Today marks the fourth day of senate judiciary hearings for Trump’s SCOTUS nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Her legal and ideological records are being questioned to determine whether she should serve on the bench. From what I’ve read and seen…she doesn’t deserve that seat. Yet she’ll be confirmed anyway. When she enters the court, it will officially lean Republican with a 6-3 majority –– impacting judicial rulings in America for a long while.
This hearing is one of many examples of Republicans embracing far-right policies under the guise of “evangelical Christianity.” It happened in the 80s when they nominated Ronald Reagan for president, who won by promoting the “nuclear family,” “Christian values” and “small government” but heavily ignored the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S., increased wars in the middle east and branded black people as the face of the crack epidemic. In the 90s, Clarence Thomas became a supreme court justice even though he had sexual assault accusations from professor Anita Hill and other women. Also in the 90s former president, Bill Clinton was impeached by the Republican-led House of Representatives, who questioned his fitness to rule after a cheating scandal. Meanwhile, the speaker of the house at the time, Newt Gingrich, was also found cheating on his second wife with his third.
The modern Republican party, which claims they are “the party of Lincoln” (ignoring the southern strategy), calls themselves conservative, the tea party, republican and right wing. The party runs on four major principles: small government, faith, the 2nd amendment, and taxes. Yet, these same self-proclaimed “morally right” politicians reveal themselves as hypocrites. They monopolize discrimination based on religion while campaigning and passing laws that discriminate against Muslims. They preach “family values” but pass laws that limit social safety nets, and abortion rights and discriminate against LGBTQ families. Scandals emerge of the same individuals preaching these values, violating them: cc Jerry Falwell jr. They criticize the Democrats for massive spending and tax increases, yet every Republican administration increases the defense budget for costly wars and tax cuts that benefit the 1%.
This all boils down to what I call –– Christian Capitalism. What does that mean? It means the use of Christian doctrine to benefit an individual or group of people for financial and political gain. Republicans continue to portray themselves as the morally good party that follows Jesus Christ, but do not practice his teachings. Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Lindsey Graham are some of the most powerful senators in congress. They preach these same values but are corrupt to the core. Example: At a town hall in Florida, students affected by the Parkland mass shooting, asked Marco Rubio if he receives money from the NRA. Rubio denied he did but voted against every gun control bill in favor of NRA donations. How can a party that claims they are “pro-life” vote against gun control laws?
Their constituents love this and will support them even though many republican-led states are poor. There’s also the racism appeal. Christian Capitalists decry “black lives matter thugs” “socialists” and “radical Islam” yet support far-right extremism, nationalism, and wealth inequality. They are Christians in name only and act just like the groups they so boldly condemn.
Moni Media 