[PAA-Discuss] Bushianity - the new Christianity

[Sarah Gonzales]

What a great term - "Bushianity" - a new "wing" of Christianity which  
expresses the following beliefs

* the incarceration, torture, maiming and death of non American  
citizens including women and children are acceptable losses /  
collateral damage
* the rich are truly the divine, as is evident by their wealth.
* you have to be a pure capitalist -- no "safety net" garbage, please
* Don’t get involved in other peoples’ misery. Take care of Number  
One. You don’t owe them anything.
and this paragraph says it all I think

<snip>

Bushianity is really all about power and wealth -- the divine right  
of the haves to get more of each, in order to better supervise the  
have-nots. Bushianity is quietly (discretely, always discretely)  
hostile to Jesus’ teachings, but loudly praises his birth (before he  
could teach) and his death (after he could teach). Nothing between  
those two events in Jesus’ life is of interest to Bushians, who  
greatly prefer the fire-breathing biblical writers advocating  
ruthless wars, slavery, female submission, the masses’ unquestioning  
obedience of rulers, and the death penalty for homosexuals and  
rebellious children.

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March 16, 2005

"Don’t Let the Car Fool You, My Real Treasure is in Heaven":  
Bushianity Makes a Mockery of Christ

by Dr. Teresa Whitehurst

A few days ago I saw a brand new PT Cruiser with a bumper sticker  
that, at first glance, didn’t make sense: “Don’t Let the Car Fool  
You, My Real Treasure Is in Heaven". Several classy-looking Christian  
symbols adorned the vehicle, along with the ubiquitous “We Support  
Our Troops and President Bush" and “W" window seals.

As I stared at this odd assortment, the meaning dawned on me. Unlike  
the old bumper sticker that read, "My Other Car is a Mercedes", this  
one wasn’t an exercise in self-deprecating humor: It was bragging to  
passersby about the driver’s money, which isn’t too shabby, since a  
new PT Cruiser starts at $14,000. Bob Sheer writes about this new  
culture of greed, cleverly disguised as "Christian":

"So why gut the bankruptcy law now? Greed, pure and simple. And,  
pathetically, this bankers' dream is becoming a reality through the  
support of Republicans who have decided, as they often do with social  
issues, to selectively pick and choose when to follow the teachings  
of the Bible.

"A key sponsor of the bill, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa),  
actively opposes abortion and same-sex marriage on biblical grounds  
yet believes the Good Book's clear definition and condemnation of  
usury is irrelevant. The Old Testament, revered by Jews, Muslims and  
Christians alike, mandates debt forgiveness after seven years, as was  
pointed out earlier this month by an organization of Christian  
lawyers in a letter to Grassley. "I can't listen to Christian  
lawyers," said the senator, "because I would be imposing the Bible on  
a diverse population." The Bankruptcy Bill: A Tutorial in Greed,  
Commondreams, 3/15/05

Of course, imposing the Bible on a diverse population is what the  
Bushians do best -- but not the whole Bible, as Mr. Sheer notes. Not  
only are inconvenient verses in the Old Testament ignored by  
rightwing politicians, but most of Jesus’ teachings are, as well. For  
the Bush administration, Christ’s most deplorable teachings are those  
that advocate nonviolence, love of one’s enemy, social justice, the  
refusal to store up riches on earth, praying privately without  
wearing one’s piety on one’s sleeve, and choosing instead to share  
with the needy and vulnerable.

I do wonder how the strategy meetings must have gone in the months  
and years prior to November 2000. The primary question on the minds,  
if not the lips, of Bush’s more cynical strategic advisors must have  
been: How in the world can we get America’s huge Christian population  
to sign on with a wealthy movement aiming to disconnect Jesus’ non- 
Republican teachings from Christianity, hollowing out the last  
vestiges of charity and justice that remain in America’s legal codes,  
moral values and social contract?

Easy, some bright fellow may have said while sipping his cappuccino  
-- just look Christian, talk Christian, pray Christian, and nobody  
will ever know the difference. When promoting unChristlike policies,  
be careful to surround them with a lot of prayer and somber-faced  
talk about "values" and "godliness". Always end with "God bless  
America", throw in "One nation under God", and talk a lot about Jesus  
saving you from this or that sin. But never quote Jesus if you can  
help it -- too liberal.

The Difference Between Bushianity and Christianity: "That Poor-People  
Stuff"

Bushianity is really all about power and wealth -- the divine right  
of the haves to get more of each, in order to better supervise the  
have-nots. Bushianity is quietly (discretely, always discretely)  
hostile to Jesus’ teachings, but loudly praises his birth (before he  
could teach) and his death (after he could teach). Nothing between  
those two events in Jesus’ life is of interest to Bushians, who  
greatly prefer the fire-breathing biblical writers advocating  
ruthless wars, slavery, female submission, the masses’ unquestioning  
obedience of rulers, and the death penalty for homosexuals and  
rebellious children.

The faith-based Bush administration, disinterested as usual in "that  
poor-people stuff", is working fast and furious on a number of fronts  
to put working and financially strapped Americans in their place. Its  
hallmark strategy for stealing from the poor to give to the rich is  
to overwhelm the public with multiple simultaneous changes, thus pre- 
empting time to think about, pray about, or oppose them.

