Jimmy Jackson The Mouthpiece Of Whitesburg Baptist

Here me well.

If you’re following my columns you know that I recently reposted an old column from 2005 lambasting the Pastor of Whitesburg Baptist Church, Jimmy Jackson, based on his public displays of Jingoism.

Jingo Jimmy Jackson Says “I Love America”

I stand by my remarks because I believe so many pastors and Church’s have taken “preaching to itching ears” to a new level. And frankly, the jingoism is dangerous. Just a few months ago, Jackson piped up again, standing in defiance of his Church’s tax exempt status, ignoring the wall between Church and State, and endorsed Mitt Romney over Barack Obama for president. This article appeared in the Mobile edition of Al.com.

Politics in the pulpit? Alabama pastors take a defiant stand

Jimmy Jackson states in the article, “God disagrees with Obama.” Do tell? Jackson points out, admittedly correctly, that many of Obama’s social policies are not congruous with God’s holy word – The Bible. The trouble is, I cant exactly find any passages that agree with Mitt Romney’s cult affiliations either, or for that matter, the growing extremism within the Republican party that is closer to neo-Nazism than Christianity. Contrary to what many people nowadays seem to believe, the two are not synonymous, and in fact they are diametrically opposed to one another.

Now I’m going to do something I don’t usually do, and I ask the forgiveness of any that may be wrongly offended by my remarks. I’m going to use some generalizations and profiling about the good folks of Whitesburg – aside from the remarks by their Pastor that are in literal print. They get to be my devil’s advocate for the sake of the rest of this column. However, it should be noted that some of my generalizations are true, if not for Whitiesburg Baptist, then for the Baptist, and Methodists, and other mainstream denominations.

Because, most of the TEA Party types come from those congregations. And, the TEA Party is mostly batcrap crazy, out of touch with reality, and pursuing policies which are not constitutional or biblical, and in fact come down on the side of neo-Nazism. The TEA Partiers have been said to be made up of two income families with each making over $50,000. Their desire to have lower taxes is as old as the Garden of Eden. And just as insidious.

They seem to think that welfare type entitlements make up the burden of the federal tax problem. That simply is untrue. The fact is the US economy is in a long term slide against the developing world, and it ain’t over yet. The fact is the baby boomers are retiring and the crush of “legitimate” social security benefits is the single biggest factor threatening the economy. Many of the TEA Party Zealots actually fit that category, or soon will. And the fact is, the United States has been acting as the world police since WWII, part of the obligation of winning the spoils I suppose, and the out of proportion military spending is the second biggest factor destabilizing the economy. TEA Partiers seem to love military spending too. In short the Zealots always seem to be the ultimate cause of the problem they claim to want to solve.

They are smart, but they are scared and backed into a corner like a rabid dog. Therefore, they have become cutthroats in looking for ways to cut taxes, and don’t mind if little old ladies don’t get their meals on wheels, or if homeless people have decent shelter, or if their sass-uppity wife gets a big job that another man could use to pay his own way and take care of his wife and family too. I don’t think selfish greed and indifference to less fortunate people is really in with God’s agreement either. Worse yet, there aren’t enough welfare type entitlements to cut that would actually save the economy. Eventually, either social security benefits, or military spending will be cut.

Suffice it to say, in my opinion, the US role as world peace-keeper has outlived it’s sanction. A nation at war, somewhere with someone, for the last seventy-five years is a nation that has been perpetually wounded and perpetually subjected to the grandiose and jingoistic propaganda required to sustain those wars. We are a country whose “patriotism” has become delusional, unbalanced and unhealthy. Our eyes have for too long been turned outwardly, and our excuses for doing so for too long have become callous and indifferent – not only to the innocent victims that often get in the way of our foreign tirades, but also to the better aspects of culture, humanity, civility, and religion and spirit, right here at home.

If we are forced by a declining economy to stand down and reevaluate the importance of money, and how much money really is important, then the sooner the better. Unfortunately, it probably is already too late to become introspective and to regain our lost soul. Every indication I see tells me we are headed to a social system that will be made of two castes, you guessed it – the haves and the have nots. It also seems that the lower caste is being staged to narrower margins than is humane and more will leave the middle class to live in an inadequate state of poverty and need – with or without whatever healthcare ends up filtering down.

In light of the current allegations that the IRS unfairly targeted TEA Party type extremist groups for abuse of their tax exempt status, it’s also particularly interesting to note another column I recently published pointing at what I continue to believe are connections to the TEA Party extremist types and the Boston Bombings.

Boston Tea Party Terrorist Bombings

This is all a very disturbing set of events, because remember, my allegations were before the current accusations of IRS impropriety. Unfortunately, it leaves me asking if the IRS actually new something was afoot, and were they really attempting to circumvent activities like what happened in Boston? It’s a question that will never be answered because it’s a question that will never even be asked. But, my my my, the coincidences do seem to add up.

I must also say, and this is part of what is disturbing, that for the IRS to single out people and organizations based on arbitrary criteria is an extremely dangerous precedent – and I do not approve of their tactics – even if justified by unannounced suspicions, any more than I approve of the cutthroat neo-Nazism of the
TEA Party Zealots.

So, back to the mouthpiece Jimmy Jackson. When I said the Church ought to mind it’s own business, this is what I meant. Are you preaching to the itching ears or saying what they need to hear? Do they understand that modern industrialism affects an economic monopoly and that distribution of wealth is not only inevitable but also a constitutional, moral and ethical issue? Are you supporting marriage by heterosexuals, as opposed to condemning homosexuality? Does the congregation understand, a woman isn’t supposed to have a big job with authority over men? Do the women understand kids don’t come first, and that husbands are the first priority? Have you offered up any virgin daughters lately to the men who burn for one another? What I’m saying Jimmy, is your own house in order?

The Church’s house is not in order, because if it were, all the political problems would be solved already. You cannot solve the Church’s problems by attempting to legislate morality from Caesar’s office. If you could, you would circumvent free will, and then you only end up with a theocracy that controls behaviour without salvation of the soul. God already understands that all flesh is corrupt. God’s interest is in salvation of the soul and that still requires free will.

And so as always, some disclaimers. When women work, they should be paid fairly and equally. The decision to make good Christian decisions ought not be forced through regulation. I do not support the liberal socialist agenda of Barack Obama. I am still conservative, always have been. Just not cutthroat, TEA Party Zealot, or neo-Nazi.