I came across this video on Dakota Wuss College. They of course wanted to berate Angie because she made fun of conservative Catholics. The ironic part of what she said is that old school Catholics, like my grandparents, truly believe their tithing goes toward the upkeep of the parish and to helping the poor. In fact, my grandfather got into with his parish Father about it. But Angie makes a good point about FAKE conservative Catholics. One reason why I no longer call myself a Christian is because of that hypocrisy.
My god is not a hypocrite.
“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” James 1:27
There are some “genuine” Catholics out there – but for the most part for the people I know – not many. We have many great friends that are Catholics as I was also one through the age of 30 – but when you’re carrying up the sacraments as a family on a Sunday and then lead your daily life in a different matter – Catholic is not the first thing that comes to my mind. As I say to my husband – there are literally HUNDREDS of different churches in Sioux Falls alone. Why people do not go find a church that matches their values and allows them to celebrate their beliefs and christianity freely and whole-heartedly always puzzles me. The one thing about the Catholic religion is there is no “gray” area. It is very black and white which I respect. If that is your true beliefs and values – good for you, if it’s not – that is where the hyprocisy lies.
Exactly, why lie to yourself about your beliefs. When I first moved out on my own, I stopped attending church mainly because of school and work. Sunday mornings were the only time I got a chance to sleep in. That and the monotony of (Lutheran) church service didn’t really interest me. I went almost every Sunday for 18 years, I was ‘full’. But over the years, I have come to realize that praying and believing in ‘my god’ works for me. Someone or something that I revere as my creator. I also believe that my God is not vindictive and believes in peace, compassion as well as justice. Too often people use there religion to incite violence (Especially the 3 cousins, Christians, Muslims and Jews) When I believe religion should be used to spread peace (which I believe the 3 cousins also do) They just need to concentrate a little more on the ‘giving and peace part’ instead of the ‘taking and war part’
As long as people like Angie say “conservatives don’t care about the poor” and conservaties say “liberals don’t care about the unborn” we’re never going to get anywhere. My point is simple. I’m conservative in many ways but I do care about the poor and I back that up with my dollars and time. It might get her applause to trash all the Catholics or conservatives but it does nothing to help the poor or move the conversation forward. If all we care about is being right and making the “other guys” look wrong then congrats…we feel better about ourselves. Woopie freakin’ do.
Generalizations are the fuel to the partisan fire.
Oh, and I mostly agree with her. Conservatives are some of the least compassionate people when it comes to serving the poor. They’d rather just give money, which is good, but easier for most people than getting your hands dirty. And yes, I can speak in generalizations about conservatives because I am one.
Thanks for this blog. It usually makes me think.
Andy – You do make a good point. Conservatives generally give ALOT more capital then liberals do when it comes to helping the poor. BUT, liberals generally are more involved and give more personal and volunteer time. I prefer to give my time to charities and non-profits. It means more to me to be actually involved and see my fruits of labor then to just cut a check. To each there own.
Would I call Angie a Partisan? Sure. But she is so damn smart, I think someday she will grow out of it 🙂
There are both hypocrites and fine people in every church, sect, Lions Club, bunko gang, special interest group, etc. I respectfully submit that being a “Christian” has nothing to do with being a Catholic, Baptist, or any other denomination. It has to do with believing in and accepting God’s gifts, which come by grace through faith in Christ.
Actually, lewis, studies that have shown greater “charitable giving” by conservatives also clearly reveal that most “charitable giving” by conservatiuves tends to be to churches – not to “the poor”. Meanwhile, other studies that analyse “charitable giving” by various incpome levels show that while the “wealthy” give more gross $$$, that the “poor” givce a higher percentage of their welath. In addition, they point out that most “charitable goving” by the wealthy btends to go to support of things like the local sympahany, or opera, or a museum, etc., I.E., things/organizations/activities that are more likely to be used by the “wealthy”, while the “poor” tend to give their $$$ to things/organizations/activities they are more likely to use (Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc.) – Speaking of the problem with generalizations.
Ruf, thanx for the clarification.
My late Grandfather used to say that it wasn’t how often you went to church, but how you lived that mattered.