Bush worst thing for Evangelicals since, well, Moral Majority

Those who read this blog and/or know me, know that I have little good to say about this president. I find him arrogant, short-sighted, and anti-intellectual. I think his John Wayne-like foreign policy has created a horrible mess for America. I think when the dust has settled, historians will find Bush at the bottom of the Presidential ladder--making us long for the days of Harding and Grant.

But his worst sin is to the evangelical church.

I have not attended church for 12 years. But during much of that time, even as I disagreed with my friends and relatives in the church, I believed they had a depth of moral and theological thought. I found the Moral Majority annoying and self-righteous, but ultimately powerless. I never minded religious people engaging in politics, though I rankled at the Christian Coalition meddling in churches and mischaracterizing liberals. But I respected those people even as I disagreed. I understood that there was a depth of moral thought behind their opposition to abortion. I disagreed with their stance on the death penalty and homosexuality, but felt that they were earnest in their beliefs. My friends and relatives who shared these beliefs were serious people, who didn't just throw these things around. They tried within their ability to live up to those ideas.

But now we have W. People I respect; who try very hard to treat their coworkers with respect; who try very hard to be honest in their dealings with friends and adversaries alike; who have deep regrets about past racism and a modicum of humility about present bias. All of these people I respect. All of them now in the situation of defending someone who acts in ways that they would not allow in their children. They are forced to defend a man who allowed his campaign to allege an opponent had a black baby out of wedlock. The operative word in South Carolina was always black more than wedlock. This man who claims to follow Jesus Christ belittled a woman condemned to die; he took pleasure in the deaths of enemies; he taunted those who would fight against the American troops. He strutted, he brags, he displays embarrassing arrogance and pride, while showing no humility.

And that may not be the worst. Bush has made his Christian faith a big selling point for his presidency. During the 2000 race he noted that Jesus was his favorite political philosopher. While most people winced (is Jesus really a philosopher?) Bush won great acclaim throughout evangelical Christianity for daring to publicly acknowledge Christ. During the march to war he talked about the importance of his faith. While speaking to Christian audiences he has taken every opportunity to speak "Churchese" in a way they understand. He even worked a Christian hymn (or his speechwriter did) into the most recent State of the Union address. In the Bob Woodward book, he claims that he doesn't ask his earthly father for advice (despite having the unique position of an ex-president father who went to war in this very region), but turns to his heavenly father. After all, not only is Christianity a big selling point, it is the only justification he has for his character. Think about it. If Bush wasn't "Born Again" then what character would he have? He is simply a person with a famous name who drank his first 40 years through failed business and irresponsible behavior. He has nothing to offer.

In my days in the church, I was taught that Christians would be known by their actions. People understood very well that it is easy to speak certain ideas, but much harder to act on them. I have asked my conservative evangelical friends to give me an example of Bush acting as a Christian. If you didn't hear him tell us he was Christian, would you know? Any humility? Any treating enemies or adversaries differently than the "world" does? Anything? As of yet, I have not received any evidence of Bush's christianity beyond his own words and have observed numerous examples of him acting contrary to the faith.

So, Bush has taken a couple of thousand years of Christian theology and turned them into campaign moments and talking points. Even worse, he has turned some key Christian ideas on their head. "Turn the other cheek" has become "bomb them first before they bomb you." "Love thy enemy" has become "love thy friends and spite thy enemies." War is good, peace is unattainable. Poverty is unavoidable, and wealth is not only attainable but preferable and good. Would Jesus (as Bush sees him) feed the 5000 richest Americans and lecture the poorest on their work ethic? Would this Jesus scoff at environmental destruction and dismiss science? People who believe in truth and justice are justifying Bush's actions with the "Kerry does it too," or "Clinton was less moral than Bush." Huh?

I can handle Bush. At least partially, anyway. I can manage with a President who is cynical and manipulative--who has not thought his theology through. I am having a bigger struggle with my friends and family who contort their heartfelt faith to make allowances for this guy. I have lost all sorts of respect for the evangelical approach. It seems much less rigorous than I thought. It seems more content to take a tax cut and ignore serious theological problems. It seems more relativistic and less clear. It is willing to look the other way while Bush savages his opponents and detractors. It seems more concerned with power than with principle.

WWJD?