From Joe Scarborough in Politico:
“Judge not that ye be not judged”; so said Jesus. But don’t try telling that to Southern Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress.
Jeffress, a prominent Texas preacher and Rick Perry supporter, created a firestorm at last weekend’s Values Voters Summit by omnipotently declaring that cult member Mitt Romney was headed straight for hell.
Isn’t that special?
I have always been fascinated by mere mortals who arrogantly ignore Jesus’s teachings to make declarations about the salvation of other men’s souls.
By assuming the Almighty’s role, Jeffress has embraced the proud tradition of Christian stalwarts like Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard and the PTL Club’s Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.
Modern American politics as practiced by Jeffress and his ilk require that Jesus Christ be thrown under the bus with great regularity by the very same people who claim His name.
For these modern day Pharisees, a president who declares Jesus Christ as his personal lord and savior is to be doubted if he is from the wrong political party.
“I came to know Jesus Christ for myself and embrace him as my lord and savior,” Barack Obama declared at this year’s National Prayer Breakfast.
And when the president explained how he got through his most difficult years, Obama bluntly proclaimed, “My Christian faith has been my sustaining force.”
And yet the same pastor who declared Mitt Romney unfit for office called the defeat of this president “a spiritual imperative.”
Really, pastor?
That’s a fascinating conclusion to draw out of the spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ, because in all the years I spent going to Southern Baptist churches, attending Sunday school, Sunday morning services, Training Union, Sunday night services, Tuesday Bible studies, Wednesday night church supper, Vacation Bible School, Bible drills from the age of 5, and just about every other fellowship meeting that the Baptist church offers, I can recall nothing in Jesus’s teachings or the New Testament that should fill you with the kind of self-righteous arrogance to declare to Americans which candidate is spiritually fit for the Oval Office.
That’s not just bad politics. It is bad theology.
Anyone who knows me well can attest to the fact that a lot of what I was taught growing up didn’t sink in deep enough. But one of the great truths that even I absorbed was Jesus Christ’s repeated warnings to his followers to shun the self-righteousness of religious leaders and instead to lead with love.
When disciples asked Jesus for the secret to eternal salvation, He didn’t mention Roman tax policy or trite temporal politics. Instead, St. Matthew tells us that Jesus declared that heaven would be filled by those believers who clothed the poor, fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty and brought hope to the hopeless.
Later, in John Chapter 8, Jesus is confronted by scribes and Pharisees preparing to stone a woman to death for committing adultery. When asked by these self-righteous hypocrites what this sinner’s sentence should be, Jesus simply said, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”
Not on your life.
“And when they heard it,” John writes,”being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the eldest, even unto the last.”
One wonders whether Jeffress would be in a better place today had he been convicted by his conscience before condemning another man for his deeply held faith.
And I wonder how much longer candidates like Perry will allow modern-day Pharisees like Jeffress to do harm to the Republican Party. As George W. Bush policy adviser Peter Wehner wrote this weekend, Jeffress is “embarrassingly unequipped for American politics.”
“As a minister, Jeffress is certainly free to express his views of Mormonism to his congregation and in a Sunday school class,” Wehner wrote. “But it’s the clumsy and destructive manner in which Jeffress has injected religion into politics which has caused the stir.”
Wehner reminded readers that Jeffress’s own standard is at odds with the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther, who famously said he would rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian.
While declaring he could never support Romney for not being a Christian, he then admits that he would support the man he considers a member of a cult over a president whom he concedes is a Christian.
Wehner then rightly concludes, “The Reverend Jeffress is making this up as he goes along.”
And so he is. But the same can be said of a Republican presidential field that refuses to stand up to such hypocrisy. Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, and Perry all exercised their right to remain silent in the face of Jeffress’s outrageous statement.
What courage. But what’s new?
For years now, GOP leaders have sat silent as extremists called political rivals everything from “Nazi” to “Racist” to “Marxist.”
Now we can add “Cultist” to the GOP lexicon.
Show some courage, Gov. Perry. Stand up to a powerful supporter, because sometimes being tough requires more of a man than shooting a coyote in the face.
Judge not that ye be not judged?
Joe Scarborough is a former Republican Congressman from Florida. He currently co-hosts Morning Joe on MSNBC. One of Joe’s best attributes is his sense of bi-partisanship. He will call out wrong as he sees it, regardless of party which can be akward for Republicans at times, since he is one of the flock.
Yesterday morning Joe was giving us all an earful about what happened to Mitt Romney. I don’t know if Mitt is Joe’s person of choice or not. That isn’t the point. The Reverend Jeffress had offended Joe’s sense of right and wrong. I agree.
How about making a comparison chart between Jeffress and Wright. Just to keep things, you know, fair and all that. For once we’ll be comparing apples and apples so to speak. Whose sermon would you rather attend?
