Christianity and Conservatism vs. Republicanism
Rich Men North of Richmond has hit a nerve
Psalm 37:12-20
12 The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword
and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.
18 The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
19 In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish:
Though the Lord’s enemies are like the flowers of the field,
they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.
Chris “Oliver” Anthony (Oliver was his grandpa’s name) just released his protest song Rich Men North of Richmond. In it, he attacks our political elite and criminal class. But he doesn’t call them liberals and he doesn’t call himself conservative. In fact, he later posted a video saying “I’m disappointed… it’s aggravating seeing people on conservative news try to identify with me like I’m one of them… like we’re buddies… fighting the same struggle… presenting the same message… certain people want to ride the attention.” He’s not conservative, but he’s got some inherited principles.
He goes on, “It’s funny seeing it at the (GOP) presidential debate, cause I wrote that song about those people… that song has nothing to do with Joe Biden… It’s a lot bigger than Joe Biden… that songs about… them… I hate to see that song to be weaponized… I see the right trying to characterize me and one of their own and the left trying to discredit me. That shit’s gotta stop… It’s not a conservative responding to the song… It references the inefficiencies in the government… This isn’t a Republican and Democrat thing… I’m a nobody, it’s my belief that divine intervention put me in this position at this place and time.” But he’s using conservatism to sell populism.
In an interview with Fox News, he said “I don’t see this country this country lasting more than another generation the way we’re headed… We gotta go back to the roots of what made this country great in the first place, which was our sense of community and our… we are the melting pot of the world… that’s what makes us strong is our diversity…” NO. What made us strong was our faith is God. Period. If he doesn’t get that fact, then he can sing folksy music all day long but he’s missing the boat. This is the problem with truth — even a blind squirrel can find a nut — you can say the truth, but you may not know why it’s true. And that is the danger of our era, people cheer for true things while drinking our beer, but they don’t fight for the Truth.
Anthony talks Christian and he reads scripture (the Psalm 37 passage above), while he’s cussing and swearing in his songs. That’s what real country folk songs do. Doug Wilson rejected the foolish Christians who didn’t appreciate his language with a “Good grief!” Look we get it, we’re mad and we all swear when angry. We’ve got some choice words for these fools, even in our minds if not with our tongues. Yet, most of us have learned how to control it in our personal life. When you write a song you get a pass. But Anthony doesn’t really want to be associated with any church. He is sketchy. He’s not supporting the lying Republican party that claimed to support Christian principles for the last 50 years. Republicans sold out Christians for years. They don’t do what they say they will, and that should make us mad.
But liberals won’t say what they do. They lie to middle-class Americans and tell them to trust liberals. They say “we’ll take care of you” as they tank the economy, rip us off, and celebrate debauchery. Epstein was a Democrat donor! He was tied into the liberal perversion racket that sucked in spineless Rockefeller Republicans to the blackmail scheme so they would run the controlled opposition while selling us out. That’s the game! Anthony is the red-neck blue-collar American that Trump appealed to. But he’s not wearing a MAGA hat or spreading the gospel. So, what the heck is going on!?!?
We live in an era where people need to understand why we believe what we believe.
Conservatism is not Republicanism. But Christianity is by definition conservative. The church must conserve orthodox doctrines and God’s commands. These truths have been passed down in the Word of God over generations. We cannot play fast and loose with the Bible as liberals (which is word game for libertines) and progressives (which are really retrograde petty tyrants) do. Listen to me: These are wicked men and women who always lie. Libs and RINOs work together. They are not what they say they are, and we must resist their evil influence. Our religious traditions and holidays (feasts or holy days) should be used to remember our past and how God provided for us. We’ve lost our sense of God’s hand in history. Biblical commands must guide our laws. Those truths are what this country was built upon, not pluralism.
Here’s the real question many people fear asking: Do Democrats really worship God? Do they submit to the Lordship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Because if they did then they wouldn’t cheer for abortions, homosexuality, and perversion. They would truly care about justice for all, including our unborn neighbors and their eyes would be open and they would see… Jesus said, “This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them’” (Matthew 13:13-15).
The main reason I ask this question is because, I don’t trust Republicans. But I despise what Democrats have done to this nation. We must fight for the GOP and free it from our enemies. I attribute most of our problems with Democrats to weak Republicans who did nothing to stop evil people from destroying this country. And Oliver Anthony sings songs about corruption that we want to sing along with, but we need to know why this is happening. This is a spiritual war, and spiritual warfare takes place in physical reality with real people. We are the battleground. Our hearts, minds, and souls are the front in this eternal war.
We need to appreciate the fact that our conservative ideology is only as good as the Christian faith that we conserve. Republicans can go to hell if they will not stand up and fight for truth and justice. If they claim to know God and slander our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with their lies, then they are worse than an unbeliever. Therefore, this new world may require new approaches to our political discourse and policy. Business as usual just ain’t good enough anymore. And now I sound like a dude with a beard and guitar railing against those Rich Men North of Richmond.
But I know why I sing and shout, and what I’m talking about.