Veritas Rex

To Be a Christian Politician . . . or Pesterer?

I am always heartened by election news. Without fail, it brings with it not only tables and charts of returns and exit polling but evidence of a Christian church voting as a body and voting for truth.

Now, that is not to say this church is dependably large enough to win a given election or even swing the outcome this way or that in any tactically recognizable way. And it is certainly not to say that this body of Christian voters is consciously organized in the way that a political faction or party would be organized, i.e., around personalities or issues.

Indeed, I join C.S. Lewis and other Christian thinkers in being alarmed at that very prospect.

Many years ago my pastor, recognizing a quarrelsome spirit, loaned me a small collection of Lewis essays entitled “God on the Dock.” One of those essays, “Meditation on the Third Commandment,” has since guided my thinking as a Christian involved in politics — especially in recent years as Christian groups have become more adept at political organization and therefore more tempted by it.

The essay boils down to these few points:

• When Christians set about forming a political faction or party they necessarily exclude other Christians who disagree with the means the faction champions.

• It is likely that on the full political field this faction or party will find itself a minority of a minority.

• Such a minority must form alliances with other minorities, alliances with those who are at best ambivalent about our Savior’s death on the Cross and Resurrection.

• And even if we are particularly skillful at this game, we end up with a political faction that is “christian” only in that it’s officers have a powerful incentive to claim to be followers of Christ. Worse, by calling itself a Christian this or a Christian that, the party unavoidably implies that those who disagree with it are un-Christian.

Would Lewis, then, leave us sitting around waiting for the lions to get hungry? Not necessarily. He has three specific and coordinated alternatives to modern political parties (“secret societies of murderers and blackmailers,” he calls them).

The first and best, or course, is to convert our neighbors one-by-one toward the eventual realization of a Christian majority or, in the end, a Christian unanimity.

Another would be to simply witness to those persons currently at the head of political factions, parties, nations or even empires (the Constantine strategy).

Yet another would be to form interdenominational “Christian Voting Societies.” Such a society might write letters such as the ones that fill the encouraging and inspiring pages of Veritas Rex. Or it might draw up more formal letters of assurances about political means and ends, assurances that members of the society would vow to extract from office-seekers as a condition of support.*

“So all it comes down to is pestering (legislators) with letters?,” asks Lewis in conclusion. “Yes: just that. I think such pestering combines the dove and the serpent. I think it means a world where parties have to take care not to alienate Christians instead of a world where Christians have to be ‘loyal’ to infidel parties.”

“Pesterer in Chief” has a good sound to it. Nominations are open.

* Indiana is blessed with many organization of both types. My favorite model, though, is the Brazilian “samba society.” Its members not only write letters about pressing community problems but learn to dance — and at the end of the year, win or lose, they get to ride in a colorful parade.

Democrats…rise up

I am so sick and tired of party politics getting in the way of good policy.  My passion lies in successfully implementing ideas that will make Indiana and our nation a better place, not in amassing power for power’s sake.  It turns out that this is not a new phenomenon.  George Washington also had some issues with political parties:

“…the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.”
                                                                            –George Washington’s Farewell Address

In this session of the Indiana General Assembly social conservatives got nothing.  Why?  Because the Democrats won control of the Indiana House of Representative in the last election and elected Pat Bauer as their Speaker.  Is that sad or what?  I know good Christian Democrats that believe the way I do on social issues, but the fact of the matter is, when their party is in power they are treated with distain.

Why is this?  The Republican Party reaches out to social liberals.  Republican elected officials walk in gay pride parades, the Republican Party practically begs gay activists to join up with them anymore.  The “Grand Old Party” has even been known to play nice with pro-choice groups and others on occasions.  Yet the Democrats won’t even throw social conservatives a bone.  Why?  I know there are lots of Reagan Democrats out there who are sick of seeing Christians treated like second class citizens, sick of seeing Hoosier babies being killed before they can take their first breath and sick of seeing the homosexual lifestyle promoted by government.   

Reach out Democrats…you might be surprised what you get.  Let’s try to look past the “mischief” of party politics and work on creating a better Indiana.  However, even if all you care about is achieving political power, wouldn’t it still make sense to reach out?  Rise up, Democrats.  Rise up.

Illegal immigration supporters stoop to a new low

I have watched the debate surrounding Senator Mike Delph's immigration bill with interest this session.  For decades the combination of non-U.S. citizens entering and remaining in this country illegally, businesses and consumers benefitting from the cheap labor of said illegals, and the federal government's lack of will to enforce our immigration laws has brought us to the illegal immigration problems we currently have in our state and accross the nation.  While lawful immigration of foreign nationals into the melting pot of american society is a prized american tradition, our nation is on its way to rejecting that tradition for a wild-west style immigration policy in which illegal activity is protected while those who abide by the law are punished.

Often-times the debate in Indiana on this issue has been overheated, with opponents of Senator Delph's bill accusing supporters of racist motivations or worse.  The intellectual pursuit towards sound public policy for our state has often been over-shadowed by the emotional rhetoric of some opponents.

Today's article in the Indianapolis Star is a good example of this overheated, emotional rhetoric.  Here is an excerpt:

Indiana lawmakers who support a crackdown on illegal immigration may be risking their own salvation, according to a local minister.

"Heaven has secure borders, too," warned the Rev. Mark Powell, a Disciples of Christ minister whose social justice group wants to kill Sen. Mike Delph's bill that would punish businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

...Powell joined a handful of Protestant ministers at a Statehouse news conference Thursday -- sprinkled with biblical quotes and directives from Jesus -- that inserted religion into the debate over a pair of sister immigration bills passed by the House and the Senate. Both bills are still alive and waiting for assignment to a conference committee, where differences can be worked out.

