A Moderate Confession...

I have always tried my best to be very moderate in my political thinking.  It was always important to me to consider both sides before voting for someone or supporting a cause or ideology.  I realize that both Democrats and Republicans, and now Tea Partiers, have strong feelings about what they "believe".  However, when you affiliate with a particular party or ideology, I think that it is very easy to have blinders on and ignore what is best for the most people.   It has also been proven that many people who "believe" in a political ideology would rather ignore facts than do what's right, all in the name of standing by their beliefs. (See an article I shared in a previous post.)  Many times, this even goes against the teachings and the morals of their religious beliefs.

All that said, I have to say it is more and more difficult to remain moderate. Don't get me wrong - I'm not completely buying what the Democrats are selling (and don't think I could actually commit to a Democrat philosophy), but when I see what the Tea Partiers are doing, and the influence that they are having on the Republican Party, it is absolutely shameful.  Especially as a Christian, I don't see how I can possibly support anything that the Republicans are standing for.  They have dismissed the teachings of Jesus almost completely and are pressing their followers to support big corporations and making the richest Americans even richer. Meanwhile, 80% of Americans are living at or near the poverty level.
And even though the Republicans have gotten everything they want (corporate profits at an all time high, CEO salaries at an all time high, lots of regulations being relaxed enabling companies to take advantage of employees, health care being taken away from people, etc., etc., etc…)  there are still no jobs, people are still going bankrupt because of health care needs, and American is slowly going downhill.  They block any and all legislation, so almost nothing is getting done in the United States Congress.    And the Republicans have the gall to blame the Democrats and the Obama administration.

At the same time, they are convincing a lot of people that in doing so they are doing God's will. If you read Jesus' teachings, it is easy to see that they are not. But, because following Jesus would force them to change their political leanings, they continue to follow the Republican theology blindly...