I have often been mystified by how some people justify the most base or hateful acts with religion. That seems to be the case with two truck driver Ken Shupe, 51, who was called to an accident where he found a disabled woman, Cassandra McWade, next to her car. He was reportedly preparing to tow the car when he spotted a Bernie Sanders sign in her Toyota Camry. He then announced that he was a conservative Christian and would not help her because she supported Sanders.
McWade was was hit by a tractor trailer the front of her car. McWade has psoriatic arthritis, impaired mobility, early stage Crohn’s disease, severe fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Her car would not start after the accident and was moved to the side of road when Shupe of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, arrived. That is when things took a turn for the worst. He is quoted as saying “I’m a conservative Christian, I’ve just drawn a line in the sand . . . I’m not going to associate or conduct business with them.”
He later insisted that she was not in any danger and was “sitting there in a very safe area … with her air conditioning on.” Curiously, while denying that he knew she was disabled, he insisted “there’s a huge difference between being disabled and drawing disability.” Yet, he said that, had he known, he might have stayed with her but still would not have helped her. In a curious attempt to show principle, he noted that he would also have abandoned anyone with a Clinton sticker.
Shupe said he supports Donald Trump “110 percent” even though he first supported Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee. He says that the last couple of times that he served someone from this political viewpoint, he was stiffed — a rather bizarre and sweeping claim. There is no cognizable difference in the degree to which conservative versus liberals tip or give to charity, for example. To put it bluntly, there are jerks of every political stripe. Saying that you once met a couple of stingy Sanders supporters is hardly a basis for a refusal to help anyone with liberal views. Moreover, Shupe not only said that he would refuse to help a Clinton supporter but reportedly stressed that he is a religious conservative.
As for being a Christian and abandoning a woman on a roadside, that is something that is well covered in the Bible when you are asked to treat others as you would wish to be treated. Then there is this:
John 4:20-21 ESV
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Dear Sanctimonious Progressives who are Stunned and Amazed at this Uncivil Abandonment of Basic Human Principles of Good Will and Fairness by Small-Minded Filthy Petit Bourgeois Partisan Whores:
Sucks to be you!
Sincerely,
Conservatives
P.S. Please stop keying our cars. Thanks!
Paul
He said himself it was a religious stand, not a political one. And if you are doing business with the public in America, then you don’t have a right to refuse people. We pretty much settled that at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in the 1960’s. And we ain’t going back.
phillyT – did you not read the title of this blog. He refused to service her after seeing the Sander’s sign and being told her garage man would pay him. Pay attention to the article.
People who think that there is no difference in tipping between liberals and conservatives have never delivered during campaign season when candidate’s signs are legion.
david
You’ve presented an interesting idea that Fox was responsible for identifying the tow truck driver as a Christian. I’ll have to begin watching to see if they identify the religion of all subjects. I can see it now, Joel Cohen, a jew, was the victim of a hit and run. Or maybe we will read, Dreet Patel, a hindu, foiled a bank robbery today. Then again, I expect we will be reading Ron Chu, a buddist, tripped and broke his ankle at Walmart. Or maybe, Tracy Huston, an atheist, home was lost in a tragic fire.
Is that the way Fox is doing it now, david?
Paul – well, I honestly know that someone stuck one on my parents´ car. My mom called the local Democratic campaign office to ask if they knew who was putting bumper stickers on cars but they said that they hadn´t even had any bumper stickers made at that time yet.
Riesling – I have heard of people putting campaign signs in people’s yards without asking permission, but this is a first. I don’t doubt you, though. Socialists always want someone else to do their work.
This February someone in Florida put a” Bernie Sanders for President” bumper sticker on my parent´s car. They´re not for Bernie, but they´re keeping the sticker on because they´ve met so many nice people from both political parties who are astonished that they would support Sanders!
Riesling – are you honestly saying that Bernie supporters are defacing random vehicles?
There was someone in need. Kindness shown could have made whoever to change who they supported. That kindness could have pulled a person away from Bernie Sanders who is soft toward people who want us to be dead.
This is the typical modern American conservative christian.
Has not read the bible.
Does not follow Jesus’ teachings
Thinks that being “saved” is a free pass for all behavior
Thinks that god hates the very same people he does
Where are all the “true” christians denouncing this kind of behavior?
phillyT – his was a financial and political stand. He has that right. At least he does today. I remember an attorney I used to work for who said he gave up representing socialists because they never paid.
davidm:
I sometimes find your comments thought-provoking, but your observations on the tow truck incident are not an example. First, Fox is not the only news source for the story. It has appeared in a number of venues, and the statement attributed to him by Prof. Turley is an accurate quote. The gentleman raised the issue of religion himself, likely because he has bought into the stupid notion du jour that “deeply held religious convictions” provide lawful cover for religious bigotry.
Second, the comparison you attempt to draw between this situation and an identical set of facts substituting a black driver is merely silly. If the hypothetical black driver said that as a black person he “drew a line in the sand” at aiding a Sanders supporter, he would nevertheless be a bigot. But if he asserted that the basis for his refusal was the color of the prospective customer’s skin, we would properly label him a racial bigot.
