Jesus, Guns, and Money

GORE VIDAL, THE prominent writer who died a few months ago, was anoted liberal, and he had a name for american conservatives. He called them the "jesus, guns, and money  crowd". This in reference to the seemingly accurate generalization that american conservatives tend to be very strongly pro capitalistic, stridently anti socialistic, tend to be closely accosicated with christianity, and tend to ardently support the second amendment, unmitigated.

To vidal, and perhaps to others, this combination seemed a bit, shall we say, incongruous. Did the Son of Man not preach weaponless pacifism, and absolute sharing of wealth? Turn the other cheek, render unto caesar, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give unto the poor, and so forth.

It seem plain enough. The explanation to this seeming contradiction of values might be found in the nature of consrvatism itself. nConservatism embraces the status quo. Conservatism resists change.In any culture, and country, the "establishment" is the conservative status quo.

And, in this country (U.S.A.) the establishment is christianity, capitalism, and the second amendment. These values are never seen as contradictory or inconsistent.They are bulwarks of the statuw quo, and are what they are because they are tried and true, proven effective, unassailably true.

Those who succeed greatly financially are being rewarded becuae they are good christians, devotedly, unswervingly following the man who preached a message of voluntary poverty. (sell WHATSOEVER thou hast, and give.)

Ironic, that the most liberal person in human history is most admired by the least liberal humans among us.