Hugh Mensch: Politics before religious principles
Much is said about a war on Christianity, but the pushback against evangelicals should instead be called a war on hypocrisy. Jerry Falwell Jr.’s Aug. 23 column “Trump the Churchillian leader we need” served as a prime example.
He declared his support for Donald Trump, the adulterous owner of multiple casinos who exposed his lack of biblical knowledge at Falwell’s own Liberty University by declaring that his favorite passage was “Two Corinthians.” How can a true evangelical abandon his principles to support such a man?
More political than evangelical, the first two-thirds of Falwell’s article bashed President Obama, Hillary Clinton and even the “feckless establishment Republican Congress.”
When he finally gets around to speaking about Trump, the first virtue cited is that he will protect Second Amendment rights. Falwell never explained how that squares with the Sixth Commandment, nor does he cite any true Christian virtue of Trump until the final paragraph when he declared that President Trump would appoint pro-life Supreme Court justices, ignoring his pro-choice history.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr. began the overt insertion of religion into politics by founding the Moral Majority. The mingling of church and state is problematic enough, but placing politics before religious principles is simple hypocrisy.
Hugh Mensch
Southern Pines
This story was originally published September 3, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Hugh Mensch: Politics before religious principles."