Blackwater, Mormons, and Evangelicals: Prop. 8 Strange Bedfellows
The more I dig down into Proposition 8, the more bizarre the facts are. Like everyone else, I like to follow the money to identify the agendas. Here’s what I know:
Blackwater
From Calitics.com
Andrew Sullivan notes today that one of the biggest financial supporters of the Yes on 8 campaign is Elsa Prince Broekhuizen, who has pumped $450,000 into the campaign. Broekhuizen is the mother of Blackwater founder and owner Erik Prince and Bush Pioneer Betsy DeVos. She’s also quite the patron of the religious right.
At first blush, the two groups don’t have a whole lot in common besides neighboring real estate in the political spectrum. But as Blackwater continues its unwanted presence in San Diego (spawning aspirants to the throne in Hemet), Michigan resident Broekhuizen is just a big fish in the flood of out-of-state money trying to buy their way into a change to California’s constitution.
Blackwater, you remember them. They’re the contractors hired by the Bush Administration to privatize our military. That money is now being recycled into politics by huge donations to campaigns like the Yes on 8 campaign.
To be clear, that’s YOUR taxpayer money, laundered a couple of times.
Mormon Church
From the Salt Lake Tribune
The LDS Church’s campaign to pass Proposition 8 represents its most vigorous and widespread political involvement since the late 1970s, when it helped defeat the Equal Rights Amendment. It even departs from earlier efforts on behalf of traditional marriage, in which members felt more free to decide their level of involvement.
This time, LDS leaders have tapped every resource, including the church’s built-in phone trees, e-mail lists and members’ willingness to volunteer and donate money. Many California members consider it a directive from God and have pressured others to participate. Some leaders and members see it as a test of faith and loyalty.
The Mormons have given $8.4 million to the campaign for Proposition 8. That’s the tithes of Mormons, taken out of the church and funnelled into the political process. 8.4 million dollars.
Prop. 8 is on pace to be the costliest race in the nation, except for the billion-dollar presidential election. The Yes on 8 campaign estimates that up to 40 percent of its donations come from Mormons. Some others estimate that Mormons account for over 70 percent of donations from individuals.
Today, the Courage Campaign delivered a petition to Mormon church President Thomas Monson signed by 16,935 people urging the Mormon church to cease funding the Proposition 8 campaign.
I won’t even address how offensive it is to have tax-exempt religious organizations inject money and resources into politics. Whatever their agenda, they are making an effort with a lot of tax-exempt money to shape the political landscape via out-of-state money and resources.
Evangelicals
Finally, we have the evangelical movement and I would say most specifically, the Baptists. This boggles my mind, because in other, more reasonable days the Baptists wanted nothing to do with any political initiative, fearing (rightly) that injecting themselves into politics would erode the church/state wall. When Rick Warren of Saddleback Church (and author of the Purpose-Driven Life) endorsed the Yes on 8 campaign, he ignored all of the traditionally Baptist beliefs about keeping church and state separate.
Warren, a Baptist, knows better. The cornerstones of the Baptist tradition are adult baptism (as opposed to infant baptism) and the principle of liberty of conscience and the separation of church and state. Baptists inherited these ideas from Roger Williams, the founder of the Baptist tradition in America. And, at least until the conservative takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1979, Baptists have always been watchmen on that wall of separation and fierce guardians of liberty of conscience. Thankfully, Williams’s ideas were incorporated into the United States Constitution, both in the First Amendment, which forbade a religious establishment, and in the recurring principle of respect for the rights of minorities.
In an increasingly bizarre election year we have an incredibly bizarre campaign to discriminate against an entire group in our society, backed by privatized military, and two powerful religious forces who ordinarily have nothing to do with one another.
I’ll end with this: According to the FBI, hate crimes are down. Well, they’re down with one exception: Hate crimes against gays increased 6% in the past year.
Imagine what it’ll be like if Yes on 8 passes. Why? Well, let’s start with the long and ugly campaign where phrases like “don’t let them have this too” and “restore marriage” (implying that GLBT folks are far too low to have such a right, etc) have predominated the debate. Where the Constitution is turned on its head and churches are willing to crawl into bed with the likes of Blackwater.
You don’t think more hate will spring forth? Guess again.
Here are some ways to help:
Because equality is a RIGHT in this country. For ALL. Not the religious or the military only, the righteous and the conservative. It is a right for ALL. Regardless.
Sphere: Related ContentWhy Evangelical Christians Should Vote for Obama
I am a Christian. I cannot imagine being a Republican. I cannot in one million years imagine myself choosing to vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. Not only that, but I cannot imagine any Christian being in agreement with them morally, ethically or any other way. Here are my reasons:
- The false claim that they are pro-life Make no mistake here. Someone who is pro-life respects ALL life, not simply the lives of the unborn. John McCain’s philosophy is that life is respected as long as that life agrees with him. Note, for example, that he has no compunction about starting wars pre-emptively, with or without a sound and verified reason to do so. In Iraq, the losses have been monumental, and not simply US troops and support personnel, but hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, too. Yet, the drumbeat from the McCain campaign is simply “I know how to win wars.”
