SOULLESSNESS OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

By Akin Ojumu

Five people, including an 8-year-old boy, were murdered, execution style, by an AR-15 wielding drunk maniac in Texas last Sunday. These were innocent souls who were in their own home and minding their own business. Their only crime was for the misfortune of being next door neighbors to a man possessed of evil and armed with a military-style assault rifle.

As the Governor of the State, you’d expect compassion, empathy, and kindness to be shown to the family of the victims. Instead, Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, prioritized political expediency over human decency. The Conservative Christian chose to dehumanize the victims rather than sympathize with them. 

In a statement posted on Abbott’s official twitter handle, the Republican Governor announced a reward for information regarding the shooter. Then, he called attention to the immigration status of the shooting victims.

“I’ve announced a $50K reward for info on the criminal who killed 5 illegal immigrants Friday. Also directed #OperationLoneStar to be on the lookout,” the statement read.

Instead of empathy, a man who often touts his Christian faith as a building block of his political values, decided to strip the poor victims of an inhumane carnage of what remained of their humanity. 

Scared to death of offending his gun lobbying political benefactors, Greg Abbott, the “Christian Conservative,” diminished the sadistic killings of these five human beings by drawing attention to the illegality of their immigration status.

Since the victims are “illegal immigrants,” Abbott is simply telegraphing to his supporters that these people are less of a human being, their deaths don’t matter all that much, and do not deserve to be mourned as you would “real Americans.”

Here is a man, Greg Abbott, who passionately described the importance of religion and faith in his life in an interview he gave 8 years ago.

“Religion and faith have been part of my life from the very beginning. My grandfather was a pastor in the countryside of Texas where I grew up, and so it’s been just a natural part of my life that has continued through life’s events such as when I was in the Boy Scouts, which was another great connector. When I was a teenager, candidly I drifted away a little bit. But then I was brought back into my deep religious beliefs when I was in college, when I met a young woman that I used to attend church with a whole lot.”

Yet, this man, who claims his faith shaped who he is and who’d like us to believe he listens to God for guidance, has demonstrated nothing but faithlessness and cruelty throughout political career. Governor Abbott’s politics is devoid of Christian compassion and his policies are short in Godly affection.

It’s impossible to reconcile the religious sentiments expressed by Governor Abbott with his denigration of 5 people whose lives were senselessly and prematurely terminated by a gun-toting maniac. True Christianity will not debase the victims of gun carnage by releasing a statement that labelled them as “illegal immigrants.”

While Greg Abbott and many of his fellow Republicans may claim to be Christians, you can’t look at their lives and what they do and not come to the sad conclusion that these people do not have Spirit of Christ in them. 

You can’t be a Christian and put out the statement that Greg Abbott released. No true follower of Christ will bring up the immigration status of innocent victims of a mass shooting.

“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

No matter how often or how loud they say it, Greg Abbott and his fellow Republicans do not know Christ and are not disciples of His. These spiteful white nationalists are soulless religionists masquerading as Christians. These people are filled with cruelty, and they reek of hate. They do not share or represent my faith.