Republican Party Epitaph

I remember wearing my "I Like Ike" button. It was a new fangled type that had both the words and the picture of a smiling Ike if you tilted the button. Pretty neat! The 1960's changed my party affiliation. Not that the Democrats made all the right decisions (Vietnam tarnished illusions), but there was an imperfect balance of values that tilted towards justice and a passion for peace in the Democratic Party. 

I say tilted because this action describes the honesty of balance in decision-making. No decision is pure. Honesty births nuance and honors complexity. Only bigoted legalists trumpet moral absolutes. This is why Christians find their perfection only in Christ, not in themselves. Even then we are humbled by our moment by moment sinfulness and are driven to our knees in confession, only to receive absolution by the grace and mercy of God.

So it was that I turned away from the Republican Party. Today, the scale of justice and peace tilt ever more away from the party. Our nation, our Constitution need both Republicans and Democrats to provide balance. Now, all that can be written about the Republican Party is their epitaph. Consider these nails in the coffin:

1. Elimination of abortion rights for women

2. Efforts to shut down Planned Parenthood which provide reasonably priced contraception

             and reproductive care for women

3. Elimination of Obamacare which provides affordable health care for millions

4. Increasing age qualification for Social Security and wanting to privatize its finances

5. Increasing military spending even though we spend more than nearly all nations combined

6. Elimination of labor unions, collective bargaining and encouraging right to work legislation which  

             lowers wages and lessens pension possibilities

7. Restrictions on voting rights making it more difficult for the poor and minorities to vote

8. Promoting unlimited anonymous campaign contributions which gives unrivaled

             power and influence to the very wealthy and corporate elite

9. Opposition to LGBT rights

10.  Roadblock to comprehensive immigration reform until the borders are tight and a wall

             is constructed

11. Meager support at best for increased minimum wage

12. Opposition to Consumer Protection Agency, wanting to give power to a partisan committee 

             controlled by Republicans which will limit its ability to protect consumers

13. Opposition to Dodd-Frank Bill which regulates banks and Wall Street

14. Cutting back on food programs and welfare for the needy

15. Support for off-shore and foreign tax havens for the wealthy

16. Blind support for the National Rifle Association

17. Opposition to Black Lives Matter and blind support for police

18. Eagerness to once again support large scale troop commitment in the Middle East

19. Blind support for Israel at the expense of justice for Palestinians

20. Attacks upon fact-based science and acknowledgement of the reality of climate change

21. Narrow and blind interpretation of the Second Amendment which leads to increased

               proliferation of gun availability and stifling of gun safety legislation

22. Refusal to fund the study of gun violence 

23. Obsession with cutting taxes at the expense of funding education and providing 

               poverty programs

24. Obsession with saying "No!" to job creation programs and funding of infrastructure

               programs

25. Cutting back of Medicaid availability

26. Unquestioned bias towards the very wealthy and corporate elite leading to unprecedented

               income inequality

And on and on! Again, I make these observations on the basis of "balance and tilt". There are Republicans who would disagree with these positions and Democrats who would agree with some of them. I look at the balance. 

The balance, the tilt points towards a Republican Party Epitaph. And further, with the increased metastasizing of these cancerous positions, the Epitaph of America. Democracy is being decimated.

An arrogant hubris rises amidst the ruins. The next monument on the Washington Mall is of a fat middle finger pointing towards a polluted sky.

As a Christian, I am alarmed at the injustice and violence of this imbalance. Isaiah's call to be "repairers of the breach", Micah's call to "Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God", and Mary's Magnificat in Luke: "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and he sent the rich away empty....", and Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you." provide a transformative counterpoint to the Republican Party Epitaph.

It is the time to hear John the Baptist: "You brood of vipers....Bear fruits worthy of repentance!" Through repentance there is renewal. God's grace frees us to repent! Republicans, Democrats, People of God. And then: 

Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

Luke 3:5-6

Arise!