Jesus is not “your homeboy.”

“I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God. And I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.

-Richard Mourdock, Indiana Senate Candidate (R)

(Let me just make a side note that this is just another example of an outrageous comment on rape by a Republican politician. When someone like our very own Missourian Todd Akin makes his “legitimate rape” comment, it’s a shocking misstep. When it happens again and again, it’s a trend. Not a good one either.)

Since the moment the above words rolled out of the mouth of one Mr. Richard Mourdock, impassioned emotions have fanned the flames on the airwaves. The Republican Indiana Senator-hopeful has apologized for the way his words were interpreted, but not for the comment itself.

I leave the interpretation up to you, dear reader. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most of the possible meanings are bad, and none of them are good. Few honestly believe that Mourdock really said it is God’s will for women to be raped.

Mourdock has stated that he intended to suggest that the product of rape, the pregnancy, is a gift from God. Honestly, if that’s what you really meant, that’s fine by me. Christian religious doctrine holds that conception, when conceived as the start of a new life, is a product of God’s grace. I believe in the supremacy of American individualism; you can hold whatever beliefs you want. That extends to political ideology too. Ban abortion? Sure. No gay marriage? Sure. Democracy speaks.

But that doesn’t mean that this kind of fear-mongering rhetoric has a place in the American political system. It is unjustifiable to shamelessly exploit religious authority to advance political and ideological policies for the entirety of the nation, especially when it’s packaged in a statement as contentious, unclear, and prone to misinterpretation as this one. That’s short-sighted and selfish at best.

And my opposition does not stem from an blanket dismissal of religion. I have immense and utter respect for every religion, as personal belief, as an institution, and as an idea. Even if the United States is a secular republic, personal religious belief will surely inform one’s political stances. Rather, it’s this wielding of a mutated crucifix for one’s own political benefit that’s morally suspect.

Mr. Mourdock, do realize that you are doing the millions of your co-religionists a disservice by politicizing the faiths to popularize party ideology. The so-called Christian Right is destroying the perception of Christianity in American society by associating the faith with their imposition of certain polarizing policies. Even worse, those both within and outside of the Republican party strongly identify Christian belief with Republican party loyalty. That’s misleading, damaging, and a profanement of the very religion which the party claims to stand for.

Now, if a believing Christian voices their personal amazement that God can create a soul in the mother’s womb at the moment of conception, he or she is fearful of liberal ostracisation. That observant person, quietly expressing their respect for the majesty and omnipotence of God, today would be hard pressed not to be interpreted within the scope of our poisoned political landscape.

Richard Mourdock and friends are no better than the Islamic extremists who kill and oppress in the name of their religion, to the disgust of the 1.2 billion other Muslims. Actually, the Christian Right is worse: at least the Osama bin Ladens of the world don’t try to conflate their shameless exploitation of religion for political means with their supposed defense of liberal democracy.

The many observant Christian Americans who understand that legalization of gay marriage and abortion won’t lead to an invasion of baby-killing homos should be insulted that their faith is being used so crassly. Your vote shouldn’t throw the authenticity of your religious beliefs into question. Even those who genuinely oppose such liberal polices must see past the smoke screen of religious justification. Religion is a uniquely personal relationship with the divine. It is not a tool to scare people into voting Republican.

The Democratic Party would be foolish not to capitalize on this Republican-led bastardization of Christianity and religion in general. It must convince the wary that passing an abortion bill does not prevent you from not having abortions. It does however, reclaim the benefit of Christian faith from the ballot box and restores it to the believer.

Republicans, President Obama is not waging a war on religion. Take a look at the mirror.