“Don’t speak to me about your religion ; first show it to me in how you treat other people.
Don’t tell me how much you love your God; show me in how much you love all His children.
Don’t preach to me your passion for your faith; teach me through your compassion for your neighbors.
In the end, I’m not as interested in what you have to tell or sell as in how you choose to live and give”.
(Sen. Cory Booker, addressing a group of American right-wing christians
I don’t believe that right-wing Christians are nastier or less compassionate people than others; in fact, many of the Evangelicals I know are lovely people. I think Booker was being deliberately provocative here- his comments won’t prompt anyone to change their behaviour. Instead, he’ll make people angry, by implying that his audience are selfish and hypocritical.
Everyone agrees that kindness and help for the poor are good things. Its a question of how do you do it, that divides people. For the Christian Right, giving through the Church and through religious charities is more effective than a welfare state. For socialists such as myself, secular charities and the welfare state are preferable, because you can be assured that the money will not be divided to promoting a religion. There’s a debate to be had here, but insulting people is not the right way to win it.