Posted on 12/18/2004 7:37:17 PM PST by ambrose
I Am A Conservative Christian, And The Religious Right Scares Me, Too
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By Chuck Baldwin
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The Covenant News ~ December 15, 2004 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those readers who are unfamiliar with my biography, let me here provide a thumbnail sketch of my conservative bona fides:
I attended, graduated, or received degrees from fundamentalist Christian schools such as Midwestern Baptist College in Pontiac, Michigan, Thomas Road Bible Institute (now known as Liberty Bible Institute at Liberty University) in Lynchburg, Virginia, Christian Bible College in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, Florida.
I am currently in my thirtieth year as the Senior Pastor of the Crossroad Baptist Church (Independent) in Pensacola, Florida. I was the Executive Director of the Florida Moral Majority in the early 1980's. I was an active member of the local Christian Coalition.
I have marched and protested against abortion clinics. I have led several pro-life rallies and even led our church to construct A Memorial To Aborted Babies. I have conducted small and large (some drawing crowds numbering in the thousands) pro-life, pro-family rallies and meetings in the Pensacola area and in many towns and cities across the state of Florida.
When Ronald Reagan was running for President, I helped Dr. Jerry Falwell register more than fifty thousand new conservative voters in my state. I have attended White House functions with former President Reagan and former Vice President George H.W. Bush.
I supported and defended Chief Justice Roy Moore and his fight to display a Ten Commandments monument at a pro-Ten Commandments rally in Montgomery, Alabama and even on national television.
I am an annual member of the National Rifle Association and a life member of Gun Owners of America. I have been the featured speaker at several pro-Second Amendment rallies.
No one can honestly question my commitment to pro-life, pro-family, conservative causes. That being said, the Religious Right, as it now exists, scares me.
For one reason, on the whole, the Religious Right has obviously and patently become little more than a propaganda machine for the Republican Party in general and for President G.W. Bush in particular. This is in spite of the fact that both Bush and the Republican Party in Washington, D.C., have routinely ignored and even trampled the very principles which the Religious Right claims to represent.
Therefore, no longer does the Religious Right represent conservative, Christian values. Instead, they represent their own self-serving interests at the expense of those values.
It also appears painfully obvious to me that in order to sit at the king's table, the Religious Right is willing to compromise any principle, no matter how sacred. As such, it has become a hollow movement. Sadly, the Religious Right is now a movement without a cause, except the cause of advancing the Republican Party.
Beyond that, the Religious Right is actively assisting those who would destroy our freedoms. On the whole, the Religious Right comports with those within the Bush administration and within the Republican Party who, in the name of "fighting terrorism," are actually terrorizing constitutional protections of our liberties.
The Religious Right offered virtually no resistance to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the passage of the Patriot Act, or the recently created position of National Intelligence Director. Neither did the Religious Right offer even a whimper of protest as President Bush and Republicans in Congress created a first-ever national ID card in the new intelligence bill, which eerily has more in common with early Twentieth Century German and Russian intelligence institutions than anything envisioned by America's Founding Fathers.
Another disconcerting feature of today's Religious Right is its attempt to Christianize political entities which it supports and to demonize political entities which it opposes. This trend is especially scary.
When people are told that they are voting "Christian" by voting for Republican Party candidates, it is being intimated that they are voting non-Christian by voting for any other candidate. This is not only silly on its face, it is downright dangerous!
I don't remember anyone saying people voted "Christian" when they elected the outspoken Christian candidate, Jimmy Carter, President. Yet, Carter, in his personal life, demonstrated as much, if not more, Christianity than does George W. Bush. If you recall, Carter even taught Sunday School in a Southern Baptist Church while President.
However, in spite of the fact that President Bush and the Republican Party in Washington, D.C., have repeatedly supported copious unchristian (not to mention unconstitutional) programs and policies, Christians act as if Bush and his fellow Republicans have ushered in the Millennial Kingdom.
More than that, the Religious Right appears to believe that G.W. Bush is the anointed vicar of Christ. But instead of wearing the garb of a religious leader, he wears the shroud of a politico and a military commander-in-chief.
As such, in the minds of the Religious Right, Bush's war in Iraq is a holy crusade. America is fast taking on the shape of the old Holy Roman Empire and President Bush is quickly morphing into a modern day Caesar.
The willingness of the Religious Right to give President Bush king-like subservience is easily seen in the way they demonize anyone who dares to oppose him. This is very unnerving.
Are we heading for a modern day religious inquisition, this one led not by the Catholic Church but by the Religious Right? Are we witnessing the type of marriage between Church and State that America's founders originally feared?
