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SEDUCED BY POLITICS: THE IDOLIZATION OF
CONSERVATISM
November 2005
By Bruce T. Gourley
I grew up in a family of
faith that demanded honesty, truth and integrity, both in private life
and in public. Not only did I grow up in a family of faith, I was
raised in a conservative family of faith. Truth was at the
heart of a conservative faith. The Bible was ultimate Truth. I was
taught to obey the Bible, no excuses allowed.
The Bible clearly prohibits
the telling of falsehoods. In my family as a child, the penalty for
telling a lie was a whipping; no ifs, ands, or buts. In my church,
lying was viewed as a sin, and unless sin was admitted and forgiveness
sought, the penalty could be estrangement, if not complete removal,
from the church body.
But something strange
happened along life’s journey. Some of the very same persons who for
years had publicly preached a conservative Christian faith, came to
place their faith in conservatism itself. The biblical admonition
against telling lies was only applied to “liberals.” Conservatives
were allowed to freely lie in defense of … conservatism.
I first noticed this
idolization of conservatism in the “Takeover” of the Southern Baptist
Convention. Prominent fundamentalist Baptists told countless lies
about the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention in their drive
to politically conquer the Convention. They were quite comfortable
with their lies. In fact, many became so accomplished in the art of
lying that they routinely did so even while holding a Bible aloft and
claiming to believe in biblical truth.
Did their parents not teach
them any better? I could not help but wonder. And why bother to
claim to believe in the Bible while flaunting disobedience to one of
the most fundamental commandments of Scripture? And why in the world
did so many Christians sitting in the pews not only accept the lies,
but applaud and cheer the lies?
I slowly came to realize
that some conservative Christians with blind agendas are much more
interested in creating “truth” to support their own desires and
biases, than they are in being obedient to the Bible. To such
persons, the Bible is simply a tool to reinforce their agendas. Their
standard rules for using the Bible: fiercely claim to believe it, use
it only when convenient, ignore it at will, and always realize that
its commands are optional when defending conservatism.
In recent years I have
watched in subdued amazement as more and more conservative Christian
leaders have abandoned honesty, truth and integrity, not only in their
dealings with so-called “moderate” or “liberal” Christians, but also
in their engagement in secular politics.
We live in a day when
“Christian” supporters of the Ten Commandments argue in court that
“this is not a religious issue,” but instead is “only about the
history of America.” Not only is this is lie, but it is a denial of
one’s faith in order to win a secular political battle.
We live in a day when
“Christian” supporters of “Intelligent Design” argue in court that ID
“has nothing to do with Creationism,” but instead is “good science.”
Not only is this is lie, but it is a denial of one’s faith in order to
win a secular political battle.
We live in a day when
prominent “Christian” leaders brag about having insider status with
government officials whose lack of ethics and integrity is
embarrassingly transparent for the world to see.
How has conservative
Christianity in America collapsed into such a sorry state of affairs?
From the perspective of an
historian, the beginnings of an answer to this question may be found
in a number of places, including the conservative Christian
capitulation to utilizing modern scientific rationalism in an effort
to defend the Bible from … modern scientific rationalism; an inherited
puritanical tendency among conservative Christians to look upon
sex-related sins as the worst of all possible sins; a growing demand,
these past thirty years, from evangelical Christians demanding favored
status in political and public life, coupled with convenient amnesia
regarding the foundational place that separation of church and state
held in the founding of our nation; a feverish and long-running
ideological opposition by many conservative Christians to any
government program which seeks to check unbridled capitalism and/or
bring about economic justice; and a fear of pluralism, diversity,
equal rights and even democracy (one wing of the Religious Right
openly advocates theocracy over democracy, while the ultimate goal of
the Religious Right is a nation of “Christian” leaders only).
In reality, the Gospel of
Jesus Christ is about neither conservatism nor liberalism. Enslaving
the Bible to any ideology is idolatrous. Yet in the America of
today, it is increasingly evident that allegiance to the ideology of
modern conservatism poses the greatest threat to biblical
Christianity. The opening years of the 21st century have
revealed that many who call themselves Christians apparently worship
at the feet of conservatism, placing on the altar a few cherished
Bible verses which reinforce their own personal opinions and biases,
while casting aside vast portions of Scripture–that which speaks of
honesty, integrity, justice, mercy, equality, selfishness, love,
peace, humility and the like–which the idol of modern conservatism
refuses to be held accountable to.
And truth? That prized
principle which was so highly sought after by the simple conservatism
that has played such a significant role in my own faith journey?
Modern conservatism has cast
it aside like an old rag. |
