Faith in politics: loved when reinforcing liberalism, hated when promoting conservative causes

Last updated on: February 9, 2016 at 11:18 pm by Nancy French

Faith in politics: loved when reinforcing liberalism, hated when promoting conservative causes 2016-02-09T23:18:28-05:00 Nancy French

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Liberals love to hate many of the GOP candidates. Salon described Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio as “anti-intellectual wingnuts,” for example. But when John Kasich won second place winner in the New Hampshire primary, the Huffington Post declared “compassionate conservatism roars back.” The New York Times endorsed him, saying he’s “the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism” of the GOP and that he’s “capable of compromise and believes in the ability of government to improve lives.”

What gives? John Kasich is just as religious — an invokes his faith — just as frequently as the others in the GOP.

David French, writing in National Review, points out this comment an interview with Morning Joe when he credited his recent debate performance to his walk with God:

Want me to tell you what I did? Before I went to the debate – we didn’t do a lot of preparation. I said, Lord, you took me to the top of the mountain. I have to walk down. Don’t let me walk alone. And he didn’t. He helped me out. How do you like that?

And also these direct faith-based appeals made while fighting to expand Medicaid:

I had a conversation with one of the members of the legislature the other day. I said, ‘I respect the fact that you believe in small government. I do, too. I also know that you’re a person of faith.

Now, when you die and get to the meeting with St. Peter, he’s probably not going to ask you much about what you did about keeping government small. But he is going to ask you what you did for the poor. You better have a good answer.

Wow. As French writes, “There’s nothing like adding a dash of eternal condemnation to the health-care policy debate.”

And don’t forget this:

I go to events where people are yelling at me. You know what I tell them? I mean, God bless them, I’m telling them a little bit better than this. But I said, there’s a book. It’s got a new part and an old part. They put it together. It’s a remarkable book. If you don’t have one, I’ll buy you one. And it talks about how we treat the poor.

In spite of his heavy handed religiosity, the left loves the guy.

That’s because they don’t hate mixing religion and politics. They just hate mixing religion and politics when it doesn’t promote their causes. French writes:

What is absurd, however, is the notion that the “wall of separation” between church and state should only apply to certain churches — that faith in politics is welcome when it reinforces liberal pieties and an abomination when it advances the conservative cause. Kasich is proud to preach his social gospel, and the Left is happy to applaud him for it. Christian conservatives should be just as vocal in their dissent, lest they wake up to find that theirs is the only faith excluded from the public square.

Read the whole thing here, in which he describes how even leftist politicians get in on the religion talk as long as it suits their ideology.

Speak out, people of faith.

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