My mother-in-law got a flyer in the mail from her church.

It instructed her to "go out on Tuesday and vote your Christian values." Lest there be any question as to what this implies, her church regularly passes out flyers from Focus on the Family, organizes trips to the statehouse to "stand up for traditional marriage," etc. My mother-in-law is an Evangelical Christian (and voted for Kerry and Obama), but this bothers her. She feels, as I do, that politics and religion should not mix. Makes for bad politics and bad religion, to say the least. This was the last straw for her, and she is going to mail the flyer back to the church, tell them to take her off their mailing list, and find a new church.

I told her to mail it back with this note:

"Dear Pastor XXX,

I received your flyer instructing me to vote my Christian values.

I did.

I voted for the party that believes the Earth, a gift from God, should be cherished and taken care of.

I voted for the party that believes that if a person is sick, we should help them get health care.

I voted for the party that believes that if a person is hungry, we should help feed them.

I voted for the party that believes that if a person is cold, or tired, we should help them get clothes and shelter.

I voted for the party that believes that war is not the answer.

I voted for the party that believes that we should love people for who they are, not hate them for who they are not.

I voted my Christian values.

I voted for the Democratic Party."

That was beautiful.

All of them on everything they own except the chruch and the ground it's bulit on. The Vatican would owe a ton in taxes and that's just one of the many.

"I can't believe how many times Republicans violate Christian teachings. They sure don't follow the teachings I learned as a child or as an adult."

Then, I leave it for them to think about and they usually come back with a statement that they agree...it is against Christian values.

I doubt they vote Dem, though.

I don't know how the Repubs managed to kidnap Jesus. They miss the whole love your neighbor thing yet think that they speak for him. I wish he'd come back every decade and give us a report card...