The ultimate goal is to replace traditional American "we’re all in  
this together" culture with the Bushian "You’re On Your Own-ership  
Society". In this nightmare world, the working people are thrashed  
with measure after measure aimed at taking what once was theirs. The  
rationale underlying this "society" (a huge cluster of individuals  
with no obligations to one another) is as follows:

"If you want to be a good Christian you have to be a good Republican,  
and to be a good Republican you have to be a pure capitalist -- no  
"safety net" garbage, please. Don’t get involved in other peoples’  
misery. Take care of Number One. You don’t owe them anything. Don’t  
share with others, except in little dribs and drabs called "faith- 
based" -- sharing is for girly-men, makes lazy people lazier, and  
sets a bad precedent that your Ownership neighbors will resent. Oh,  
and don’t look to us for help if misfortune strikes; you brought it  
on yourself.

The Bushians have been incredibly successful in their efforts to  
strike Jesus’ teachings from the record and from the hearts of Bush  
supporters. They decry any attempt to remove four words, "one nation  
under God", out of the pledge, while working to purge Christ’s values  
from something that’s a matter of life and death for many vulnerable  
Americans: the national budget. Bob Sheer sheds light on the sorrow  
that lies ahead:

"Sadly, when it comes to serving the prerogatives of banks, you can  
forget about those family values that folks such as Grassley prattle  
on about. The bill he wrote placed mothers and their children behind  
credit card companies in the line for a bankrupt ex-husband's  
paycheck, for example, which is positively Dickensian. Expected to  
sail through the House and onto the president's desk in the next few  
weeks, the bill turns the federal government into a guardian angel of  
an industry gone mad, placing no significant restriction on soaring  
interest rates and proliferating fees.

"One extremely modest amendment that was rejected by the Senate would  
have blocked creditors from recovering debts from military personnel  
if the loans had annual rates higher than 36%. Also killed were  
sensible amendments designed to protect those ruined by a medical  
emergency, identity theft, dependent-caregiver expenses or loss of  
income due to being called to full-time military duty through the  
National Guard or the Reserve."

Jesus Didn’t Plead

The Bush budget is indeed immoral, and as Sheer points out, it’s  
unpatriotic too! Progressive Christians are terribly upset and  
worried about what lies ahead, and are trying to get this  
administration, falsely advertised as "Christian", to change course.  
I agree wholeheartedly with the objectives of the "Christian Left" --  
but something is missing. We are tilting at windmills because we  
don’t really see what we’re up against.

"U.S. church activists rallied on Capitol Hill on Monday to protest  
the proposed 2006 federal budget, which they contend provides too  
little funding for children and the poor. "It's quite troubling,"  
said Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches  
USA, speaking of the Bush administration's budget request. "There's  
not enough money for public education, health care and children."

"…The Bush administration's $2.5 trillion budget request for fiscal  
2006 gives a 5 percent increase to the Pentagon and a 7 percent  
increase to the Department of Homeland Security, while cutting 11.5  
percent from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 4.5  
percent from community development programs and $45 billion from the  
Medicaid health program for the poor.

"It was the second time in less than a week than a coalition of  
church groups gathered in Washington to plead their case." Church  
Coalition Takes Aim at US Budget Plan, Reuters, 3/14/05

Yes, the Bush budget is troubling, and will harm American citizens,  
particularly the young, the old and the sick, from sea to shining  
sea. But I’m afraid that the good churches can plead for an eternity  
and see nothing more than a condescending nod from the White House.  
Sorry to be a pessimist, but the truth of the matter is that we can’t  
expect Bushians to listen to Christians. That’s because, in spite of  
their joint use of the label "Christian", these religions are quite  
different.

You can’t fight what you don’t understand. Until we admit that  
Bushianity is the mirror opposite of Christianity, we’ll keep  
"pleading". Such entreaties may make us feel better but they’ll fall  
on deaf ears. Christians, if we hope to be actually help the poor,  
the weak and the suffering, must stop making the soothing but  
dangerously mistaken assumption that "we’re all Christians, after  
all", following the same teachings and worshipping the same God. We  
are not. It’s time we woke up and smelled the coffee, as Ann Landers  
used to say.

When Jesus saw the corruption of the temple by "the money changers"  
-- actually a highly political use of religion with monetary rewards  
for the "haves" -- he didn’t plead. He didn’t expect the hypocritical  
religious and political leaders of his day to have ears to hear, and  
focused his energies instead on calling sincere religious people to  
turn away from their greedy leaders and back to God. It’s time we did  
the same.

* * *

Dr. Teresa Whitehurst is a clinical psychologist, author of Jesus on  
Parenting: 10 Essential Principles That Will Transform Your Family  
(2004) and coauthor of The Nonviolent Christian Parent (2004). She  
offers parenting workshops, holds discussion groups on Nonviolent  
Christianity, and writes the column, "Democracy, Faith and Values:  
Because You Shouldn’t Have to Choose Just One" as seen on her website.