I used to believe that liberals were paranoid for being fearful of conservative Christians gaining political power. Now, I share their trepidation.
Of course, the sad truth is, neither George W. Bush nor the Republican Party in Washington, D.C. represents genuine Christian or even conservative principles. If they did, they would take their oaths to the Constitution seriously and then neither liberals nor conservatives would have anything to fear, for the U.S. Constitution protects the rights and freedoms of all men.
Unfortunately, when the seed of Bush's unconstitutional policies come to fruition, it will produce large scale fallout economically, socially, and politically. And sadder still will be that, instead of blaming Bush's infidelity to constitutional government and conservative principles, people will blame Christianity and conservatism itself. The result of this miscalculation will doubtless be a massive tide of support for more and greater unconstitutional government, but only under a different name.
Chuck Baldwin chuck@chuckbaldwinlive.com Chuck Baldwin Live http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com
IOW, he's pissed that his ticket got less than 250,000 votes out of 125 million cast.
Baldwin's been a bit of an oddity for a very long time.
"I don't remember anyone saying people voted "Christian" when they elected the outspoken Christian candidate, Jimmy Carter, President. Yet, Carter, in his personal life, demonstrated as much, if not more, Christianity than does George W. Bush. If you recall, Carter even taught Sunday School in a Southern Baptist Church while President."
O yeah, a "conservative" who praises Jimmy Carter-Castro.
Bringing up a self-righteous bitter little man like James Earl Carter does not cause one to want to continue reading the piece.
A Westie! I have raised 12 of them! Yes they are very "terrier-fying."
One wonders if Chuck is hoping this will increase church membership.
What's not to like about this article?
Once again, Chuck hits the nail on the head.
Unfortunately, most people here will just see the name Chuck Baldwin and post some knee-jerk reactions without even reading the article.
Up Chuck! (Where's the barf alert?)
ROFL! Talk about shallow and phoney.
This paragraph alone shows me the author could care less about genuine Christian convictions in a leader.
Jimmy Carter has praised nearly every dictator and anti-Christian government on earth, while bashing every President who has opposed these evil forces.
This article is disingenous garbage.
I've heard of Chuck Baldwin. I likewise am a conservative Christian with credentials, and I in no way support what he is saying about the conservative Christian movement worshiping Bush. I suspect Chuck Baldwin has backslidden, because his statements are completely without merit.
Bingo! He needs to explain - in detail - why he believes that such things are anti-Christian. As a REAL conservative Christian, I assert that he cannot.
I don't remember anyone saying people voted "Christian" when they elected the outspoken Christian candidate, Jimmy Carter, President. Yet, Carter, in his personal life, demonstrated as much, if not more, Christianity than does George W. Bush. If you recall, Carter even taught Sunday School in a Southern Baptist Church while President.
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When President Jimmbo was teaching sunday school do you suppose he skipped over the part of the Sodomites. I wonder how he explained his support of abortion to the little children sitting in the pews?!!
Bull Shit!
We see what the Michael Moore[on] types and the "Screamin Deanies" have done to "take over" the leftish liberal democratic party. I strongly recommend referring to conservatives as just that.. conservatives. Put yourself above the divisive fray of radical right wing labels.
Conservatives by a vast majority have the morals and principles to become a cohesive, amorphous unit. It is the only way to make and maintain ground against the insidious, amoral, valueless left. Don't waste your time throwing your allies under the bus - you may need them before you think.
JMNSHO.
And what emotion does the escapades of the sacreligious left stir within your fragile psyche?
I have never heard of him before. Guess I need to do more reading.
I don't agree with Bush on every policy, and wouldn't agree with Kerry on ANY policy period!
Well, that explains alot! Thanks for the info.
Exactly WHO is Baldwin referring to when he mentions the "Religious Right"? Is he referring to a whole bunch of regular people or just a couple of guys who show up on TV from time to time? Is there an organization which calls itself the "Religious Right", or is Baldwin just indicting everybody who voted for Bush? WHO is he talking about??
This poorly written screed displays a whole lot of hand-wringing and paranoia but it is woefully short on specifics. Apparently Chuck has a problem with the Patriot Act. Okay. So he's mad at this "Religious Right" he keeps referring to for not jumping up and down and hollering about it? (I was waiting for him to mention the mythical "separation of church and state" - - that would have been a sure tipoff).
Baldwin just comes off here like he's mad that Dubya never invited him to the White House or something.
Have typically liked Chuck.
He's reducing a lot of complex stuff to simplicity. Not so sure it's so easily done.
But I know a number who agree with him.
There are plenty of things obscure and some outright hidden deliberately. Time will tell which side all of us were on at what points in our trek in terms of good vs evil.
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