Ummmm…..neither one……..
REPENT ALL YOU HERETICS! RETURN TO THE LOVING ARMS OF HOLY MOTHER CHURCH!
Or you’ll get THIS!
http://youtu.be/P1iBbBL1040
“For years now, GOP leaders have sat silent as extremists called political rivals everything from “Nazi” to “Racist” to “Marxist.””
GOP and Democrat leaders have sat silent – FIXED IT FOR HIM.
SA, there is no comparison. Jeffress is not Rick Perry’s minister. You have never heard me defend Wright. So no fight here. I am just not going to compare something where there is little to compare. Both are ministers. End of story.
The discussion has moved so far past Rick Perry. I don’t think anyone is really blaming him. I think the story has evolved into why some of these candidates don’t stand up to bad behavior that hurt their party.
There also might be a sub story here about how many Christian churches actually agree with Jeffress and does it matter.
Obama had the courage to denounce Rev Wright and leave the church. Now we are waiting for Rick Perry to do the same. Is Rick Perry a man who has courage to stand up to his adversaries, or is he a mouse?
@Starry, I don’t think that Perry ever attended his church.
However, I don’t think Perry’s response was adequate. He seemed to equivocate.
I guess this is a gouging game from the inner circle–to see who is more Christian than whom.
@Starryflights
“Obama had the courage to denounce Rev Wright”
Really? Courage after 20 years? Why did he denounce him? Obama says he never heard anything wrong from the Rev.
And according to many on Obama’s side, the Rev. never did say anything that was wrong or worth denouncing.
@Moon-howler
Perry missed his chance to show leadership.
@Cargo,
Who did you want Obama to denounce to? Not all ministers behave the same during a Sunday morning service as they do for special events.
Perhaps Obama didn’t hear anything wrong from Rev. Wright. Prove he did hear something wrong.
I would cut Perry and Obama a break. However, cutting Perry a break is germane. Obama is past history.
Perry is not responsible for what someone else said. I have been told by Mormons why some people do not think they are Christian. I was told that it is because they do not believe in the Trinity. They believe that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are three separate beings.
Here is my problem. I am not ready to hang someone because their religious teachings
tell them something is wrong or a disqualifier. The smart thing to do is just not bring it up. Christianity is not on trial here. Jeffress was wrong to attack Romney but it wasn’t Perry’s fault (unless I find out otherwise). Jjeffress put Perry and all the others in a very awkward position.
The more I think about it, the only answer now is, “it is not for me to determine who is a Christian and who is not. It is not an appropriate question to even be discussing in the political arena.” Mr. Romney or anyone else is what they say they are.
So this is what picking a president boils down to. Forget leadership capability. Forget defending the nation. Forget upholding the Constitution. Forget the ability to focus on matters of greatest importance to the country. No, we will base our selection on who has the least number of minor infractions as judged by those who have never lead, but have always had the ability to make mountains out of mole hills. No wonder our government is turning into one big elementary school level food fight!
@SA that mihgt very well be the point Scarbough is making. I don’t care what someone’s religion is as long as they leave me alone about it.
For the love of Mike, this country gets wrapped up so often in utter nonsense. Cults. Now, let’s see here. I would imagine the Canaanites thought the Israelites were a cult. I’m pretty sure the Egyptians did. I suppose the Romans thought the Jews were a cult, and the Jews thought the Christians were a cult. The Catholics thought the Protestants were a crazy cult. The Lutherans thought the Calvinists were a cult. The Calvinists thought the Anabaptists were a cult. Shoot, they even drowned a bunch of them in Lake Zurich. The Anglicans in Virginia thought those Baptists in Loudoun County were a cult. The Baptists think the Mormons are a cult. The Mormons think the Wiccans are a cult. Man, when it comes right down to it, almost everybody around here is a cultist. Except the atheists. They’ve been blackballed from the cult club.
Mormons do have some weird beliefs, like in alens and stull
Thank goodness Romney isn’t Catholic. There might be all sorts of accusations that his first allegiance would be to the Pope or something…
The Catholic curse that Kennedy addressed, rather eloquently as I recall, is pretty much a non-issue now. We have 6 Supreme Court justices who are Catholic.
I think being a Mormon is untested waters in a National election.
Overall, Mormons have a more conservative Reputation than Catholics do.
@Moon-howler That was intended to be tongue-in-cheek. I’m so sick of all of this focus on religion. It’s no different, really, than focusing on race, gender or sexual preference. All it does is keep the debate off track.
I agree. Emma, you are going to have to give me a signal. I don’t always recognize your sarcasm. Its probably me. I have a guest dog this weekend.
I’m home from work cleaning up a flooded basement for the second time in a month after yesterday’s monsoon, so I’m probably a little too unfocused to convey irony. Grrrr.