Chris Jepson: Might too, all conservatives

Wow! What a challenging month June was for conservatives. The Pope came out for cleaning-up Earth’s environment, gays can marry, Obamacare upheld and abstinence-only sex education took a hit. Whew! Will America survive?

Oh, my! Bristol Palin, that paragon of virtuous abstinence finds herself, yet again, in a family way, sans husband of course. As you recall she became pregnant as an 18-year-old in 2008. She was quoted as promising In Touch magazine in 2010, "I'm not going to have sex until I'm married. I can guarantee it.” She then scored a $262,000 contract as the national abstinence spokesperson for the Candie’s Foundation. Alas, she’s again pregnant. How does one achieve “that” without sex? It’s a miracle! Rumor has it she’s to become the national spokesperson, the new face for Promise Keepers, as inspiration to those righteous lads to stay on the, uh, straight and narrow.

I need some help on the gay issue. Here’s my problem. I’ll describe it as Cherry-Picking the Bible (CPTB). I understand there are some Biblical passages (see: Leviticus 18 and 20) condemning the practice of homosexual behavior. Here’s the challenge as I see it: If the Bible is, indeed, the word of God, why are not all His declarations embraced equally and unequivocally? If God determined homosexual behavior unacceptable, why is that verse embraced by Evangelicals when, oh, let’s see, Exodus 35.2 (death for working on Sunday) or Deuteronomy 22:13-14, 20-21 (the woman you marry turns out not be a virgin – stone her to death) or Leviticus 20:9 (your child dishonors you – death for that child) are not?

What’s going on is CPTB. It is perfectly okay to condemn homosexuality from the church pulpit. I do not understand, however, this dichotomy, this CPTB practice by religious conservatives of embracing certain Biblical verses (they agree with) while ignoring others (What? Some are not applicable to modern times?). Would an educated reader please let us know how this circle is squared? How CPTB has become standard operating procedureiand God’s okay with that.

The Pope indicted our economic system as skewed to the wrong values, that we’re polluting that which is sacred and that it is the world’s poor who bear the brunt of this “injustice.” I have no problem with the Pope’s assessment. It’s a refreshing and candid evaluation of where we (the human race) find ourselves today. I applaud the man for his courage and, quite frankly, worry for his safety. He’s bucking a lot of entrenched “interests” on this one.

I disagree, however, that population control is not at the heart of any solution. We need fewer, not more mouths at the trough.

The Supreme Court just handed Republicans a victory on Obamcare. Imagine the upcoming 2016 elections if 6 to 7 million Americans had lost insurance coverage. Republicans would have been relentlessly hammered by Democrats on the issue. This way the GOP can deplore an imperial run-a-muck Supreme Court and Obamcare without offering any viable health care alternatives. “Whew,” went the national Republican leadership. “We dodged a self-inflicted bullet!”

And finally, say "Hasta la vista" to D-I-X-I-E as Confederate flags succumb to the reality of what they represent. Imagine if Germany still flew the Swastika. Comparing tragedies is always a challenge but 400 years of immoral slavery and racist Jim Crow laws ranks right up there in the history of our species. It’s over. You lost. Time to move on.

Might as well too, all conservatives.