The Democrats are in; the Republicans are out; our problems are over, right? Wrong!
Changing political parties is not a solution; but it produces a glimmer of hope. Evangelical Christians are, one by one, beginning to turn away from unjust wars, just as the Protestant Reformation, at least in part, was a belated turning away from the Crusades.
The election defeat of so many Republicans is an emotional revolt rather than a thoughtful, Christ-like response from leadership. Whether or not you think we should “abandon Iraq,” it must be admitted that that country, with fewer people than Ohio, plus Michigan, has come to dominate our lives over the last four years. Christian laymen voted that war is an excess we cannot afford!
A Reuter’s article, U.S. evangelical support for Iraq war is slipping, by Ed Stoddard, discussed a Pew Research Center poll taken a few days before the election, which he interprets as follows:
“Support for the war in Iraq is slipping among white evangelical Protestants… previously a key pillar of support for President George W. Bush’s conduct of the conflict.”
The respected Pew Foundation poll reveals that 58 percent of white evangelical Protestants felt,
“the United States made the right decision in using force in Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein.”
But this number is sharp drop from the 71 percent approval rate in a previous poll taken in September. Note how easy it is to say “yes” to this question: Saddam Hussein has been vilified for 15 years and sentenced to hang. Who could say a good word for him? This question was clearly framed to identify the hardest of hardliner support for the war in Iraq. In contrast, the same question among “committed Republicans” showed 78 percent thought Bush followed the correct course, which was slightly higher than two months earlier.
The PEW poll also found that “only 48 percent of white evangelical Protestants now thought the war effort was going very, or fairly, well versus 61 percent in September.” It also concluded, correctly, that “nationally the Democrats hold a double-digit lead over Republicans heading into the elections.”
A lot more evangelicals would have figured out the right answer had the question instead been, “do you think we made the right decision in occupying Iraq for four years? Stoddard concludes: “This drop is probably the key to the big swing on November 7th.
The election showed us a big leak in the dike of the celebrity Christian-Zionists leaders who have misled those who follow in proclaiming “just war” ever since the first bomb was dropped on Iraq in 1991. Now Christian-Zionists are attempting to further radicalize celebrity leaders to fashion anti-Islam as the hallmark of Christianity.
The Pew poll found that: “Christian conservative leaders still stand behind the president, though more moderate denominations have expressed doubts about or opposition to the war.” Bush did not lose his support at the pulpit, but he did lose it in the pews where it really counts. The Christian-Zionist leaders are now finding themselves out of sync with those who pay their bills.
One of these leaders is James Dobson. A November 9 post election NewsMax story errantly blames the Republicans for deserting the Christian right:
“They consistently ignored the constituency that put them in power until it was late in the game, and then frantically tried to catch up at the last minute,” said Dobson, who argued that religious conservatives insured GOP wins in 2004.” Dobson lamented: “Sadly for conservatives, that in large measure explains what happened on Tuesday night,” and,” Many of the values voters of ’04 simply stayed at home this year.”
Dr. Dobson sadly misses the point. The “values” he is talking about are not “Christian values;” they are Zionist values…in support of the Neo-con wars. And the “conservatives” he complains about stayed home because they are tired of war. The election had little to do with abortion or gay rights. Why should the Republicans tie themselves to “Christians” who are illogical and inconsistent in support of a war that everyone else has learned to hate? Republicans were hammered because they could not distance themselves far enough from the radical theology of pro-Israel wars on Arabs.
Christian Right leaders, like Dobson, claim “Christian values” that allow them to support war. But these “values” are not about protection of home and property; it is about racism, racial worship of the state of Israel and racial prejudice toward the Arabs. Dr. Dobson, a psychologist, is confused himself. He cannot admit to Christian-racism, so he is blaming the politicians for deserting Christian values.
“Evangelical” leaders would move heaven and earth to prevent so-called “partial-birth abortion”, an optional procedure that can easily be replaced with an equally deadly procedure, while they simultaneously look the other way as thousands in Iraq are killed with every weapon from forced starvation, to depleted uranium, to cluster bombs–every weapon save one, the A-bomb. And if Israel used the A-bomb on Iran’s population many Christian-Zionists’ leaders would support it.
Most Republicans (and Democrats) are, as Dr. Dobson learned, cheap politicians who are consistent in what they do; it is the celebrity evangelical leaders who are inconsistent, including the recently unfrocked Ted Haggard, and are for the most part, financially comfortable mini-gods who are as inconsistent in their preaching of Christ’s words as they are in their life practices. Some resemble Nero more than Jesus. Dobson should expect to be ditched at the dance by his fickle prostitute date, the Republican Party, if he cannot deliver the votes they expect.
It is not the leaders of the Christian Right that We Hold These Truths and many like us must change; it is the church-going families that have fallen under its influence, who can change; they will change; they are changing. This is the lesson of the election.
Let us all help those in the pews understand. We rejoice when even one “evangelical Christian” turns from the excess of the Iraq non-war and from the radical race hatred of anti-Islamic Christian Zionism and its celebrity leaders. We focus our efforts on helping to bring about this change. Our arguments are framed for Bible-carrying folks who have every logical reason to change.
Sooner or later some one of the “leaders” will follow the flock and reject the apostate theology that We Hold These Truths has written so much about and that most of our advisors have personally rejected. Signs that some leaders are finally turning from Arab race hatred, a hallmark of Israeli politics and Christian Right “theology,” are in the wind.
The next issue of Pharisee Watch will feature Christian celebrity Rick Warren, who recently visited Syria because he said, a “neighbor asked me to.” Reverend Warren went there, apparently without first getting permission from the State of Israel. It appears he discovered that Arabs are human too. He found himself liking them, and said so. As we write, Rick Warren is under attack, as we have been attacked in the past.
Our message is to the deceived believers who finally recognize they are the “lost sheep” inside the apostate, Jesus professing church of the end times. We find them in evangelical churches blinking and shaking their heads just a little, as they listen to the likes of Ted Haggard, Rod Parsley, John Hagee, and Pat Robertson. They need to harken to the Apostle John who said, “Come out of her, oh my people.”
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