Pride

One thing I've noticed about Republicans is a sense of pride. "I can do it myself, thank you very much, and if I can't I'll die trying." That is why it is rare to find a person below the poverty line that is a republican.
Oppression is a very real thing in this country and those that say otherwise are usually white and male. Which would make sense, they've never experienced oppression in this country's history. But walk through a very poor part of the country or the inner city and you'll see oppression, in many forms (prejudice, racism, sexism, etc) are alive and well.
Now before you let yourself think of all that's wrong with what I'm saying and how you are going to prove it (you know who you are) pause for a second. There ARE people that simply can not buck up and pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. And even if they do the best they can with what they have, they wouldn't be able to all they would like to do, all they need to do to ensure their children don't end up like they are. Oh they might be able to finally pay bills, buy a house in a slightly "better" neighborhood so their kids aren't constantly dealing with violence and drugs but that doesn't ensure their kids can go to college (at least without mounds and mounds of debt to overcome) or that they can retire with dignity or even afford quality health care to ensure their families health comes first, not the mortgage or anything else.
The gap in this country is HUGE!!! The rich are Sooo rich and the poor... many are certainly better off than some in the world but that's really not saying much is it? I hear some of the numbers of dollars made by one person, the number of houses they have, cars, toys, square footage, jewelry and on and on and on. It is insane. If the rich would quit focusing on their own pleasure for a second they could do some amazing things in this world. And right now I'm talking to the super rich, (probably none of them read this blog) but I'll talk to the rest of us in a minute. If $30 dollars a month feeds and educates one child a month what would a million a year do? A thousand? Ten thousand? Do you really need another Jaguar? If a child that was starving in a third world country came and saw your collection of houses and cars would you really feel so proud of it? I bet you'd feel a little ashamed of yourself. "I can spend all this on myself but not $30 on you..."
To the rest of us...
I think the USA would be better if the churches really did what they were supposed to do but they don't. If the body of Christ really lived the way Jesus preached. Caring for the sick, poor, widowed, down on their luck kind of folks. We should be first in line to volunteer at food pantries, homeless shelters, crisis pregnancy centers, crisis hotlines, women's shelters, etc etc. Are we? Not really. There are certainly exceptions to this and I've met them but they are unfortunately, a minority. We live in the here and now. We have to deal with the reality as we know it. Yes, the ideal is the church taking care of those people, but they don't, so I'm turning to a very distant second choice rather than ignoring the problem. Whether or not you think I'm wrong I don't care. My heart is right and that I know for sure. I value democracy but not at the expense of people. So don't comment and tell me all about how the government is going to take away democracy. Protecting democracy is not my, nor should it be the church's, goal. My comfort is not my main goal either. Some of the best growth in churches across the would has happened during times of oppression. I certainly hope democracy doesn't go away but it wouldn't end Jesus' mission in our lives. In fact it would probably help us turn our focus off saving the country through politics.
I will say one thing here, I've heard many many times about how I need to do my research and how Obama is a Socialist and how he's going to take away freedom like Stalin and others but we have something in our country unlike in the past. Checks and balances! The president can not come in and change everything to his liking. We have judges and congress to counteract that. Ok, I'm done with this.