Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) made her disdain for conservative Christians clear this week with multiple attacks she made on social media about people of faith.
Ocasio-Cortez’s attacks were sparked by Alabama outlawing nearly all abortion in the state this week, which led to freshman congresswoman claiming without evidence that “US religious fundamentalists” are trying to “outlaw sex that falls outside their theology.”
“Abortion bans aren’t just about controlling women’s bodies. They’re about controlling women’s sexuality,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Wednesday. “Owning women. From limiting birth control to banning comprehensive sex ed, US religious fundamentalists are working hard to outlaw sex that falls outside their theology.”
Ocasio-Cortez continued her attacks on Christianity on Thursday, mocking conservative Christians in a tweet in order to push her political agenda.
“Usury – aka high interest – happens to be explicitly denounced in the Bible (& in many other religions),” Ocasio-Cortez claimed. “Looking forward to having the religious right uphold their principles + sign onto my bill. Unless of course they’re only invoking religion to punish women + queer people.”
In a statement to The Daily Wire, Pastor Mark Burns noted Ocasio-Cortez’s claims were not accurate, highlighting that she lacked key context about scripture.
“In context, usury in the Old Testament was when a fellow Jew would charge interest to a fellow Jew. There was no requirement set for interest on a loan to those outside the household of faith,” Burns said. “For example, after the Babylonian captivity, the Jews were rebuilding their homes and needed money. There were wealthy Jews who allowed their brothers to borrow money yet charged them interest, which was forbidden in the law God gave Moses. Thus, Nehemiah and Ezra informed the lenders they must remove the interest charges, which they did.”
“This would be similar to a son or daughter borrowing a thousand dollars and the mom or dad charging interest,” Burns continued. “It is something that most families would never do. This is the same principle God established for the Jews among their brothers. They were all in a covenant family.”
“Even Christ said in a parable to take money and invest it to have more income and thus use interest or gains from profit to your benefit,” Burns added. “It is normal, however, if there is interest charged on someone who is an associate that borrows for his business. This also assists in motivating the borrower to pay back the loan back as delayed payments can increase the charges.”
On Friday, Ocasio-Cortez attacked Republicans’ Christian beliefs, calling them “far-right” and “creepy.”
“What angers me about the GOP’s attempts to turn the United States into a far-right Christian theocracy is how dishonest they are about it,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “At least be forthright about your desire to subvert and dismantle our democracy into a creepy theological order led by a mad king.”
Last month, Ocasio-Cortez was criticized for completely ignoring the Easter day Islamic terrorist attacks on Christian churches in Sri Lanka, which left hundreds dead.
Ocasio-Cortez’s silence came after many prominent figures in the media had called her out over her silence after she rushed to politicize the New Zealand mosque attacks in March.
British news personality Piers Morgan tweeted: “Twitter-obsessed @AOC posted 14 times about the terror attack on Muslims in New Zealand, but has posted nothing about the terror attack on Christians by Muslim extremists in Sri Lanka. Very odd.”
Senior White House Adviser Kellyanne Conway also called out Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter for ignoring the attacks, which led to this response from Ocasio-Cortez: “Hello Ms. Conway, On Easter I was away from tech visiting my grandmother in Puerto Rico, which continues to suffer from the White House’s incompetent disaster response. Are you trying to imply that I am less Christian? What was the point of you bringing this up on national TV?”
Conway noted that Ocasio-Cortez’s claim was bogus because she was busy tweeting about her new documentary and promoting herself.
“Hi Congresswoman @AOC. My best to your grandmother. My grandmothers are irreplaceable; miss them every day,” Conway responded. “Good that you now condemn Sri Lanka massacre. Some found it odd a prolific tweeter was silent. Following day you tweeted about your movie”
Here’s Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet about her movie:
Ocasio-Cortez then played the victim card, claiming that Conway was trying to “stoke suspicion” around her “Christianity.”
Republican strategist Andrew Surabian said that Ocasio-Cortez’s excuse was a “lie,” tweeting: “Weird, because it looks like the day after the Sri Lanka attack occurred you had enough time & tech to send out a tweet promoting your upcoming @netflix documentary…But nothing for hundreds killed in Sri Lanka? Come up with a better lie next time.”
Following the tragic white supremacist terrorist attack on mosques in New Zealand, Ocasio-Cortez mocked people of faith while championing extreme gun control measures, including banning all semi-automatic firearms.
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: “At 1st I thought of saying, ‘Imagine being told your house of faith isn’t safe anymore.’ But I couldn’t say ‘imagine.’ Because of Charleston. Pittsburgh. Sutherland Springs. What good are your thoughts & prayers when they don’t even keep the pews safe?”
Here are some of the notable responses Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet elicited online:
“Saying thoughts and prayers do nothing in the immediate aftermath of people murdered while **praying** in their house of worship is the single dumbest f***ing nuclear take I’ve ever seen on this website. Ever,” Stephen Miller tweeted. “I don’t care who it came from. She’s an over exposed child. But *of course* it came from *that* person. Of course it did. Do yourselves a favor and mute her. Forever.”
“This is incredibly insensitive to my Muslim brothers and sisters who were slain in cold blood while they were literally praying because they want to be closer to their creator and they want to become better people,” Siraj Hashmi tweeted. “Dunking on prayer to stick it to those who are religious and are legitimately praying for the victims is a helluva galaxy brain take.”
“Right on cue (or rather, Left on cue): Blasting innocent people for praying about innocent people of faith murdered by a faithless evildoer in a house of worship where people gather to…pray,” Michelle Malkin tweeted.
“‘What good are your thoughts & prayers…?’ — @AOC,” Joel Pollack tweeted. “One could just as easily say: ‘What good are your laws?’ No. Please stop.”