Third, your comment buys into the nonsense that Bernie Sanders believes in state ownership of the means of production. He doesn’t, of course, and you ought to know better. He is, like most social democrats, someone who believes that certain services, such as healthcare, should not be left to the vagaries of the free market. One can agree with that view without being a socialist. More to the point, the last time I checked, socialists were entitled to equal participation in the social, civic and mercantile life of the nation. And, for what it’s worth, democratic socialism is not incompatible with Christianity, except among a few benighted branches of fundamentalism that regard capitalism as biblically mandated.
Fourth, in the course of practicing law for over forty years, I have had the dubious honor of having been stiffed on occasion by members of all of the Abrahamic faiths, a smattering of agnostics and atheists and at least one Hindu. So what? Such experiences are meaningless as predictors of behavior. We treat generalizations as false precisely because anecdotal evidence is an insufficient basis for universal conclusions.
Fifth, I am not sure that I agree with your view that the tow truck driver’s actions were lawful. I regard the business of providing emergency services as one that ought to be available to anyone possessing a demonstrated need and the ability to make reasonable provisions for payment. I cannot speak to North Carolina law on the subject, but I can make a compelling case under the common law.
Finally, your gratuitous comment concerning same-sex marriage and the Supreme Court lends nothing to the conversation. You have repeatedly expressed your opinion that homosexuality is a “lifestyle” choice, that there is a “homosexual agenda” and that all of it violates natural law. I strongly disagree with your natural law arguments and conclusions. But neither your opinion nor mine, nor the Supreme Court’s, on same-sex marriage have any bearing on the issues raised by the story.
Mike A – the fact that he does not want to help someone who is a Sanders backer does not show he is a bigot, rather it shows good taste.
Yoo Hoo! Where’s Karen?
We need to advise her that she now has another infamous British “No Go” Zone.
London just elected a Muslim mayor!
I look forward to her updates on the implementation of sharia law in London.
Gotta watch closely folks.
Free Speech blog just disappeared a comment.
Perhaps we can call this another illustration of how conservatives react to other’s opinions.
KC
You have a real future in the Republican party.
Aim high. Go for Chairman of Insuring Peace, Love and Harmony.
You’re a shoo-in.
The revolutionists on the left have fomented tribalism and balkanization.
They cannot complain when their wish comes true (just not in a way they expected).
We’re nigh on civil war between the nationalists and the communists, producers and takers, America-firsters and transnationalists.
This little salvo is the least of your worries.
I don’t blame Jodi Foster for the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan.
There are bad people who belong to both major parties, and who cite politics for their motivation. I, personally, have been called the most vile names by Liberals because I oppose Obamacare, or ultra Leftwing policies. And yet I do not blame Obama for that. And if we’re going to criminalize hate speech or discrimination based on politics, then everyone in the main stream media, and blogs and universities across the nation will be crammed into prison.
“To put it bluntly, there are jerks of every political stripe.” Although the context of this comment was in reference to tipping, it actually applies to the tow truck driver himself.
This driver was utterly and completely wrong. And if he cited his religious and political beliefs as a reason to leave a lady stranded on the side of the road, then clearly he didn’t actually understand the Bible. This was a safety issue. She could have been hit by a car while stranded on the side of the road. Conservatives and Liberals alike volunteer to help out during natural disasters. Perhaps we should remember that when faced with a human being in need of assistance.
I am curious why do conservatives behaving badly make the news when Liberals behaving badly do not?
I first came across this story elsewhere. Religion comes into it because the tow truck driver argued that his refusal to assist the motorist was dictated by his conservative Christian opposition to her assumed political beliefs. But I do not find the story the least bit surprising. This is an example of the absurdities one can expect when religious beliefs are presumed to exempt the believer from the customary civil obligations one would suppose accompany social intercourse in a pluralistic society.
Mike A – regardless of his stand, it is protected speech.
David
You ask why religion was brought into it.
The tow truck driver felt it important that we know he is a christian. His initial statement grounded his decision to abandon the woman based on his Christianity. Perhaps he picked up that idea at church? Or maybe he found it in the New Testament? Who knows? Anyway, this was before he became aware that his story went viral and he was looking like a jerk and he figured out he needed a better reason – like socialists don’t pay their bills.
HenryS, the original story, which was reported by Fox News, did not quote him telling the lady that he was a Christian. It simply described him as a Christian. So I am somewhat skeptical about what he actually said. Nevertheless, if he described himself as a conservative black man, are we going to make a big deal about him being black? If someone did that, we would call that person a bigot. Seems like some religious bigotry going on here about this story.
In any case, he did not want to serve her because of her political affiliation and the fact that she was not going to pay him for his service. The mother said that their mechanic was going to pay him. He had been stiffed before from Bernie supporters, so he felt he wanted to make a stand and tell her to call the government to come tow her vehicle because that’s what socialism is about, having the government own all the businesses. I certainly would not have done what he did, but he had a civil right to take that stand if he so chose to do so. What he did was morally wrong but not criminal. It is just like homosexuals engaging in same sex unions. They are morally wrong to do so, but it is not criminal. This is the new morality of our society thanks to the Supreme Court.