The new Republican Party’s values are a far cry from the conservative values of the old Republican Party where the good of the country always came before partisan desires. Team players, their World War II experiences showed them that cooperation and compromise worked best to get the job done without a lot of foolishness.

When Republicans in the past professed to be Christians, one could believe them, for their actions would have satisfied Jesus’ calls for compassion for others. But the mean-spirited and parsimonious actions of the new Republicans show anything but compassion, except for the rich.

Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven, yet, time after time, new Republicans vote for the rich over the needs of the rest of the nation.

New Republicans vote for killing health care while Jesus healed lepers and had pity on the blind. They vote to cut money for welfare while Jesus took bread and fishes from the few who had them and fed the masses.

Their attitude toward children’s education and health care makes one think that they only heard Jesus say “suffer little children” and missed the rest “to come unto me for they are the kingdom of God.”

Watching these new sanctimonious politicians’ hypocritical actions toward the majority of their fellow citizens makes me wonder — what would Jesus say about their values?

Richard Fochtmann, Leeds