I heard on the news last night that 150 evangelical leaders (James Dobson, Tony Perkins, etc.) are gathering for a private retreat in Texas this weekend to decide collectively which GOP presidential candidate they should endorse. They decided to do this because the current frontrunner in the campaign, Mitt Romney, is apparently not Christian enough (i.e., their particular brand of Christian) to successfully run the country.
The Christian right is possibly the most infuriating group of people (from a political standpoint) I can think of. They will endorse a candidate solely based on who they perceive to be most closely in line with their religious beliefs. News flash: America is not a theocracy. We are not electing the senior pastor of your church – we’re electing the chief executive of our country. What a person believes religiously should have no bearing on his or her ability to be a civil leader.
Furthermore, I disagree with endorsing a candidate based solely on his social agenda. Funny how “social conservative” has come to mean, basically, being anti-gay rights and anti-choice. The religious right calls these “family values.” I would counter that these are not family values at all. There is nothing pro-family about not allowing legal marriage between two people who love each other. There is nothing pro-family about forcing a woman to carry a fetus to term when her own health is at risk. Now, if these are the issues upon which an individual voter casts his or her ballot, fine - that is a personal choice. But when widely known faith leaders endorse a candidate based on these issues and then ask their congregants to follow suit… that is, frankly, a misuse of power and influence.
During Jesus’ life, he purposely stayed OUT of politics. My message to these 150 evangelical church leaders is that, publicly, you should too. Give your congregants some credit. They’re smart enough to identify the issues that THEY deem to be most important, and vote accordingly.
