Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Christianism XI: It's about the political power, stupid

Former pastor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is upset with the likes of Pat Robertson, Bob Jones, and John Hagee for endorsing candidates that didn't share the same level of Christian commitment as Huckabee did. During the Republican primaries, they endorsed Giuliani, Romney, and McCain, respectively.

At one level, I have to give credit to these Christianist leaders for being politically savvy enough to place their bet on a stronger horse. It would have been virtous for them to endorse Huckabee, but ultimately not very effective. (Of course, McCain lost too, but at least he had a better chance.)

At another level, you realize what it really is that these Christianist leaders are after: political power. They want to rule over This Kingdom, and not just to save souls, but also to lower taxes, "win" the war against Islam(ic extremism?), stop gays from marrying, and criminalize abortion.

Now, you might say, they only want political power as a means to achieve deeper religious goals, so it's still inherently "Christian." Fair enough, but I still think the motivation is more political than religious, because the way in which they define those "religious" goals is through an almost exclusively political prism. I mean, did Jesus really preach against the evils of raising the highest marginal tax rate by 3%? Are you really disqualified from receiving the eucharist if you voted for Obama? I must have missed that day in Sunday school.

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