George W. Bush Is Not Lord

Sometimes the evangelical magazine Christianity Today can be irritating and exasperating, sometimes it can be excellent and insightful. Here is a great example of the latter: a current editorial that begins, "George W. Bush is not Lord." The editorial is about the current tendency of many in the evangelical world (and the editorial names names) to confuse conservative politics with Christianity. Can't wait to see the angry Letters to the Editor they get for this one! Here's an excerpt:

The not-so-subtle equation of America's founding with biblical Christianity has been shown time and again to be historically inaccurate. The founding was a unique combination of biblical teaching and Enlightenment rationalism, and most of the founding fathers, as historian Edwin Gaustad, among many others, has noted, were not orthodox Christians, but instead were primarily products of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment, we should recall, has never been much of a friend of biblical Christianity.

Most of us who identify as liberal -- or who have actually studied American history -- already know this, but many of Christianity Today's conservative readers are going to disagree. I have to admire the magazine's courage for publishing this much-needed editorial.

(And, of course, those of us on the left need to be reminded, as Sojourners tells us, that God is not a Republican or a Democrat. None of us have a monopoly on truth.)

Darrell
www.WildFaith.com