2016-07-27
The full text of this column appears on Jewish World Review Christian conservative leaders are using the tools of the world in an attempt to impose a moral code and worldview that many non-Christians and even some Christians do not share. To the extent that lay people wish to indulge in this they are free to do so, misguided though they may be, but when those who are ordained or otherwise claim to speak for G-d do it, they are settling for the mess of pottage that is politics and demeaning themselves and their faith in the process. One leader of a major Christian organization recently justified some of the outrageous claims made in direct-mail fund-raising letters this way: "The left does it.'' I wasn't aware that the pagan left had replaced biblical principles in setting the agenda for the Christian church. Both the religious and secular left have erred in their own public comments and equally outrageous fund-raising appeals. Conservative Christians aren't a threat to the state. They're a threat to themselves when they adopt the worldly tactics of those who appear to prefer political power to real power. One power changes occupants in Washington. The other changes hearts and lives. There is nothing in their political behavior that would compel people who do not believe in the G-d they claim to worship to begin a journey in search of Him. Since Satan is described in the Christian Bible as an "angel of light'' and a "counterfeit,'' is it possible they might be unwittingly in the employ of the wrong kingdom?
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