"Using Christianity as a mask to conceal hatred and intolerance sells well, so why should Tea Party adherents change?"

In the current, toxic political environment that now permeates the Unites States, religion, in its most ugly forms, has taken center stage. This is evidenced in two major ways:

1) The resurgence of the so-called 'Christian Right', mainly through the odious 'Tea Party' movement.

2) Opposition to the proposed mosque in downtown New York City.

A look at these issues, and how one impacts the other, is interesting.

1. The Christian Right

Following the Republican Party's defeats in 2006 and 2008, the right decided that the source of the electorate's dissatisfaction with the party was its failure to address what they ironically call 'family values' issues. The Party, they claimed, had abandoned the so-called 'values voters,' and caved in to political expediency and correctness. This belief ushered in the emerging popularity of such characters as former Alaska governor and 2008 vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and news commentator Glenn Beck. These, and others like them, began spewing forth their own brand of religion, a strain of Christianity that its founder, revered by many as the Savior and Redeemer of the world, would hardly recognize.

At the risk of sounding like a liberal elitist, this writer would like to present a few of those annoying things the Republican Party so disdains: facts. This will be done in the context of Biblical references compared to today's issues, and the pronouncements of the GOP/Tea Party spokespeople.

Fact 1: Christianity does not promote warfare.

During her embarrassing and disastrous campaign for the vice-presidency, Mrs. Palin announced, among other things, that the U.S. military was a source of good throughout the world.

In Matthew, chapter 5, verse 9, we read this: "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." When one considers the number of wars the U.S. has started in its long and sullied history, the concept of 'peacemaker' seldom comes to mind. And if Mrs. Palin would only look to the Iraq war, she could clearly see that a nation was plunged into a years-long civil war by the U.S. military.

Centuries before Jesus Christ spoke about peacemakers, Isaiah prophesied of the final judgment. In Isaiah, chapter 2, verse 4, are these words: "And he (Jesus Christ) shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." How often has the U.S. lifted 'up sword against nation'? The list is nearly endless.

Fact 2: Christianity condemns hypocrisy.

Many of the so-called Christian right's heroes have fallen by the wayside, victims of their own choices. South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, busy with his mistress in Argentina, while his wife thinks he's hiking the Appalachian Trail, and Nevada Governor John Ensign, rushing from a prayer breakfast to his top aid's wife's bed, are two that come quickly to mind. Each gentleman did not hesitate to quote the bible, and declare his own fierce dedication to it. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, now being mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2012, was vehement in his denunciation of Democrat Bill Clinton's tawdry affair with Monica Lewinsky, while he himself was cheating on wife number two.

Did Jesus Christ ever address hypocrisy? "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" (Matthew 23, verse 13). Yet Mrs. Palin, Mr. Beck, and their assorted cohorts have been strangely silent on the activities of Messrs Sanford, Ensign and Gingrich. (Please note that the topic of adultery from a Christian viewpoint has not been presented here; this writer thinks that is sufficiently obvious).

Fact 3: Christianity recognizes the distinct rights of governments and religion.

In seeing same-sex marriage as the final nail in the coffin that holds all that the U.S. (or at least their view of it) holds dear, the Christian-right (which, of course, is neither) becomes most apoplectic. How, they scream in horror, could the liberal courts not see what religion has known for centuries?

In Matthew, chapter 22, verse 21, we read these words of Jesus Christ: "Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." One might look to Canada, where same-sex marriage is legal. No church is required to perform same-sex marriages, if doing so is against its teachings. What is 'Caesar's' remains his; individuals and Churches remain free to follow God's teachings as they understand them. This, for the benefit of all Tea Party supporters, is sometimes referred to as the separation of church and state. For more information, please refer to the Constitution.

Fact 4: Christianity encourages compassion for the poor.

A current debate is raging regarding whether or not to extend tax breaks, instituted under former President George W. Bush, which contributed to the record-breaking deficit the U.S now finds itself in, for all U.S. citizens, including the richest. The religious right, without exception, wants those tax benefits made permanent. One does not want to put too fine a point on it, but Mrs. Palin, who resigned mid-way through her first term as governor of Alaska (salary: $125,000.00), now commands $75,000.00 per speaking engagement. There seemed to be no point in serving the people who elected her, when the cash cow of speaking engagements beckoned. With an annual salary now far above the $250,000.00 limit, poor Mrs. Palin would see her taxes increase.

