Grooming Politicians for Christ

LAT reported In the blue and gold elegance of the House speaker's private dining room, Jeremy Bouma bowed his head before eight young men and women who hope to one day lead the nation. He prayed that they might find wisdom in the Bible — and govern by its word. "Holy Father, we thank you for providing us with guidance," said Bouma, who works for an influential televangelist. "Thank you, Lord, for these students. Build them up as your warriors and your ambassadors on Capitol Hill." "Amen," the students murmured. Then they picked up their pens expectantly. Nearly every Monday for six months, as many as a dozen congressional aides — many of them aspiring politicians — have gathered over takeout dinners to mine the Bible for ancient wisdom on modern policy debates about tax rates, foreign aid, education, cloning and the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

I am sure that some of the Secular Humanists on the Far Left will scream Separation of Church and State and Theocracy, but I personally find it conforting that they are reading the Bible, and seeking to find answers in it.

Through seminars taught by conservative college professors and devout members of Congress, the students learn that serving country means first and always serving Christ. They learn to view every vote as a religious duty, and to consider compromise a sin.

I would not go so far as to say that compromise is a sin, but in reaching a compromise, one should always try to change something in a direction that is more moral. For example, right now we have abortion on demand, even into the third trimester. I dont like abortion at all, but there are many that support the status quo, and fear any effort to intrude on it at all. I could accept a compromise that permitted abortion on demand in the first trimester, and with severe limitations on it in the second trimester, if I could get an absolute prohibition on it in the third trimester, unless needed to protect the life of the mother. I am sure there are some on the right that would look agast at that compromise, but just look at the lives that it would save, that are now being terminated.

That puts them at the vanguard of a bold effort by evangelical conservatives to mold a new generation of leaders who will answer not to voters, but to God. "We help them understand God's purpose for society," said Bouma, who coordinates the program, known as the Statesmanship Institute, for the Rev. D. James Kennedy. At least 3.5 million Americans tune in to Kennedy's sermons, broadcast from Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Since 1995, the unabashedly political televangelist has also reached out to the Beltway elite with his Center for Christian Statesmanship in Washington. The center sponsors Bible studies, prayer meetings and free "Politics and Principle" lunches for members of Congress and their staffs, often drawing crowds in the hundreds. The Statesmanship Institute, founded two years ago, offers more in-depth training for $345. It's one of half a dozen evangelical leadership programs making steady inroads into Washington. The most prominent is Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Va., an hour's drive from the capital. The college was founded five years ago with the goal of turning out "Christian men and women who will lead our nation with timeless biblical values." Nearly every graduate works in government or with a conservative advocacy group. The Witherspoon Fellowship has had similar success, placing its graduates in the White House, Congress, the State Department and legislatures nationwide. The fellowship brings 42 college students to Washington each year to study theology and politics — and to work at the conservative Family Research Council, which lobbies on such social issues as abortion and same-sex marriage. Such programs share a commitment to developing leaders who read the Bible as a blueprint. As Kennedy put it: "If we leave it to man to decide what's good and evil, there will be chaos."

He is right

"I'm sure there are people who won't appreciate the fact that this class goes on here in the Capitol," Myal Greene said one recent evening. He glanced around the stately dining room, reserved for the institute by a member of Congress. (House regulations allow private groups to hold events in the Capitol as long as they are noncommercial, nonpolitical and do not discriminate based on race, creed, color or national origin.) To Greene, there could hardly be a more appropriate location. He considers his private faith and his public duty inseparable. Greene, the deputy press secretary for a Republican congressman from Florida, signed up for the Statesmanship Institute in part because he felt his Christian ethics were under constant assault — from lobbyists offering him free steak dinners, from friends urging him to network over beers. The seminars proved a revelation. In one, Greene learned that ministers ran many of America's earliest schools. He hadn't thought much about education policy before that class. Now he plans to fight for history lessons on the Founding Fathers' faith, science lessons drawn from the Book of Genesis and public school prayer.

I wish him luck, but I think we must first replace a number of people on the USSC first.

