Christ's simple lesson lost to rightwingers By Curt Anderson News-Chronicle In a thoughtful mood as Christmas Day approached, I looked back on the essence of Christ's message to us mortals…a message of love. Christmas Day celebrates His birth; Good Friday remembers His crucifixion, the act of supreme love for humanity. I wonder why some, notably the radical right wing, who claim to observe Christian doctrine, are unable to follow the most basic of those rules. As a teacher, I have found the same disconnect with certain students after spending days in an attempt to convey some lesson. I want to say, "Weren't you listening at all?" I am dumbfounded that Christ's very simple lesson of love was not just missed or totally ignored, but perhaps even denied by these radicals. Jesus said, "Love thy neighbor," but these radical conservatives who claim the moral high ground, demanded war and went ape on those who urged caution about getting us into the Iraqi wringer…a double-denial of love for one's neighbor. Bush's "fate-based" policies in Iraq are contrary to Christian teachings. These radical conservatives have fits when they are reminded that Jesus was an early Liberal, that His ideas were upsetting the status quo…the power. The status quo is what conservatives are all about. One reason Jesus was murdered was because people wanted an avenging angel to smite their enemies. When Christ preached brotherly love instead, it sealed his fate. Now the warmongers are at it again. Aside from the name-calling by mannerless rightwing radio hosts (hardly examples of brotherly love), the deaths of innocent Iraqis and the destruction of their economy, causing even more suffering for survivors and other innocents, was further evidence that radical conservatives have trouble following the ideals set down by Christ. When Donald Rumsfeld stated that the Bush Administration would "pay any price" to defeat Saddam Hussein, I wondered if he included the destruction of our democracy and perhaps the destruction of our economy. Lo and behold, it turns out that was part of the price he was willing to pay. One can only imagine the pain and suffering caused by this shift from America: Beacon of Light, to America: Lite of Beacon. The far right wing of the Republican Party seems to have trouble following many of the tenets and principles of Christianity and democracy: loving thy neighbor, not stealing, not killing (war and the death penalty are their biggest personal problems), freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, etc. This group is tightly focused on icons or symbols…the Bible; the flag; the American eagle; the Constitution; the Bill of Rights, and so on. Though focused on the icons, they are pathologically unable or unwilling to tolerate other peoples' beliefs. The Constitution, a beautifully written document for the regulation of government, is full of gray areas, and rightly so, for there is no perfect document, and there was no way the founders of our nation could possibly have figured out every angle that greedy men would devise to undercut someone else's rights or steal their money, and yet rightwing radicals can only see it their way. The idea of capitalism, that one exchanges his labors in a free market, has gone into an overdrive of greed. The original idea is as good as it can get, assuming that everyone works in the best interests of the group, rather than the individual. This is a ludicrous ideal because reality has a way of jumping into the scene like Tarzan. The old bugaboo about greed is still with us, and just like in the past, some people not only worship money, they idolize those whose greed makes them wealthy. Look at those who own companies that have moved their operations overseas, not just to get a lower price on their goods, but to increase their personal incomes while putting thousands of people out of work. A true Christian ethic would not consider this sort of move. Nonetheless, corporate heads will offer dozens of excuses and justifications for their bad behavior, and thousands of citizens will let them get away with it. "It's just business", they'll say. What a fine Christian ethic to put hundreds of thousands of hardworking people out of jobs. If there were real justice, those who support such notions would be the first to lose their jobs. That's not gonna happen. Andersen is a lifelong resident of the Green Bay area and a Navy veteran. He owns a small business and is an adjunct instructor at NWTC. He is vice president of the Clean Water Action Council. His column runs Wednesdays. Contact him via e-mail at [email protected]