By Todd Friel
If you do not know what it means to be an evangelical Christian, it basically works like this: you say a prayer, ask Jesus into your heart and then you vote Republican and start watching Fox News. A lot.
Evangelical, Republican and Fox go together like Groucho, Harpo and Zeppo (or Phillips, Craig and Dean if you like). It would appear that the Republican Party and Fox News might be parting company with those of us who are bornagain.
- Immediately after the election, our beloved Fox analyst Bernie Goldberg informed us that we need to stop “Bible bashing” and get out of people’s bedrooms.Bill O’Reilly agreed with Bernie.
- Peggy Noonan just wrote, “We are a center-right country, but the Republican Party over the next few years will have to ponder again what center-right means.” Maybe that is why she voted for radical pro-abort Barak Obama in 2008.
- Anne Coulter recently described those of us who hold to a 100% pro-life position (even in the case of rape and incest) as “insane positions with no practical purpose whatsoever, other than showing off.” Perhaps she should tell that to pro-life warrior Rebecca Kiessling who is the product of a rape and two failed abortion attempts.
We should not be shocked at this. Did we really think Bernie was one of us? Did we imagine for a second that Mr. Karma, Bill O’Reilly, was a true friend of evangelicals? Why did we think that Peggy and Anne were on our team?
Why are we evangelicals so quick to embrace anyone who is for lower taxes and eliminating Obama-care? Did we ever consider Bernie’s statement of faith before we engaged in our slobbering love affair with him? Bill O’Reilly’s strongest religious profession is to talk about “the deity.” Anne Coulter once stated that she believes Jews can go to heaven without faith in Jesus Christ. As for Peggy Noonan, perhaps you read her 2005 best-seller, John Paul the Great.
Perhaps we should start vetting “conservatives” before we give them our time, attention and loyalty.
Make no mistake about it, while Roger Aisles is a conservative (and sort of practicing Roman Catholic), he is in business to make money. Period. If ratings drooped at Fox, he would veer to the demographic that provided the most ratings points for the Fox sales department.
The Republican Party is not a religious organization. They are a political party whose loyalties lay in winning elections. If winning the White House means turning their back on us “useful idiots,” they will.
This is not to suggest that evangelicals should not watch Fox News or be involved in the Republican Party, but let us remember who we are dealing with and how we should consider them. “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? (II Cor.6:14).
Evangelicals, we are not a political party. We are the church. Let’s remember that next time around.