.... The philosophy animating Cameron's lecture — that federal law should be based on biblical precepts — troubles the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "This nation was founded specifically to avoid the government making religious and theological decisions," Lynn said. "We are not to turn the Holy Scriptures of any group into public policy." Kennedy counters that evangelicals have every right to put up candidates who vote what they believe to be God's will — and let voters judge them. To which Lynn responds, with exasperation: "He says that because he knows in a majority Christian country, the Christian view is going to be expressed by more voters. They have no problem imposing their biblical worldview on every American." Evangelical conservatives acknowledge that's their goal. And they now have a systematic plan for achieving it.

Rev. Barry W. Lynn needs to understand that the Constitution says nothing about "Separation of Church and State". That came from a letter by Thomas Jefferson wrote. On Independence Day, 1776, nine of the original thirteen colonies had official state churches. And, at the time of the adoption of the First Amendment in 1791, four of the fourteen states recognized an official state church, and in spite of the First Amendment these state churches remained existent for many years before being abolished by the voluntary action of the state legislatures, so clearly our Founding Fathers did not fear a STATE religion. What they feared was the Federal Government selecting the state religion of one of the other states and making it "THE Official Church of the United States", much like England had the Church of England which was created because King Henry VIII could not get the divorce he wanted from the Roman Catholic Church, and many English citizens wanted to be free to remain Catholic.

Early evangelical leaders were determined social activists, championing causes such as the abolition of slavery and the prohibition of alcohol. But in the 1920s, a theological dispute split the movement. The more liberal ministers pushed for continued engagement in politics — and went on to take leading roles in the civil rights movement and Vietnam War protests. The conservative faction called for withdrawing from politics and focusing instead on building up the church. "Getting into politics didn't fix anything. It just diverted them from saving souls," said Jim Guth, a political science professor at Furman University in Greenville, S.C. With the legalization of abortion in 1973, some fundamentalists began to argue that they had an obligation to try to arrest society's moral decay. "We realized we [were] having our little holy huddles but not having any influence in Washington," said George Roller, a former public school teacher who now directs Kennedy's Center for Christian Statesmanship. Ministers such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson jumped headlong into politics. They succeeded in helping to elect conservatives, starting with President Reagan. "But things haven't changed very much," said Robert D. Stacey, chairman of the government department at Patrick Henry College. "Our candidates tick off the right policy positions, but it turns out, once they're in office, they're willing to compromise an awful lot — not just to bend but to break," he said. "Now, religious conservatives are saying they want the real thing." To develop such steadfast politicians, evangelicals are building on decades of work by nonprofit groups such as the Leadership Institute and Young America's Foundation, which train conservatives in grass-roots activism, effective campaigning, even how to launch a right-wing magazine.

Sounds like a good idea, but they also need to find some people with enough money to either buy out or effectively compete with some of the major newspapers like the NYT and WaPo, and at least one of the broadcast networks.

.... "Too many programs start with the idea that if we [enact] right-wing, conservative policies, we'll change America and God will be pleased," said Ryan Messmore, who runs a leadership academy aimed at helping young Christians share their faith through the arts, the media and other professions. But to Rep. Walter B. Jones, a North Carolina Republican, it's clear the institute is "doing the Lord's work." The nation needs more politicians who take their cues from God, not Gallup, or "our morality will crumble," he warned. "We won't recognize America." Roller shares that fear. So he ended the recent class on bioethics with a plea: "Heavenly Father, we pray you will help us to know how we should respond to these issues." The students answered as one: "Amen."

Susie Madrak blogged Okay, there is that little, slightly un-Christian thing of lying and misrepresenting what you’re up to until after you’re elected, but what the hey, when you’re doing God’s work, it’s okay to cut a few corners. Jesus said so.

I did not see anything in the article which indicated anything about lying and misrepresenting what you're up to until after you are elected, nor do I recall Jesus endorsing such behaviour. Perhaps Ms Madrak is thinking about something she learned at a Democratic strategy conference.