The Non-Smoking Gun

This week, Republican leaders in the House revealed that they will be forming yet another committee to investigate the terrorist attacks in Benghazi. This marks the 5^th committee that the Republicans have formed since the attacks took place.

Since Fox News has now decided to abandon their lost cause of defending Cliven Bundy in order to save face, they now have to return to their regularly scheduled programming, pushing the idea that there is some kind of scandal behind the attacks that took the lives of 4 Americans. The problem is, neither Fox News or the Republicans that make up the majority of these committees know exactly what the scandal is, or who may be behind it. Despite four previous committees, thousands of documents delivered, numerous subpoenas and testimonies, they still have no evidence of the “smoking gun” they are looking for. 

What is that saying about doing something over and over, getting the same results, yet continuing to do that same thing over and over, expecting different results?

Let’s not forget that the party of “fiscal responsibility” has spent millions upon millions of dollars on these committees that have produced no results.

Let’s not forget that while there is actual work to be done in governing our country, one party has done very little to govern. They have passed no jobs bills, no immigration reform, think little of equal pay for equal work, nor proposed any fixes or alternatives to the Affordable Care Act. Instead of doing the jobs they were elected to do, they would rather spend their time pretending to be in some episode of Law and Order.

Let’s not forget that while Republicans are looking to pin wrongdoing on the Obama administration, it was the House Republicans that voted to cut $296 million from the embassy security budget between 2011 and 2012.

Let’s not forget that while 4 families lost a loved one on that day, Republicans seem to have no problem politicizing their deaths in the hopes to secure their own jobs and use images of the burning embassy to raise some money.

Seriously…right now, the National Republican Congressional Committee are sending out fundraising emails that encourage contributors to become Benghazi Watchdogs by supplying a link for them to donate a minimum of $25, all the way up to $500. On May 2^nd, Speaker Boehner tweeted “RT to share the news: The House will vote to establish a new #SelectCommittee on #Benghazi,” which included a photo of the burning embassy in the background. Maybe it's just me, but I find this to be done in very poor taste. 

But what I really feel that we should not forget is that we have thousands of men and women who serve in over 260 embassies and consulates in 180 different countries. These people deserve our respect because they knowingly place their lives on the line every day to truly serve people in some of the most war-torn and chaotic places on the planet. To use them to gain political points is disgusting…to spend the millions of dollars in forming committees so that certain politicians can talk on the Sunday morning shows, and primary conservative media outlets, instead of allocating those funds to actually put resources in place to help secure those men and women serving is revolting.

Also, Republicans seem to have a real problem with remembering history in regards to tragedies that have happened at our embassies over the years.

Since the burning of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and leading up to the attacks in Benghazi, there have been a total of 88 diplomats that have died in service. There have been a variety of causes, such as traffic accidents and disease, but the majority have died as a result of bombings or attacks.

13 died in the attack on the embassy in Beirut in 1983, under President Reagan.

2 died in that same embassy only a year later, under President Reagan.

1 more died in that same year, after a bombing in Oshakati, under President Reagan.

4 Marines were gunned down in San Salvador in 1985, under President Reagan.

9 died in the embassy bombing in Nairobi in 1998, under President Clinton.

1 died in the attack in Pakistan in 2002, under President George W. Bush.

1 more died that same year in an attack in Jordan, under President George W. Bush.

9 more people died in attacks between 2004 to 2008, under President George W. Bush.

These tragedies happen, and yes, the details of why often gets lost in the chaos that follows. We know this happens…look at the tragedies that took place in the Newtown school shooting, or the bombings of the Boston Marathon. The first batch of information that follows this kind of chaos is not always the best representative of what took place. Circumstances are usually unclear in the direct aftermath. But buying into conspiracy theories to push results that are self-serving, are not viable ways to find the truth. Yes, perhaps committees need to be formed to find out the facts (we have historical precedents for this, like the 9/11 Commission, the Warren Commission, etc.), but forming more committees just because your party doesn't like the results and the facts that follow an investigation, does not make you a truth-seeker. It makes you a crazy and selfish asshole. And this is what the intellectually bankrupt Republican party has been doing for nearly two years.

Look at what happened to CBS’ Lara Logan, when she bought into the fictional account of the attacks that contractor Dylan Davies told in order to sell his book…perpetuating a conspiracy did not lead to any new truths and she ended up being suspended. She was being hoodwinked so some guy could make a buck off of the death of 4 people.

Frankly, I think the Republicans leading this futile fishing expedition have very little credibility when it comes to foreign policy. Look at the regular contributors on Fox News who constantly talk about this as a conspiracy…these are the same folks who sold us the lie that Saddam Hussein was ready to use weapons of mass destruction, launching us into a war that cost us the lives of thousands of American soldiers, even more lives of the Iraqi people, and cost trillions of dollars. Where are the committees to investigate their talking points?

