The End of the Religious Right

In his latest column, Constitution Party Presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin argues that "For all intents and purposes, [the Religious Right] -- as a national movement -- is completely and thoroughly dead. Barack Obama did not destroy it, however. It was George W. Bush and John McCain who destroyed [the Religious Right] in America."

I substituted "Religious Right" for "conservatives," because it is Christian conservatives who have been exposed as cheerleaders for the Republican Party, rather than defenders of Christian principles.

But the worst calamity of this election was the way conservatives -- especially Christian conservatives -- surrendered their principles for the sake of political partisanship. The James Dobsons of this country should hang their heads in shame! Not only did they lose an election, they lost their integrity!

In South Carolina, for example, pro-life Christians and conservatives had an opportunity to vote for a principled conservative-constitutionalist for the U.S. Senate. He is pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and pro-traditional marriage. He believes in securing our borders against illegal immigration. He is against the bailout for the Wall Street banksters. His conservative credentials are unassailable. But the vast majority of Christian conservatives (including those at Bob Jones University) voted for his liberal opponent instead.

The man that the vast majority of Christian conservatives voted for in South Carolina is a Big-Government neocon. He supported the bailout of the Wall Street banksters. He is a rabid supporter of granting amnesty and a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens. In fact, this man has a conservative rating of only 29% in the current Freedom Index of the New American Magazine.

Why did Christian conservatives support the liberal neocon and not the solid pro-life conservative? Because the conservative ran as a Democrat and the neocon is a Republican. I'm talking about the race between Bob Conley and Lindsey Graham, of course.

Had South Carolina's pastors, Christians, evangelicals, and pro-life conservatives voted for Bob Conley, he would be the new senator-elect from that state. In fact, Bob was so conservative that the Democratic leadership in South Carolina endorsed the Republican, Lindsey Graham!

This roughly parallels Newt Gingrich and Republican leaders supporting Democrats rather than Ron Paul. Sean Hannity could have used his media power to help secure the Republican nomination for Ron Paul. Then there would have been a genuine choice in November, as well as a discussion of principles. Instead, Hannity supported arch-conservative Christian fundamentalist Rudy Giuliani and ridiculed Ron Paul. Why Dobson could reject Giuliani and vote for McCain is purely partisan pragamtism, not Christian principle.

No matter. A majority of evangelical Christians in South Carolina stupidly rejected Bob Conley and voted for Graham.

Across the country, rather than stand on principle, hundreds of thousands of pastors, Christians, and pro-life conservatives capitulated and groveled before John McCain's neocon agenda. In doing so, they forfeited any claim to truth, and they abandoned any and all fidelity to constitutional government. They should rip the stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego out of their Bibles. They should never again tell their children, parishioners, and radio audiences the importance of standing for truth and principle. They have made a mockery of Christian virtue. No wonder a majority of the voting electorate laughs at us Christians. No wonder the GOP crashed and burned last Tuesday.

Again, it wasn't Barack Obama who destroyed conservatism; it was George W. Bush, John McCain, and the millions of evangelical Christians who supported them. And until conservatives find their backbone and their convictions, they deserve to remain a burnt-out, has-been political force. They have no one to blame but themselves.

Baldwin is right about the Religious Right. How the Christian Chuck Baldwin finds instructions for immigrant-bashing in the Bible is beyond me.

"Christian Right" is a contradiction in terms. (Deuteronomy 5:32; 17:11; 17:20; 28:14; Joshua 1:7; 23:6; Psalm 125:5; Proverbs 4:27.)