Was Jesus Really a Republican?

During my Grandmother's visit this past October, I attended the local Catholic church with her. I've had many issues with the Catholic churches in this area--namely that they are aping the "big box" evangelical churches by trying to make the services more about entertainment than worship (professional choirs and musicians, hand holding during prayers and hand waving during hymns). Not my cup of tea, but I went so that Grammam wouldn't miss mass.

The pre-election fervor was pretty intense at that time, and I marveled at how the priest was able to convey who he thought we should all vote for (take a wild guess) without specifically naming a candidate or political party. As an aside, this priest is currently under investigation in a sex scandal.

Apparently, subtlety is something lost on some clerics, however...This guy not only voted people out of his congregation for not voting Republican, but has told his congregation that if they do not agree with his politics (which he is still preaching even after the election), they should leave his church.

Will anyone in the administration dare question the tax-exempt status of churches that endorse political candidates? I'm hoping, at least, that the governing body the Baptist church will throw this guy out on his ass.

I'm honestly thinking that Jesus wouldn't have endorsed any political party. Both have beliefs that come in direct conflict with the Bible. Come to think of it, I can't imagine Jesus favoring any specific Christian religious sect, either. How arrogant is it to say "Jesus would have..." done this or that? If you read the New Testament, Jesus was pretty much a Socialist "Distribute your riches among the poor and follow me". Not to mention that he told people to go home and practice good works privately (not shout your good deeds and holiness from the rooftops).

I'm also so sick of people saying that God had a hand in either the most evil, selfish, or mundane things...

1.) Baseball players signaling their thanks to God for a victory or homerun. Like God cares who wins a stupid baseball game, or any sporting event for that matter.
2.) Politicians and leaders of Nations saying God was responsible for their victory, and then using that victory to push an agenda that is full of intolerance, greed, and phony piety.
3.) Couples who take massive amounts of fertility drugs to conceive, or hire a surrogate, and then say that "God wanted them to have five babies". If God wanted you to have five kids, you would have been able to conceive them naturally.
4.)Terrorist acts or wars in the name of God (any God).
5.) Men who treat women like crap, or as subservient, because that's what the Bible, Koran, Book of Mormon, says.

Does anyone else think that God is sick of taking the rap for all of this crap?

What scares me is that I'm sure that there are people out there who would think that our daughter's accident was because my husband and I aren't "good Christians". What's scarier is that years of a Catholic upbringing still have me believing (on occasion)that everything bad that happens to me is "God's punishment", rather than a series of bad but random events. I'm hoping that someday karma will level the playing field for us.

We live a good life even if we don't go to church, so its always frustrating to see Joe Hypocrite attending church and mouthing the words and acting all pious on Sunday, and then behaving like a bastard for the rest of the week, but living the good life.

Is this all God wants? Lip service, church attendance and a "Support Our Troops" magnet on our car?

Sorry, I got off track here, but seriously, this is what I think about sometimes.