To the editor:

When someone says, “I am a Christian and can never vote for a Democrat,” I’m shocked that the stance against abortion outweighs all moral issues central to Chrisianity and Judaism: feeding and clothing the poor, justice and mercy, compassion, generosity and kindness. I think of words of Isaiah, Amos, Jesus, Herschel, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, Rev. Barber … and most recently of Pope Francis, who spoke about the church’s “obsession” with “gays, abortion and birth control,” about “putting dogma before love … prioritizing dogma over serving the poor.” He asks us to look at what it means to be Christian, look at deeper moral teachings. For him, Trump’s family separation order was “cruelty of the highest form” and God’s creation, our Earth, precious.

The issue, I think, isn’t obsession with doctrine but rather obsession with power, right-wing religious leaders aligning themselves not with Jesus but with Trump and the Republican Party. And it’s the Republican Party consciously choosing certain issues to focus on to create enemies and rally votes. After the ending of the Cold War, their strategy for harnessing votes shifted from anti-communism to anti-gay and anti-abortion — new enemies to defeat — although there is still residue of old propaganda — naming anyone disagreeing with them “socialist” or “communist” no matter how moderate their positions, how good their actions for justice and fairness, as if Social Security, Medicare, health care were somehow a governental plot.

It’s good to say, “I am a Christian, Jew, Moslem,” and practice each religion’s deepest moral teachings.

Bernice Mennis

West Fort Ann