to the various horror-story fundamentalist republicans i've come across recently

Note: There's a high chance of incoherence here because I'm quite tired and absolutely furious about a couple of articles I've just read. I want to rewrite this into something better and longer but I also wanted to break the posting drought, so here it is. Apologies also for horrific sweeping generalisations, this is about a particular kind of religious/political hybrid that in no way represents wider Christianity of wider conservatism. I hope.

As far as I've gathered, one of the key desires of conservative/right wing political movements is the reduction of state power, ie the preservation of individual liberties. Economically, this often translates into a preference for neo-liberal or laissez-faire markets, in which trade is deregulated, institutions are private rather than nationalised and state spending is cut dramatically. Meaning - every individual has the right to bear arms, to worship and vote as they see fit, to earn a living, start a business, make a profit as best they can and, importantly, pay only the bare minimum of taxes, as the only functions of the state would be bare necessities - police, law and order, military protection and the wages of a skeleton government.

It's important to note here that, as was seen in the 2008 US election run-up, socialism is considered a dirty word almost on par with communist, hinting that even for those Americans not down with their economic theory, this must, by default, be the kind of thing they're going for. Also, traditional neo-liberal theory (Friedman and chums) states that the market itself can only be perfect when left alone. Any kind of state spending or intervention in pretty much anything will upset the delicate flower of capitalism and that is bad.

Anyway, that seems to make sense to me, rationally if not morally. The economic principle of the free market ties in pretty nicely with the conservative values of the American dream - work hard, earn bucks, protect family against communist invasions and be ruled by yourself, your God and then your government.

*****

But I stand confused. Factor in the undeniable link between fundamentalist Christian values and this particular political framework, specifically in the US, and it stops making any kind of sense.

If individual liberties (rather than social liberties) are to be protected, how can gay marriage possibly remain illegal? If every citizen has the right to look out for themselves, what business is it to all the other individuals if two gay individuals wish to marry? State interference in personal lives is surely an example of the nanny-state that proud, upstanding conservatives supposedly revile.

Not to mention the right of every woman to make decisions about her body. Not to mention the hypocrisy of a state that could potentially turn a blind eye to the children in ghetto poverty whilst declaring the womb a site of state intervention.

Censorship, too. Traditional Christian values are apparently at risk from the filth in the media, but if a state can't intervene to provide subsidised farming or unemployment benefits, then why on earth should it beep out the dirty words on South Park? And, even if you wanted it to, intervening for the moral fibre of a country rather than allowing individual families to choose what they watch, whilst allowing individual families to choose to bear arms despite the risk to the country's moral fibre seems... contradictory.

And Jesus? Who bid us to love each other, to feed the poor, the Bible that tells us it's easier for a camel to get in through eye of a needle than a rich man to get into heaven? What would he make of your self-regulating market that, in order to be perfectly balanced, can have no welfare state, no fixed minimum wage, no state programmes for helping young mothers balance work and child care because that would count as excessive state spending ?

*****

How exactly does it work in your head, this right wing Christianity? How do you figure you can have the prejudice and inequality and still have the god-given warm fuzzies? You think the state is a puppy that you play with, that runs to catch the big-gay-stick when you want it but is quite happy to piss off into the study while you watch your favourite get-rich-quick-and-damn-the-working-class-tv-show. Because you don't really like the idea of being told what to do, unless you're the one doing the telling.

These two girls can't marry each other to solidify their loving commitment and raise some children, but you can buy lethal weapons from supermarkets.
That woman isn't allowed to have an abortion if she chooses to have one, but you don't want to pay taxes that could potentially help her support the baby.
God talks to you, but not to the liberals.
Jesus loves you, but not him or her or them.
You must have religious freedom, but everyone else has to agree with you.
I'm going to hell, but you who take God's name in vain every time you pretend to know what he's thinking, you're ok because God tells you who to vote for.

*****

You know what an awful lot of people, Christian and not, think? If Christianity is comparable to any economic system, it's socialism. Parts of the New Testament read like a slightly more flowery Communist Manifesto. Jesus didn't want you to get rich, or isolate you and yours from the world and its poor. He wanted you to embrace the poor, invite them in for dinner, share whatever you had so that everyone ended up with more - you don't want the poor to ever be with you.

The conservative politics that seem to suit you do not satisfy your religious obligation in the least, and your religious beliefs are often at odds with the system you support.

*****

I cannot, cannot, get my head around this Jesus-Politik that bears so little resemblance to either Jesus or politics.