By looking for a scandal that doesn't exist, we see the true nature of some of the Republicans currently in office. They aren't interested in truth or justice, but they are interested in fame, notoriety, and doing anything to win a vote.

And that is the real scandal.

Evangelical Christianity and the Problem of Crying Wolf

There is an epidemic occurring in the American Conservative Evangelical movement.

A perceived victimization and persecution that many Christians feel has strangled their ability to openly practice their faith. A hypochondria that has seeped into the minds of a faith group that has never once had a minority status since the founding of our nation.

A December 2012 Gallup poll revealed that 77% of our nation’s population considers itself to be Christian.

How is it, then, that Evangelical Christians…the group that called itself the “Moral Majority” in the 1980’s, now considers itself to be persecuted?

The truth is that Christians are outraged because they no longer enjoy the exclusive privilege of legislating a specific faith based agenda with the mores they've been taught. This crazy democratic experiment of our nation is actually working, allowing people of all faiths to take part in our existence, free from the theocratic imperialism our founders fought so bravely to escape. But instead of celebrating this freedom, Evangelicals have been throwing themselves on the floor like petulant children who are upset that they didn't get their way.

I was recently discussing a news item with one of my former college professors, where reportedly, a young girl in a suburb of Orlando was told by a school employee she could not quietly pray over her lunch. This anecdote, to the professor, was proof that Christians in America are being persecuted, despite the giant conflict of interest that he could have easily discovered himself had he not bought into the questionable reporting done by the pundit who broke the story on Fox News. I mean, why question the fact that the father of the little girl who made the claims just happens to be in an executive sales position at the publishing company who is releasing the book that the pundit recently authored? That’s fair and balanced, right? When I pointed this out, his response to me was “They have eyes, but do not see, ears but do not hear.”

Really?

This is what I see and hear:

- Christian bookstores

- Christian universities and colleges

- Christian symbols on numerous automobiles, billboards, and business signs

- Christian radio shows, television talk shows, movies, magazines, and internet sites

- A federally recognized Christian holiday…Christmas

- Politicians sworn into office on the Holy Bible

- The Holy Bible used in legal proceedings to swear in witnesses

- Megachurches that pay no taxes

- Pastors of said megachurches living in mansions (I'm pointing at you, Joel Osteen)

- Politicians like Mike Huckabee rallying Christians to eat at Chik-fil-A as a symbol of standing up for your faith (this is about as stereotypical as it gets in America…we show our strength by eating at a fast food restaurant)

- Events like the Value Voters Summit that draws in millions of dollars in donations so politicians can brag about how Christian they are

If you stop and pay attention long enough, you can see that Christianity is all around us, in symbols and even in the expressions we use.

What’s even worse, is that when American Christians cry out that they are being persecuted, it shifts the focus from places in the world where Christians, along with all kinds of other believers, are actually being persecuted.

How many of us saw our religious and some political leaders express outrage about the disciplinary action television network A&E handed down in the aftermath of the controversial remarks that Duck Dynasty’s patriarch, Phil Robertson, made in GQ, but said nothing about the heinous genocide that took place during the same week (and is still taking place) in Central African Republic?

How many pastors and Christian organizations told their followers to stop sponsoring children through World Vision, because the company decided it would no longer discriminate against employing married gay and lesbian workers? It is estimated that over 2,000 kids lost sponsorships due to the fact that Christians were livid that a gay or lesbian person might be helping children through being employed at World Vision. If American Evangelicals are so horribly persecuted, I wonder how they can possibly justify using starving children as a bargaining chip against an organization they have a disagreement with.

I couldn't help but wonder if my former professor was equally as outraged when a county in Tennessee ruled last year that a local Muslim community could not build a mosque?

What about Father Frans van der Lugt, who served the people in Homs, Syria since 1966? Amidst the violence and civil war currently happening in Syria, Father Frans was tragically assassinated this past week.

But American Christians cry “persecution!” when someone wishes them “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” They get riled up when someone calls them out on the idiocy of their colloquial “love the sinner, hate the sin” statements. They nearly have heart attacks when our President speaks in a manner that includes Americans of all belief systems.

I can't help but feel like this is a symptom of a bigger problem. Evangelical Americans have lost their focus and are desperately looking for someone or something to blame.

Though they have eyes, they fail to see that out of their lack of self-awareness, they can only blame this perceived persecution on the selfish, imperial nature in which they have been operating. The only thing that can help them now, is a return to the instructions of their Teacher, and a rejection of the voices and charismatic leaders who profit from their sheep-like followers.