Amos and the Texas GOP

In October 2003, Kevin Drum discussed the alarming radicalization of the Republican Party by noting the extreme views contained in the Texas Republican Party Platform. I frequently refer to it when I teach a section on Amos in my Bible course. For all of you heathens out there, Amos is the prophet who writes about social justice in passages such as the following (5:11-12, 15, 21-24):

Therefore, because you trample on the poor
and take from them levies of grain,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
For I know how many are your transgressions,
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
and push aside the needy in the gate.
Hate evil and love good,
and establish justice in the gate.
I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

The line about pushing aside the needy in the gate refers to the court system from which the poor were routinely excluded. Elsewhere (8:4-6), Amos condemns those who "practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat." In other words, he argues for the systemic reform of an unjust society in order to prevent the debt slavery which arises when the wealthy bind the poor to their poverty by collecting payments on their high interest loans to the poor in the form of labor--payments which are never enough to get the impoverished out of arrears. The "righteous" wealthy (who all too eagerly display their righteousness at festivals and solemn assemblies) were, of course, conveniently forgetting about some of the laws of the Torah, e.g., no interest on loans to the poor (Lev. 25:35-37); debts were to be canceled every seventh year (Deut. 15); equal rights for the poor (Deut. 16:18-20). In general, Amos brings a message of equality, distribution of wealth, and social justice.

Compare his message to that of the Texas Republican Party.

Texas GOP Platform	Short Translation
The Party calls for the United States monetary system to be returned to the gold standard. Since the Federal Reserve System is a private corporation, has no reserves, and is not subject to taxation or audit, we call on Congress to abolish this institution and reassume its authority, enumerated by Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, for the coinage of money.	The United States should return to the gold standard and abolish the Federal Reserve.
Congress should be urged to exercise its authority under Article III, Sections 1 and 2 of the United States Constitution, and should withhold appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in such cases involving abortion, religious freedom, and all rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights.	The Supreme Court should not be allowed to decide the constitutionality of laws regarding abortion, religion, or anything else related to the Bill of Rights. In these areas, Congress should be allowed to pass any laws it wishes.
Our Party pledges to do everything within its power to restore the original intent of the First Amendment of the United States and the concept of the separation of Church and State and dispel the myth of the separation of Church and State.	We should completely do away with separation of church and state.
The party opposes the decriminalization of sodomy....We publicly rebuke judges Chief Justice Murphy and John Anderson, who ruled that the 100 year-old Texas sodomy law is unconstitutional, and ask that all members of the Republican Party of Texas oppose their re-election.	Gay sex should be a criminal offense.
The Party affirms its support for a human life amendment to the Constitution and we endorse making clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection applies to unborn children.	All abortion of all kinds should be permanently outlawed by constitutional amendment.
No homosexual or any individual convicted of child abuse or molestation should have the right to custody or adoption of a minor child, and that visitation with minor children by such persons should be limited to supervised periods.	Gays should be treated like child molesters and should not be allowed to visit children unsupervised.
The Party believes that scientific topics, such as the question of universe and life origins and environmental theories, should not be constrained to one opinion or viewpoint. We support the teaching equally of scientific strengths and weaknesses of all scientific theories--as Texas now requires (but has yet to enforce) in public school science course standards. We urge revising all environmental education standards to require this also. We support individual teachers’ right to teach creation science in Texas public schools.	The Biblical story of creation should be taught in science classes.
The Party supports an orderly transition to a system of private pensions based on the concept of individual retirement accounts, and gradually phasing out the Social Security tax.	Social Security should be abolished.
We urge that the IRS be abolished and the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution be repealed. A constitutional tax, collected and controlled by the States, must generate sufficient revenue for the legitimate tasks of the national government.	The federal income tax should be abolished.
The Party believes the minimum wage law should be repealed.	The federal minimum wage should be abolished.
We further support the abolition of federal agencies involved in activities not delegated to the federal government under the original intent of the Constitution including, but not limited to, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the position of Surgeon General, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Education, Commerce and Labor.	The EPA, HUD, HHS, the Department of Education, and several other federal agencies should be eliminated. Since these departments supervise all federal welfare programs for the poor and sick, they are presumably advocating the complete abolishment of the federal welfare state.
The Party believes it is in the best interest of the citizens of the United States that we immediately rescind our membership in, as well as all financial and military contributions to, the United Nations.	Get the United States out of the UN.
The Party urges Congress to support HJR 77, the Panama and America Security Act, which declare the Carter-Torrijos Treaty null and void. We support re-establishing United States control over the Canal in order to retain our military bases in Panama, to preserve our right to transit through the Canal, and to prevent the establishment of Chinese missile bases in Panama.	Take back the Panama Canal. This plank remains in the 2002 platform. Since Panama presumably would object to this, they appear to be endorsing military action to retake the canal zone.
Any person filing as a Republican candidate for a public or Party office shall be provided a current copy of the Party platform at the time of filing. The candidate shall be asked to read and initial each page of the platform and sign a statement affirming he/she has read the entire platform.	We are dead serious about all this.

In a follow-up post, Drum writes:

Most Republicans don't share these goals. In fact, the real point of yesterday's post was that while a large majority of Republicans find these attitudes absurd, most of them are in denial about what's happening in their party and pretend that this is nothing more than a weird little fringe group to be ignored. They have somehow convinced themselves that Tom DeLay — a man who rather clearly endorses the views of the Texas Republican party — is some obscure backbencher, not the House majority leader and a man with real power and real influence.

How can the true face of this party be exposed? What sort of prophet of our day is up to the task?