There is no proof of faith. No matter what the GOP says.

Let’s take another look at the existential crisis at the heart of American conservatism.

They want proof that what they believe is true.

They cannot handle dissent. They cannot handle caring for the poor. They cannot handle those they view as “evil” succeeding. They cannot handle anything that is different.

This is the great irony.

Because the idea of prosperity theology completely undermines the idea of faith.

I was raised Roman Catholic, so while I recognize the salvation through the power of faith, it is tempered by the idea of good works. But for the Protestant majority in America, this is not the case. To quote Wikipedia:

The Protestant principle of Sola Fide states that no matter what a person’s action, salvation comes through faith alone. Ephesians 2:8–9 reads, “For by grace ye are saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Further, it is clearly written in the Gospels (Matthew 6:2 and 6:5) that public displays of holiness (as would be predicted by prosperity theology) have already doomed themselves:

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

I once made bumper stickers that said “Religion is not a spectator sport – Matthew 6:5”

Its meaning was twofold – both that those who claimed to be followers of Yeshua ben Yosef could not simply espouse faith without following through with it, and that such followers could not proclaim their piety from the rooftops.

And yet, and yet, AND YET.

We have these people who claim to to be the most pious who not only ignore the message of the Messiah, but ignore the central precept that faith is by definition something that cannot be proven.

These fools, these idolators, they proclaim their righteousness from every rooftop. They are the ones that Yeshua said had “recieved their reward in full”.

They are the ones who will burn.

Do as Yeshua ben Yosef proclaimed.

Follow the man who was nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change.

And be kind.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash