A Time For Truth

Ironically, it might have been the anti-religious HBO TV host, Bill Maher, who has best put this election into the proper context. On his most recent "Real Time" episode, Maher explained to his guests that it was time to separate the political (i.e. winning strategies) from the truth (i.e. what is best for America).

On CNN, a similar appeal was made by Harvard trained legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Exasperated by the turn of events in the tone of the presidential campaign he told viewers that it was time for journalists to tell the truth whether people wanted to hear it or not.

Continuing this theme of turning to television for wisdom, we also should mention Stephen Colbert. For Colbert has seen through the political bull for a long time. His entire show is premised upon the concept of "truthiness" where those in power wantonly disregard real truth and throw out claims with no reference to reality or fact knowing that there is a large portion of the American public who are easily swayed by such nonsense.

With lies coming so quickly (yes, often from both sides) and the mantle of religion, morality, and a specific brand of Christianity coming from the Republican Right, we should heed the calls to step outside the bounds of the presidential horse race and face the reality that truth should triumph in this election for the good of us all.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul exhorts, "... whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, ...whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue...think on these things."

With the addition of Bible believing, Evangelical church going Sarah Palin to the McCain ticket, there has been a surge of support and enthusiasm among those who claim a similar view of Jesus. Right or wrong, Palin seems to have a spiritual (and for many a gender and racial and class) connection with this large bloc of voters. No matter how she has performed in the past or how she answers questions in an interview series with ABC, she is seen as the champion of God's causes and the natural pick for Vice-President.

To most Evangelicals, it is imperative that their lives and words reflect God in order to win converts to their side. This is an admirable quality for a group of people who feel they have found Jesus and have the gift of eternal life. But in their zest to win over the unsaved, some may have lost the essence of their Christianity.

God is holy. God is love. God is truth. Whether at the daily work place, in school, at home, or in the arena of politics, a real Christian must reflect these time honored virtues. No one can doubt Sarah Palin's sincerity and life long commitment to her religion. But as she continues her rapid ascent from mayor to governor and perhaps on to Washington, D.C., all of us must suspend our inner prejudices and judge who she is by the only standard we have in these important presidential elections - truth.

Thus, when Palin tells Charlie Gibson that she was always for the "Bridge to Nowhere" when all evidence proves this assertion false, she comes short of the truth. She says she is against earmarks knowing that Alaska is in a unique position and must depend upon such money gathering. When she attempts to speak around the question of the "Bush Doctrine" without honestly saying she does not quite understand the definition, she is being ingenious. We admire her son's decision to join the conflict in Iraq yet she demonstrates no real understanding of the underlying causes of the war by telling the assembled troops in Alaska that they are going overseas to avenge the destruction of September 11.

Politically, Palin might have escaped unscathed from this first set of interviews. She was sometimes forthright, direct, and is always able to connect with the television viewer. But, in this time of trouble, politics as usual must be set aside. Truth is the measure of a candidate's ability. Truth is what is needed to avoid another eight years of a leader who although he went to church and prayed, was not ever prepared to be the President. This political choice by the American people resulted in Iraq, Katrina, and an economic destruction that is ripping away the pillars of our nation.

This is a call for all of us, Christian and non-Christian, black, Hispanic, white, and Asian, male and female, rich and poor, John McCain and Sarah Palin, to look to God, seek for truth and vote for what is best for this nation and the world. Anything short of that will bring continued catastrophe.

McCain Wins

Instant pundit analysis had John McCain the clear instant winner in Saturday night's Rick Warren faith forum held in Lake Forest, California at the huge Saddleback Church. McCain was hailed on CNN and MSNBC for his quick and decisive answers to Warren's questions, his storytelling abilities,and his overall connection to both the TV viewing audience and those watching live at the church.

However, as time moves on from the initial responses, one has to wonder if McCain will still be seen as the victor in the dueling one hour gabfests. A sober look reveals:

- McCain is quick to pull the trigger. When asked about merit pay for teachers and school choice (code for public vouchers for private schooling), McCain literally stopped Warren and screamed out Yes & Yes! No nuance there.

- McCain is playing to the farthest right of the Christian vote. McCain again did not pull any punches with his definition of conception, his support for a Constitutional amendment to ban abortions, and his opposition to gay marriage. McCain did not see any reason to pander towards women's groups, social libertarians, and other more moderate voters.

- McCain loves his military roots. McCain revealed that the most important person he will listen to in his administration will be Iraqi war general, David Petraeus. He told the Russians in no uncertain terms to get out of Georgia immediately. Once, he mixed up Russia with the Soviet Union, which would not be hard for a person weaned on the latter country's cold war dominance. Unsaid was how McCain would pay for possible future war efforts.

- McCain will give them what they want when he knows that what they want will never take hold (interpretation: Oil rules!). McCain is taking a all of the above approach to energy. He supports oil drilling, conservation, clean coal, nuclear,wind etc. Sounded good on TV. Left unsaid was that McCain has voted numerous times to withhold federal funding for many new technologies. Like we said above, he knows most Americans will not read the bottom line and like the snake oil he is pushing.

- McCain can throw out the red meat like the rest of the GOP leadership. He especially enjoyed attacking the four more "liberal" Supreme Court justices and claimed he will pick "strict constructionist" judges if elected. Once again, this was a line to the Far Right that he had their back on issues such as gay rights and abortion access.

Finally, one has to wonder if this initial faith forum will now be penciled in for future election cycles. There is no problem with two candidates discussing some of their faith and Christian values. However, what will be the disadvantage if someone from a different belief system or religion is chosen to be one of the two main party standard bearers. Will the discussion center on shared values and concepts, or become a witch hunt to demean the candidate's religion and put him or her on the defensive for most of the night. As enlightening as the Saddleback discussion was, it was a strong step toward putting a "religious test" upon our prospective president. The meeting went on last night, much was learned, but it might be quite difficult to put the genie back in the bottle.

An Evangelical Mindset II

Before writing further, I want to take just a moment to let my readers know that I myself am an Evangelical Christian. I believe wholeheartedly in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I trust the Bible to be my companion on my journey through this life and on to the next. I accept the sacrifice of Christ on the cross as the payment for my own sins and trust Jesus to be my savior and guide.

I applaud all who are proclaiming Christ's name and going out to serve those in need of redemption, those who hunger, those who need health care, and those who have been stranded by a society hellbent towards material gain. Having said all this, it pains me to see the growing Fundamentalist drift within Evangelicalism.

Those who advised George W. Bush were keenly aware of the large number of potential Evangelical Christians who would be voting in the presidential contests. These keen political consultants played up the social concerns of millions of Americans (i.e. gay marriage, gun control, abortion) to narrowly bring Bush victory in both 2000 and 2004. Karl Rove famously pushed Bush towards this base of "Right-Wing Christianity" and gambled that an inside straight would be the winning card.

As we now move from the era of Bush and Rove, the current Republican nominee is not as steeped in this religious right world. John McCain is more of a traditional Republican who increasingly has realized that without a large turnout of conservative Evangelicals, his chances of winning the White House will diminish. From keeping his distance from this group in the early months of 2000, McCain has reached out to prominent preachers such as Pat Robertson, John Hagee, and Rod Parsley in an effort to stir up the churched masses and get them excited about his campaign.

Unfortunately for McCain, the world has changed so much in just eight short years. The use of the internet as a tool to unmask almost anyone is being perfected everyday. Senator Obama learned this the hard way when the buzz over his own Pastor, Jeremiah Wright, became overwhelming and almost derailed his fine tuned presidential journey. Those on the left began to pay closer attention to those clerics who were publicly endorsing McCain; finding sound bites and video clips of these men which did not seem to fit neatly with more moderate mainstream Christian views.

So the question before us is what exactly did these religious McCain backers say and why would they hold to these beliefs. Robertson, the late Jerry Falwell, and Hagee all have seen the hand of God in man-made and natural disasters such as 9-11, the Northridge, California earthquake, and the flooding of New Orleans. These views have been widely reported before but in the charged atmosphere of this election have finally gotten much needed scrutiny. More obscure concepts such as Parsley's total abhorrence of Islam and Hagee's idea that God used the twentieth century's number one villain, Adolf Hitler, for His own purposes, have shocked many to the point where McCain had no choice but to disassociate himself with these two men.

With this background, the stage is set for our third entry in this series where we will look to the reasons that such strange utterances are being proclaimed by leaders in the Evangelical community. None of us should be afraid of uncovering the Truth. God is truth and light and if we let falsehood become widespread it can only bring hurt to the very people that Jesus came to help.

An Evangelical Mindset I

What if we lived in a nation where a book was the main source of all laws and rules? What if that book said that women should not be employed outside the home? What if that book said that women should be covered in humility and that is taken to mean that women should be virtually covered when they leave their homes? What if that book saw all other sources of religion as false and the inhabitants of said nation go out of their way to destroy all statues, temples, and even some people who follow those "false" religions. What if every natural occurrence was interpreted as the will of the one who the book refers to? What if?

Obviously many of us in the USA would take all the what ifs above to mean the world of extreme Islam. A world that hinders the growth of females and fears modern advances. A world that we would see as populated by creepy Taliban and fellow travelers of Osama. A world that we would totally reject and indeed go to war against to rid an evil scourge from the face of the earth.

But what if the book in question is not the Qu'ran but the Bible. What if the roles of men and women are intrepreted through the pages of the Old and New Testaments. What if every religion in this land that does not 100% agree with the proponents of this type of Bible based religion is seen as apostate and demonic. And what if all natural episodes are seen as an extension of the hand of the one that the Bible refers to. What if?

This second series of propositions are the views and beliefs of an extreme but large group of Evangelicals. This group has been brought into the light of the public with the recent denunciations of Reverends Parsley and Hagee by Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Many do not understand (including McCain and his advisors) the theology of this Evangelical mindset. Because of this lack of understanding, McCain has been burnt and people are wondering exactly what type of religion do Parsley, Hagee, and others actually hold to.

In an upcoming entry we will examine a bit more about this group of Evangelicals who see the Bible as a guide to all things and as the source of all laws and rules. The irony is that this group that abhors the strict Islamic religion is a mirror image of that group. That they are so important that presidential candidates would want their support and blessing is a good reason for all of us to get a grasp on this form of fundamentalist religion.

Kingdoms

The only true kingdom should be the one that belongs to the Lord. We who follow Jesus are his servants working to bring a message of reconciliation, love, and acceptance to a world in great need. Whether as a lay person, missionary, lower church official, or one blessed with a higher position, all are just caretakers of the Lord's church. No family should attempt to establish an earthly kingdom in Jesus' name. Too often the originating minister grooms his son and other family members to take the reins of the ministry when he is too old to continue. Thus we have a Robert Schuller handing his church over to his son, Jerry Fallwell's son Jonathan now pastors his Virginia church, and of course there is the current hot story: Richard Roberts. Richard took over the presidency of Oral Roberts University from his namesake dad. Now the accusations from three former professors are coming out in full public view. Stories of preferred treatment for family members and friends and misuse of precious school funds for personal use are rocking the ORU campus and causing embarrassment via cable news and other media sources. All of these ministries were started with the best intentions. But if those who build them realize that they are just God's instrument and not the owner, so many problems would not materialize. Perhaps the Catholics do have something in that priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes are forbidden to marry. There is no pressure to earn money for a family and to find cushy jobs for spouse and offspring. On the other hand, a married Protestant minister should thank God for all he (or she) has and pray even more for God's help in discerning the difference in performing ministry and providing for a family. The more one is given the more one must depend on Jesus.