Jesus Christ, when finding people buying and selling in the Temple, did not ask for a percentage. In Matthew 21, verses 12 and 13, we read this: "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." He seemed less concerned with the bottom line than many of his purported followers today.

Fact 5: Christianity is not judgmental.

In Luke 6: v. 37, Jesus is quoted thusly: "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven." How much judgment and condemnation is spewing forth today from those who purport to follow the example and teachings of Jesus Christ?

2. Opposition to the Muslim Community Center

Much of the hatred of the right has now found a convenient scapegoat in the Muslim faith. The proposed Muslim community center in downtown New York, a few blocks from where the World Trade Center stood, is bringing out the worst in some elements of society.

Former Massachusetts governor and current Tea Party darling Mitt Romney has stated that the center's location should be moved. Mr. Romney, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (possibly the only thing he has in common with this writer), should recall the opposition to his own Church's decision to build a Temple in Belmont, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. One report, dating back to that controversy in 1994, relates his disdain for the intolerance of those who opposed the Temple's construction: "One particularly blunt affront has left Romney still visibly enraged months after it occurred. His jaw clenches as he tells how he was approached by a local woman after a public meeting between church members and their critics. 'One lady, who I'm sure considers herself quite tolerant, came over to me and wanted to know why we just didn't go on back to Utah and build our temple out there,' he recalls."

Yes, in 1994, Mr. Romney seemed convinced that if a religious institution wanted to construct a house of worship on property it owned, and was not in violation of any zoning restrictions, it had every right to do so. Unfortunately, he seems to see things differently in 2010. In commenting on the proposed Muslim community center, he said this: "The wishes of the families of the deceased and the potential for extremists to use the mosque for global recruiting and propaganda compel rejection of this site." In 1994, the wish of many of the citizens of Belmont was for the Temple to be built elsewhere. Construction proceeded against their wishes, and, by all accounts, no one, member of the Church or non-member, is any worse off because of it. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here, but one waits in vain for Mr. Romney to learn it.

Mrs. Palin, who has apparently been given the right to speak on any topic, her limited knowledge of it notwithstanding, decided to 'tweet' her opposition. "Twin Towers site is too raw. Peace-seeking Muslim, pls (please) understand, Ground Zero mosque is unnecessary provocation. Pls (please) reject it in interest of healing." Perhaps Mrs. Palin might consider the words found in Acts, 28, verse 27: "For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." Information trumps ignorance in the Bible, but not at your local Tea Party.

True Christianity, as taught and exemplified by Jesus Christ, and recorded in scripture, does not appear to have much in common with the hysterical rantings of those today in right-wing political circles, who attempt to cloak their own twisted agendas in its guise. Nowhere in scripture did Jesus Christ ever court the favor of the rich; no one who came to him for assistance was turned away; he consistently taught the concepts of peace, love and understanding. And he clearly stated that judgment, the evaluation of who is and who isn't a sinner, was to be left to him alone.

Anyone can call themselves a Christian; knowing what the word means is not a prerequisite for doing so. Christianity, unfortunately, cannot prevent anyone from grabbing its label and putting it on an inferior product. Those, including this writer, who attempt to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, cringe when the Sarah Palins, Mitt Romneys and Glenn Becks of the world pull out their red, white and blue Christian cloak and wrap it around their ignorance, hatred and intolerance.

Yet this will probably continue. Using Christianity as a mask to conceal hatred and intolerance sells well, so why should Tea Party adherents change? What better vehicle than the Tea Party to keep the U.S. a bastion of rich white men? Unfortunately, as a result of the publicity the Tea Party generates, the world will continue to be subjected to its bizarre ravings, and followers of Jesus Christ must strive to avoid being lumped in with this ignorant, intolerant, hate-filled group.

Robert Fantina is author of Desertion and the American Soldier: 1776 - 2006.