Bless me, but more imporantly pay attention and fear my influence

Post reporters Jonathan Weisman and Alan Cooperman pick through the rhetorical and ideological vomit of the "religious" right to see if there is anything solid in that mess.

A Religious Protest Largely From the Left
Conservative Christians Say Fighting Cuts in Poverty Programs Is Not a Priority

Dobson also has praised what he calls "pro-family tax cuts." And Janice Crouse, a senior fellow at the Christian group Concerned Women for America, said religious conservatives "know that the government is not really capable of love."

"You look to the government for justice, and you look to the church and individuals for mercy. I think Hurricane Katrina is a good example of that. FEMA just failed, and the church and the Salvation Army and corporations stepped in and met the need," she said.

Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, said the government's role should be to encourage charitable giving, perhaps through tax cuts.

"There is a [biblical] mandate to take care of the poor. There is no dispute of that fact," he said. "But it does not say government should do it. That's a shifting of responsibility."

The Family Research Council is involved in efforts to stop the bloodshed in the Darfur region of Sudan as well as sex trafficking and slavery abroad. But Perkins said those issues are far different from the budget cuts now under protest. "The difference there is enforcing laws to keep people from being enslaved, to be sold as sex slaves," he said. "We're talking here about massive welfare programs."

The forgotten Beatitudes:

Blessed are those who trust in supply-side economics, for they shall gain access to the halls of power.
Blessed are those who oppose government programs, for they shall be given Grover Norquist's mailing lists.
Blessed are those who claim to be pious, for they shall get undue influence on the national discourse.