"especially republicans" - don't know how biased or slanted this statement is... But to say Republicans as a whole don't care for the extremely poor is terribly ignorant. Its like saying all pizza's are pepperoni or something.. just isn't true.
"Christians seem more bent on telling people what they can't do as opposed to helping the needy" - it is sad that there are many who take a single verse out of context and use it to tell others whats right and wrong but again this isn't always the true picture of how Christ has called us to live.
"Christians as a whole obviously don't practice what they preach." - Again with the grouping all Christians into a single stereotype... And to an extent I would actually agree with you. We are called to live as Christ, perfectly, but all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of GHod (Rom 3:23). This is why there's Grace. We fail, and beg forgiveness. Christianity is the only religion that doesn't base acceptance into heaven or some higher place on how good we are. We are simply asked to repent and believe (Mark 1:15). The good works will come as a fruit of our faith.
"I still can't believe that around 3/4 of the country is Christian" - I could only dream this were true. There's not a chance of this. Many claim such, but in no way live out their lives in fear and trembling (Phil 2:12). I could claim I'm an NBA center averaging a triple-double every night but that's just not true now is it?
"Republican candidates have created a separate reality for themselves, but they've also projected their demons onto others outside their plastic-wrapped veneer." - lols at how slanted you are. was poetic though
VolSpur, I am typing with a wide brush... er, you know what I mean!
However, I still stand by what I said. The reason I'm generalizing is that it would take too long to rehash my arguments from other threads, but I will do so now since you've brought it up. Here's what I've seen from our Congress to illustrate my point.
When talking about the budget, Republicans have been over-eager to cut safety net programs. The Paul Ryan budget plan is a joke. Admittedly, Bush added some power to Medicare, but I'm talking about Republicans post-Obama.
Basically, Ryan's budget plan looked to slash lots of social safety net programs. Republicans have entrenched themselves, using obstructionist tactics (such as the filibuster) to ensure Democrats do not gain any political victories. I think they've threatened to let our government shutdown twice now. Why? The first time, it was to preserve tax-cuts for the wealthy. The second time was disaster aid. I have no respect for most politicians, but especially those that are willing to hold essential government programs hostage while Americans suffer.
And by the way, I'm not a Democrat. I'm a liberal, but I am unaffiliated.
The Tea Party is a largely neo-conservative, Christian movement. They're easy to pick on because of their extreme-right views. However, after the 2010 elections in Congress, many Tea Party-affiliated politicians were elected and had some sway in dictating Republican strategies in Congress.
As for Christians, I think I pointed out that there are of course some that do good work and give to their communities. I used to attend service at a church in Cambridge, MA, that gave back to the community and whose members were genuinely nice people.
Needless to say, my beliefs have changed in the past few years. I don't mean this as an attack on all Christians, so I apologize if it came off like that.
Which begs the question: if the US is roughly 3/4 Christian, why are there so many assholes? Again, I'd say politicians are the snakes here (to use a Christian analogy), who are shameless in maintaining their power while padding themselves and their cronies. Again, not ALL politicians are bad, but I'm convinced that many are.
Politicians can use divisive issues and the media constructs these issues in a way such that both sides have merit. Are you really going to tell me the Earth was created 6,000 years ago, with all the inhabitants co-existing all at once? Well, that's what loads of people want to teach in schools (either alongside evolution, or in place of it).
A study from 2009 found that roughly 60-75% of Americans self-identify as Christian. 83% identify with A religion. Now, how many of those are ACTUALLY Christian will be impossible to tell.
Do you think that citizens have the right to tell other citizens whether they can get an abortion or not? Or whether homosexuals can get married? I'm sure you will find a few Democrats that think that way, but an overwhelming majority of people that actually DO think they hold that right are conservatives.
I'm not putting all the blame of our nation's problems on conservatives, but if you think that I am slanted just because I am slating what conservatism means in America in this day, then just read the news and see what Republicans are in favor for (small government, large defense budget), and more importantly, what they are against (birth control, social safety net programs, public education, science, facts).