercy on their souls.
