Antichrist Christians

It is absurd yet true that many self-styled “Christians” exemplify attitudes and beliefs antithetical to the teachings of Jesus Christ, and thus are “antichrist” (which I’m using here as an adjective meaning “opposing Christ” and not as a noun in the sense of “evil prophet” as is more commonly used).

I understand the key themes of Jesus’s teachings to be love, helping others and humility. He made a point of being kind to those most hated in his era: tax collectors, prostitutes and lepers. He disparaged the wealthy and the self-righteous, instead encouraging compassion and simplicity. Many of his parables center around helping strangers in need.

Unfortunately, many self-proclaimed Christians espouse opposite behaviors: intolerance, self-righteousness, cruelty and greed.

• Instead of helping desperate refugees who have nothing, they want to imprison and punish them for the “criminal” act of crossing invisible border lines.
• Instead of supporting equality, they want to punish and control women by blocking or eliminating access to: contraceptives, STD-related vaccines, childcare assistance and comprehensive sex education (while allowing “boys will be boys” to do as they please, largely unchecked).
• As companion to their opposition to women’s rights, they furthermore seek to punish, “convert” or discredit those who are gender non-conforming in sexual behavior or presentation, including everyone from the LGTBTQ+ community.
• Instead of helping the impoverished, they want to reward the rich with tax cuts and corporate welfare while cutting back on all human welfare programs (not just family planning services, but also food and unemployment assistance).

To be more specific, I’m talking about politicized Christians who support and vote for the Republican party, those who seem to think Christianity is particular brand of white “conservative” culture requiring “defense” (by which they mean taking offence), rather than a set of moral guidelines for shared living.

The 21st century Republican party has exploded any myth it used to maintain about fiscal responsibility (as they keep cutting taxes while increasing spending, especially military spending) and is revealed as standing primarily for unregulated big business, greed-based elitism, bigotry, Ayn Rand-style individualism* and Rand-related blame-the-unfortunate-for-their-misfortune*. The Republican party stances (and policies) are as antichrist as any institution could possibly get, and this is exemplified in their supreme leader (who my dad has rightly pointed out is anti-Christian in all his behaviors).

*From the GOP website, “Prosperity is the product of self-discipline,” which translates into the rich-deserve-their-wealth and poverty-is-due-to-laziness and is the problematic subject of my post, The Affliction of American Optimism.

Disclaimer: I’m not a Christian, nor a theologian, but I grew up immersed in Christian teachings ( e.g., summer bible camp, sunday school, private Catholic school, church at least once weekly, read the entire new testament). I believe that Christianity has some wonderful aspects and it certainly informed my own moral compass, especially the teachings about kindness and compassion. Which is why it’s so frustrating to see people calling themselves Christians who may be friendly in person, but are mean in practice. They seem to bully or blame the disadvantaged, undermine any/all movements for equality, support violence (e.g., military interventions in foreign countries / non-defensive wars) and, perhaps worst of all, oppose family planning & any type of childhood support but fight vehemently to “support” zygotes, embryos & fetuses*.

*As a side note: abortion was common and widely accepted in the time and location of Jesus’s life (ancient Rome) and, in the bible, Jesus didn’t speak of it. So it surely does not make sense for any Christian to be a “one issue voter” on the issue of abortion.

I think such Antichrist Christians deserve to be called out for their failings and their so-called religious faith needs to be disregarded as justification. To use their own phrasing, these are not “sincerely held religious beliefs”; they might be beliefs, but they are antithetical to love and compassion and are anti-Christian. Perhaps they should even be labeled “Antichristians,” since they apparently lack any interest in the cross-tribal empathy and compassion that Jesus promoted. Moreover, any compassionate “good” Christians may need to reconsider their affiliation with any Christian group where the leaders are espousing such Antichristian viewpoints.