Let's Get Radical!

I’m a liberal. I’m a progressive. I’m a Democrat. I believe that it’s a sin and a shame that in this incredibly wealthy country, there are people living in poverty and that too many people are OK with that while the obscenely wealthy horde more and more of the wealth. I believe that if someone asks for sanctuary or asylum, I as an individual and we as a nation are morally obligated to help them. I’m not anti-capitalism; I am anti “fuck you, I got mine.” I am pro-immigrant, pro-woman, pro-family, pro-science, pro-education, pro-black lives matter, pro-free press, and pro-union. I believe in Mark 12:29-31 and all of Matthew 6. I believe that #loveshowsup, and that most people are decent human beings when it comes down to it, though it is getting harder and harder to hold on to that last part. If all of that makes me a socialist by your definition, I’m a socialist. I’m not ashamed of any of it.

MK Rodgers 

I recently saw this post on Facebook from MK Rodgers. For a little background, she’s the daughter of

one of my cousins, Bill Rodgers. Bill died about three years ago, he was one of my oldest cousins, and I always have great and fond memories of my cousins because of my Mom and her sisters and brothers. They made family special for all of us, so there’s a strong bond within the Irving family. This is a picture of Bill with MK at her wedding. That is such a great picture!

When I read MK’s post, it really got me thinking. I’ve been a conservative and Republican all my life. From the time I knew anything about politics, I think probably the 1968 election when Richard Nixon beat Hubert Humphrey, I’ve followed politics and been a hard-core Republican. I loved Richard Nixon (OK, Watergate kind of changed that), Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and even George W. Bush. I voted straight party Republican until 2016 (we’ll get to that), and I disliked any Democrat from Humphrey to George McGovern to Walter Mondale, and especially the Clinton’s. I still believe there was more to Whitewater than we ever found out, but that’s another story. I've always liked and respected Jimmy Carter, although I didn't think he was a very good president.  To be honest, I never really disliked Barack Obama, I wasn’t a big fan of the Affordable Care Act, but I just couldn’t bring myself to dislike, or despise, him like so many of my Republican friends did.

I believe in “trickle down economics”, I believe in fiscal responsibility, I believe in “a thousand points of light”, I did believe in Weapons of Mass Destruction (boy, really missed that one). Yes, I was a hard-core, conservative Republican. MK’s post got me to start thinking. What does the Republican Party stand for today? What is the narrative, or better yet, what are the actions that define the Republican Party today? Well, in no certain order, they are:

• We believe in closing down the borders of the United States and not letting immigrants in. While virtually all of us are either immigrants or descended from immigrants, we’re fine with putting a halt to it all. If you think about it, many of those who are coming here as immigrants are doing it to save their lives or the lives of their families, so our rejection of them is essentially a death sentence. We are basically saying, “I’d rather you die than live in the United States with me.” 

• We believe in separating families at our borders, when they have the audacity to try to crash
  our borders. We believe in putting children, many of them infants, in cages with little care and support. We even cite the Bible, our weapon of choice, to defend our position, although I’m sure we would like to ignore when Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” 
  

• We defend the Constitution and the Second Amendment to the death. Literally. We continue to carry our children off in body bags rather than seek some sort of compromise and sensible gun laws. Of course we do offer our thoughts and prayers each time it happens, so at least there’s that. I grew up with guns, I have no problem with guns, I just think there has to be some level of compromise on this issue?   I just have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with the NRA having so many of us in their back pockets.  We are OK with our children dying as long as we can protect our right to our guns.
  

• We’re not so firm on the Constitution when it comes to the First Amendment, at least when it is someone who has an opposing opinion or belief. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion are only important if you think like me. Protesters are being targeted by this president and his supporters at Fox “News”, anything contrary to the Republican agenda is labeled “fake news”, and we are happy to have religion back in our schools again. What I really find interesting about the last point is the idea of what religion or whose religion? You know, it may sound great to exclude Muslims, Jews or Hindus, but in many cases, Christian religions view Catholicism as a “non-Christian” religion. I’m not so sure how the Catholics will feel if they are on the outside looking in, and I really have a problem with how many of the conservative denominations view Catholics. I find this to be a very slippery slope, but the key point is we want to exclude anyone who is different. 

