Jesus said to help the poor, and the sick. He did not say, "Who will not work shall not eat," as some Republicans seem to enjoy quoting.

The Christian right has been conditioned to call the poor "parasites" and "lazy." Fox host Bill O'Reilly commented, "When Christ said to help the poor, he didn't mean all of them."

Christ told the parable of the good Samaritan about a man injured on the side of the road who was ignored until the Samaritan came along and gave him assistance. Modern day Republicans pass "good Samaritan laws" making it a crime to help someone who is injured if they are undocumented. In what upside-down bizzaro world is this a "Christian ideal"?

Ayn Rand, author of "Atlas Shrugged," called Christ a hoax, invented so the poor could take from the rich. She also considered the handicapped "expendable." Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has called Rand his greatest influence, and makes her books required reading for his staff. Some evangelicals say that Mormons aren't real Christians, yet had no problem nominating Mitt Romney as their candidate. What a joke that after years of claiming "faith and values" as the standard, Christian Republicans supported the Ayn Rand, Joseph Smith ticket.

Republicans voted to gut funding for food stamps; what wasn't cut was the welfare going to their corporate masters, the oil companies, drug companies, and big agro business. If Christ fed the 5,000 today he would be considered a socialist; the hungry lazy and Republicans would give the fish to the richest Pharisees with the promise it would trickle down. I understand that any child dying from abortion is abhorrent, but I wonder why any child dying from hunger or a lack of medical treatment isn't equally viewed.

Some on the Christian right have no problem rejecting health care for others, like blocking Medicaid expansion, or "Obamacare," while they use Medicare. It appears as though some Christians have an "I've got mine" mentality when it comes to social programs, and decided that everyone else is just gaming the system.

Why does it seem as though the Old Testament is all that's pushed politically? Death penalty? Great. Anti-gay legislation? Bring it. Heath care for the sick? Food for the poor? Not our problem.

Some say the greatest trick the devil played was getting people to think he didn't exist. I disagree. His greatest trick was getting the Christian right to replace the New Testament with "Atlas Shrugged." Who knows? When some right-wing evangelicals get to heaven maybe Christ will shrug, just like they did.

Chad Solsvik is a Coeur d'Alene resident.