Joni Ernst, Dead Goat Walking
Last week, at a town hall meeting in Iowa, Senator Joni Ernst was discussing Medicaid cuts when someone in the crowd shouted, “People are going to die!" Ernst’s response was, "Well, we're all are going to die." In her follow-up non-apology (see link, below,) she stated "But for those that would like to see eternal and everlasting life, I’d encourage you to embrace my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.” She also implied that not recognizing the inevitability of death would be akin to believing in the tooth fairy. Blind faith seasoned with sarcasm.
Summary: Since everyone is going to die, we should not invest group resources in the earthly lives of those who have little. We should let them suffer and urge them to "save" themselves for the afterlife. It's an either-or proposition.
Of course, it's not either/or. You don't get salvation while ignoring the world. You can claim Jesus as your personal lord and savior all you want, but that claim carries some responsibilities in the here and now. Focusing only on salvation is like getting a job and never showing up for work.
As a U.S. senator, Ms. Ernst has achieved a position of authority that might allow her to provide for others on a large scale, serving a nation of millions. She has responded by saying, "So you'll die without health care? Too bad. Better join the club of the 'saved.'" Just another of the legions of alleged Christians choosing mammon over the god they profess to follow. Same old, same old.
And...after much deliberation, I've come to the conclusion that Joni Ernst will burn in hell.
Huh?!
Yep.
In the book of Matthew (25:32-46)Jesus refers to a time of judgement in which the sheep will be separated from the goats. The sheep will be those who, during their earthly lives, feed the hungry, visit the imprisoned, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, tend the sick. The goats are those who don't do these things. The sheep--the servers, the blessed, the righteous--shall inherit eternal life. The goats--the cursed, the non-servers? They are to depart "into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
Pretty clear, no?
Typically, I would take the opportunity to talk about patching yet another pothole in the national road of human rights, that it's just politics, that this too shall pass, that love and empathy will win out.
Not today.
Today I'm soaking in a warm, perfumed tub of schadenfreude and have no interest in trying to convince anyone of the contradiction of Christian belief and inaction. No frustration with the hypocrisy that prevents a more just society. No Judas singing to Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar "...your followers are blind. Too much heaven on their minds." Not today. Today it's just a chuckling fantasy of saying "Senator Ernst, you are a goat, and I see the flames of hell licking about you!"
Burn baby, burn.