• We proposed and passed a tax bill that we touted as benefiting the middle class and lower wage earners. Let’s be honest, while it did, that wasn’t the overriding purpose, and that wasn’t the group that it benefited the most. It benefited the rich, clearly, that was the intent from the very beginning. The problem is that there isn’t enough money to cover many of the programs that are needed to support the country, so many cuts are and will be proposed. And we have left an enormous debt for our children and our grandchildren. While it’s always nice to have some extra money, I don’t need this tax cut. I’d rather see this money go to programs to help those who need this money more than me. I also don’t want to leave this world a much worse place for my children and grandchildren. This tax cut is pure selfishness to put more money in the pockets of the wealthy. 

• We are unwilling to allow gay couples to adopt children. Let me tell you a brief, and I’ll admit, anecdotal story. There is a gay couple that we know of that adopted an infant from India. The infant had been used for sex trafficking by her mother. She is now a teenager, and lives in an incredibly caring home and goes to church and youth group weekly. I have my doubts that if this couple didn’t adopt her if she would be in such a good place today, let alone alive. One story, but why in the world are we so against allowing gay couples to adopt children and give them a loving home? 

• We have lost sight of who are our allies and who are our enemies. We shit all over our allies, and we heap praise all over our enemies. Maybe someone should consult Webster’s Dictionary to make sure we understand the meaning of these words, because I don’t think those words mean what we think they mean. 

• We treat our environment like it is a never-ending resource. Going back to the tax issue, we are selfishly leaving a much worse world to our children and grandchildren. 

• We tell lies, and we double down on those lies. We use the excuse, “politicians always lie”. OK, that’s probably true, but we tell blatant lies that are easily disproved by facts and data, but then we just tell the lies again and again. And we just don’t care. 
  

• We are the party that is supported by “Christian leaders” like Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell, Jr. who continue to spew their hatred for Muslims and the LGBT community. We are the party that is supported by the racists at Fox “News”. We are the party that is in bed with the NRA, one of the most evil organizations in the country. 

Wait. Where was I going with this?

When I look at MK’s post, I really struggle with disagreeing with any of it other than the union part. She stands for values that are moral and humane, I’m not quite sure how you could disagree with them. Oh my God, does that mean I’m a liberal? A progressive, a socialist, a Democrat? I’m definitely not a Democrat, I still despise Hillary Clinton, and I find many of the Democrats like Bernie Sanders and Nancy Pelosi to be awful politicians and leaders. But I did vote for Mrs. Clinton over the horrible excuse of a human being who is currently the president, and I will continue to vote straight party Democrat at least until he is out of office.

But as is apparent from the various actions noted above, this president is only part of the problem, we as the Republican Party are the root of the problem. So did we change or did I change? I think a little bit (or a lot) of both. Over the last several years, various hard-core conservative factions of the Republican Party have emerged, espousing various forms of greed, exclusion and racism. Over the last several years, my faith, my commitment to being a devoted follower of Jesus Christ has left me unable to ignore the huge divide in this country and world between those who have and those who don’t. Quite frankly, it’s just overwhelming to me.

If I can’t live with the ways of the current Republican Party, and I can’t overcome my 50 years or so of disliking the Democratic Party, where does that leave me? Well, I’ve been thinking about that a lot, and I keep going back to a sermon the Reverend Doctor Davis Chappell gave several years ago. He said people often ask him, would Jesus have been a Republican or a Democrat? Dr. Chappell said, “Jesus wasn’t a Republican. Jesus wasn’t a Democrat. Jesus was a radical.” I know many of my long-time friends would find this hard to believe, but I’ve actually strongly considered marching in protests against some of the atrocities going on in this country. I know what you all are thinking - old, white, conservative accountant Steve McCullough marching in protests? Yeah, it sounds really crazy after 58 years of being a good corporate citizen. And thinking about something and actually doing it are two different things. But I think it’s time to get radical.