UnChristian Calling
By Nathan Tabor (07/06/06)
It's bad enough that, in many places, Sunday is just another day in the work world. People rush to their jobs at the mall, at the restaurant, even at the bar - never stopping to think that even their Creator took a day off once in a while.
You would think that, on the holiest day of the week, telemarketers would take a holiday. Especially telemarketers for Republicans. Especially telemarketers who hope to raise money from the GOP Christian base.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is apparently running scared—so scared that it has even stooped to telemarketing on the Sabbath. One individual recently reported receiving three calls on behalf of NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds on Sunday mornings. Even when the recipient of those calls complained that Republicans shouldn’t do their telemarketing on Sundays, the calls kept coming.
For those not in the know, the NRCC describes itself as a “political committee devoted to increasing the 231-member Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.” A noble goal, to be sure, especially when one considers the haunting specter of a Democratic Speaker Pelosi in the wings.
The NRCC website notes that, while the key sources of funding for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are labor unions, trial lawyers, and Democratic members of Congress, the Republican counterpart relies mostly on individuals “from all walks of life,” who may be contributing as little as $25 each. In other words, the NRCC is supported by God-fearing working stiffs—the type of people who value their Sunday mornings.
In the midst of the 2004 election cycle, NRCC Chairman Reynolds oversaw historic gains for House Republicans. In fact, for the first time since 1928, the ranks of House Republicans increased during a Presidential election year. Also, for the first time, House Republicans increased their majority in two consecutive election cycles.
The Buffalo News wrote of Reynolds that with his “love of legislating and an old-fashioned backslapping style, (he) has built a House career that at this point looks charmed—and limitless.” The NRCC website also states that Reynolds is “committed to a Republican agenda grounded in strong values.” But don’t those strong values include honoring Sunday and the Higher Power who made it happen?
It’s bad enough that Christians have to deal with the anti-religion rhetoric of the left. The nation’s Democratic leaders routinely show the utmost disrespect to people who pray…who believe in the Bible…and who strongly advocate the idea of Intelligent Design over evolution. A number of Democrats have made it clear that prayer in school is the worst thing that could ever befall a schoolchild. They continue to try to downplay the religious significance of Christmas and Easter. When they do pay attention to Christianity, it seems to be part of a smear campaign aimed at denigrating Jesus and other Biblical figures—witness the effort to depict the befuddled “Da Vinci Code” as high art.
Still, difficult though it is at times, Christians have learned to live with the anti-Christian left. But when an organization attempting to elect Republicans to office is willing to run the risk of offending church-goers in an attempt to raise the almighty dollar, it’s clearly a sign that things are even worse than we Christians had thought.
I have nothing against telemarketing—but it’s sacrilegious to do it on a Sunday…even if the apparent purpose is to elect conservatives to Congress. The NRCC has six days of the week to raise money. On the seventh day, let’s give the telemarketers—and the people whose meals they interrupt—a rest.
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