My response to that claim? If you know, why haven’t you marched up to the White House and passed that knowledge on to the guy running the country right now? And further, if you know, why can’t you define “victory” in Iraq? And even further, why won’t General Petraeus proclaim that Iraq is “winnable”?
- John McCain lies. He has lied repeatedly, or allowed lies to be spread about his opponent for the sake of winning and winning only. This is not the hallmark of a Christian, who is instructed to “love one another”, to “turn the other cheek”, to not submit to the earthly authorities, but heavenly authorities. Christians should be very, very aware that John McCain is exactly the type of person Jesus preached against: no compassion for the poor, the sick, those in need.
Truth-telling is a fundamental pillar of Christianity. Entire books of the Bible are dedicated to unpeeling the layers of humanity and exposing truth and wisdom. From a purely moral standpoint, lying to the country in order to achieve personal objectives is unchristian, immoral, and shouldn’t be rewarded, particularly by evangelical Christians. What message do you send when you embrace a proven liar about your own message?
Not only that, but his transition team is loaded with representatives from the interests that are funding him. Beware, Christians, of a man who has been bought and paid for with the money of corporations.
- John McCain, a POW who suffered unspeakable torture, endorsed torture and didn’t simply endorse it, he voted for it! Christians, Jesus was tortured. This is as fundamental as the question of respecting life. Christians do NOT endorse torture. It’s wrong. It’s inhuman. It is absolutely and completely against the principles Jesus taught. I will say it again: torture is NOT a Christian principle.
- The Supreme Court appointments Here’s why: Roe v. Wade is not the primary concern I have with the balance of the Supreme Court, nor should it concern evangelicals. What SHOULD concern evangelicals is that the conservative court wishes to expand the powers of the executive into an unbalanced and overly-powerful state, which places each and every Christian, Jew, and Muslim at risk of persecution in a country which professes freedom of religion! Christians are to be
ofin the world but notinof the world; it is not our mission to create an earthly authority that we then place ourselves under, because according to Christian principles, our only authority is in heaven.
Issues that shouldn’t concern Christians, no matter what Sarah Palin and John McCain say
- Resistance to teaching creationism in the schools 1. Why? Because these are principles to teach at home, and in a Christian home, the parents are and should be the first authority for these teachings, as well as the moral authority for their children. This is what the Bible teaches. This is what Christians should embrace. Why on earth would any Christian hand the responsbility for these subjects to the government?
- Abortion Again, the reasons are clear for this. Christians can participate in the political process but not rely upon it to teach their children about children, family, morality, or choices. Leaving abortion as a choice in the political realm does not mean Christians must submit to it. In fact, they have a duty not to.
- Homosexuality Christians are called not to judge others, lest they be judged. The mission of evangelical Christians is to bring the love of Christ to ALL people. Not just straight people and not just people they like. All people. Consequently, Christians should not consider these sorts of wedge issues or give them more weight than the true moral questions of how we treat our fellow man (torture); and whether respect for life includes all lives, at home and abroad, infant or adult.
By now, you should see where I’m going with my bottom line. Evangelical Christians stand a far better chance of furthering their purpose and mission if they do NOT vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. These are morally bankrupt people, willing to sell themselves and every principle they may once have held dear in order to gain earthly power. This is antithetical to what we are taught as Christians, which is to respect the authority which comes from heaven and submit to it, to live in the world but not of the world, to show compassion, tend to the needy and sick…to meet people where they are and love them.
Why are Christians abrogating their heavenly authority to earthly authorities? Morality isn’t something to be legislated; it’s something to be lived. While I am not arguing that Barack Obama is perfect by any stretch, I do believe he has respect, understanding, and regard for the rights of evangelicals to live their principles, teach their children, and help them to make choices that are good, moral, and help, not harm others.
One final thought, as it relates to me. If you read back through this blog, you will discover language that is not Christian, thoughts that are unkind, inconsistent with the principles of Christianity. I own that. I’m human, just like everyone else, and I’m absolutely not qualified to run for President, just based on the hypocrisy of the language here. What I’m asking is that if you are an evangelical Christian and truly, thoughtfully concerned about what has happened to our country, that you weight the purpose we are called for against what McCain and Palin stand for. I believe you will come to the same conclusion as I.
1This post is written specifically for Christian readers. It is not intended to disrespect people who don’t agree, but it presumes some basic Christian beliefs. I do not want to argue about intelligent design, or creationism as part of this post. I presume that the intended audience has a position on these issues and what I am arguing is whether or not it is something that Christians should look to government to teach.
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