USAToday.com cited a survey Jan. 9 from the Southern Baptist Convention that claimed 72 percent of Americans think Christians are hypocrites while another 44 percent said Christians get on their nerves. Well, duh. Being a hypocrite is part of being Christian. Being a hypocrite is part of being human. If you have ever knowingly done something you knew was wrong, then you are a hypocrite. Can anyone honestly say they’ve never done anything they knew was wrong? Are there honestly people walking around who think they’re never wrong? Of course Christians are hypocrites. All conservatives are. Just look at out leaders. Rush Limbaugh was a drug addict. David Vitter is an adulterer. Randy “Duke” Cunningham is a fraud. And then there’s Larry Craig. But Republicans aren’t the only ones with a credibility gap. I remember when the media reported a story about Dick Cheney’s support for George HW Bush’s decision to not remove Saddam Hussein from power after the first Gulf War. I don’t remember anyone other than Rush Limbaugh reporting Al Gore’s 1991 criticism of George HW Bush’s foreign policy. Gore called on the elder Bush to depose Hussein’s regime during Desert Storm, calling Bush “soft.” Now he says the younger Bush is wrong for doing exactly what he suggested a few years earlier. Liberals and conservatives alike cite George W Bush’s faulty intelligence as confirmation of his incompetence, but I don’t understand why Bush is blamed rather than the intelligence community. Bill Clinton said the same things using the same intelligence – and even Hillary Clinton was for the war before she was against it. Enron was one of George W Bush’s biggest campaign contributors. And we all remember why Enron is famous. This clearly upset voters, but Hillary’s recent campaign contribution woes don’t seem to distress the media quite as much. Larry Flynt took credit for taking down Sen. David Vitter, but with a caveat – he wouldn’t have published a Democratic congressman’s name since liberals don’t preach family values. I think conservatives are held to much higher standards than liberals because we set higher standards for ourselves. Just look at the Clintons. Forget about Bill and Hill. What about Bubba’s drug-dealing brother Roger Clinton, a man sentenced to two years in prison for cocaine charges, then promised clemency to his fellow inmates because his brother was president? What about Hillary’s brother Hugh Rodham who was linked to a payoff from convicted cocaine dealer Carlos Vignali in return for a pardon from Bill Clinton? Hell, remember when Al Gore’s son was arrested for possessing marijuana and pills without a prescription while his dad was out saving the world? Now think about this – half of all Democratic presidents elected since 1960 have had extramarital affairs. But simply listing similar mistakes made by Democrats to counter Republican mishaps isn’t an adequate defense of the duplicity and hypocrisy of the conservative Christian leadership. Unfortunately for conservatives, leadership is not always embodied by example. Luckily, a person speaking one way and living another shouldn’t be enough to stray listeners from the message. What liberals who can’t understand Christian voters don’t explain is that hypocrisy does not change the truth. Even if a conservative is still a sinner, the issues he or she stands for shouldn’t change. Christians have two choices: vote for an insincere leader or – through their inaction – enable the victory of politicians who stand for everything they oppose. History proved that conservatives would rather support conservative hypocrites than dyed-in-the-wool liberals. Like it or not, though this may be a nation of religious tolerance and religious freedom, this is nonetheless a Christian nation. So here’s a memo to Larry Flynt – you can end the leaders, but you can’t end the cause. As the Bible tells Christians, religion and morality should be kept private because, in most cases, religion and morality shouldn’t affect a person’s public life. But this does not mean public figures should remain silent about it because dishonesty and religious devotion can sometimes determine a candidate’s moral capability to govern. When November rolls around, the conservative evangelical base will have only two choices when it comes to electing the next president – they can either vote for the Republican nominee or against the Democratic nominee. Even if Republicans are hypocrites, they are the only party advancing conservative interests. What else can traditional Christians do? Vote Democratic? I mean, Ted Kennedy was a drunk. John F. Kennedy was an adulterer. William Jefferson is a fraud. Where was Larry Flynt when America really needed him? Besides, if you disagree with me then the terrorists win.
—-Contact Daniel Lumetta at [email protected]