"God today has put the soul of Indiana to the test," Powell said. "Christ is clear in the Gospel: Love your neighbor."

...Powell said he represented more than the Disciples Justice Action Network, a group that advocates for social justice, abortion-rights legislation and gay and lesbian rights.

My question for Mr. Powell is: Which neighbor do we love?  Let's take a realistic look at the situation.  Granted, many illegal immigrants do not continue to break the law once they settle in Indiana, are hard working and, if they had entered the country legally, would be model citizens.  However, we do have a group of individuals who broke the law to get here.  Some continue to break other laws, though many do not.  Many use government funded services that they do not adequately contribute towards, such as: the education system, healthcare, the criminal justice system and welfare to name a few.

Do you force your neighbor who is a legal citizen to live in greater danger because of the minority of illegals who we cannot account for, yet continue to break the laws?  Do you force your neighbor who is a legal citizen to pay for the government services used by the illegal immigrants who don't pay their fair share into the system?  Let's take a sober look at the issue before our bleeding hearts drain all the blood from our brain.

IFI Included In Indiana Lawmakers Show

     For a spirited discussion of social issues before the Indiana General Assembly, tune in to the Indiana Lawmakers show on public television outlets over the weekend.  Representing the right at yesterday's taping were State Rep. Matt Bell, R-Avilla, and yours truly.  On the left was State Sen. Sue Errington, D-Muncie, and on the far left was State Rep. David Orentlicher, D-Indianapolis.  The host is Jon Schwantes.

     The main topic was the same-sex marriage amendment, but the pharmacist conscience-clause bill was also debated.

     In central Indiana the shows airs tonight (Friday) at 11 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. on WFYI.  Times vary in other markets across the state, so check the listing if you want an update or you're doing opposition research against Orentlicher 's campaign to serve as the U.S. Representative for Indianapolis.

Statehouse Update

We promised to give updates of further developments in the Statehouse, so here you go.  First of all, here is a reminder of what has already happened recently.  Now on to the latest news on the pro-family front. 

Senator Bill 187 passed the Senate, since our last update, by a vote of 36-11.  This bill would require schools to teach students about human fetal development.  It is amazing how fairly recent break-throughs in technology have allowed us to learn so much about the development of babies within their mother's womb.  It is important for students to know, for example, that a baby's heart begins beating as early as 18 days after conception and brain waves are recorded as early as 42 days, along with other information and even photos that show that a child within the womb is not merely a blob of tissue.

House Bill 1076 died in the House.  This was the hate crimes bill that I commented on early this week.  It seems that proponents of the bill did not have the votes to pass the bill without amendments, so the bill's author, Rep. Porter, passed on his opportunity to call the bill down in front of all 100 members.  Representatives Thompson and Walorski should get a pat on the back for offering good amendments to the bill that may have led to it's demise.  Good riddance to this fundamentally flawed idea.

Stay tuned for more developments...

Is Speaker Bauer Afraid of the ACLU of Indiana?

People have said a lot of things about Pat Bauer over the years, but “paralyzed by fear” is not one that I have heard.  In fact, Speaker Bauer can have quite a gruff and tuff persona.  Yet, with the Hinrichs v. Bosma case decided, the prayer tradition of the Indiana House of Representatives should be restored…yet, it hasn’t been.  So I have to ask myself, why? 

In the Senate, things are back to normal.  Sen. Kruse prayed in the name of Jesus to open up the session as countless others have done before him.  Yet, the House stands paralyzed.  Speaker Bauer reads different versions of the same censored prayer every day.  Usually, the House members would take turns inviting someone from their district to volunteer to lead the prayer.  This led to a diverse group of religious leaders, and others, praying according to the dictates of their conscience.  Now we have Speaker Bauer praying based on the advice of the PC police.  Do we really want government censored prayer opening up the people’s House? 

In fact, I would argue that what is currently going on in the House is more an establishment of religion than what was going on before the ACLU of IN continued their assault on Christianity and free speech.  Let’s not allow the ACLU (Anti Christian Liberties Union) of Indiana to scare us away from doing what is right. 

While I’m on this topic I must highlight my friend Yaqub Masih.  He will be leading a prayer vigil for a reinstating of the prayer tradition in the Indiana House on Friday Feb. 8th from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Indiana Statehouse Chapel, room # 432, which is located on the fourth floor of the Statehouse.  All are welcome.

Additionally, he will be hosting a time of prayer and fasting at his church, Abundant Life International Church  from 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. On Saturday February 9, 2008.  They meet at Lamb of God Church 5565 N. Moller Road (corner of 56th& Moller) Indianapolis, IN 46254.

For information please call Pastor Yaqub Masih at (317) 490-5804 or email him at ymasih@cnonline.net

Update from the Statehouse

The General Assembly has been moving along at a fast pace, and it's hard to keep up-to-date on the status of legislation.  So here is a brief report on some of the activity that has happened so far today in the Senate.

Senate Bill 146 passed the Senate today 39-9. The bill requires that pregnant women considering an abortion be given information about the possibility of fetal pain and when life begins. 

The Senate also passed a constitutional amendment to cap property taxes. The amendment must be passed now by the House, and then again by both the Senate and House that are elected in this November's general election.

To no one's surprise, the Senate also voted in favor of the Marriage Protection Amendment, more commonly known as SJR 7. To become part of the Indiana constitution, the proposed amendment must be passed by the House this year, and then approved by voters in the November general election.

To many people's surprise, 6 Senators changed their vote on Senate Bill 3, a bill that allows pharmacists to refuse to dispense medicines against their conscience if they believe the medicines will lead to abortion or assisted suicide. The bill stalled last week with a tie vote of 24-24 but today the vote was  30-18 in favor.  Senator Drozda has been working to get this legislation passed for years, and we congratulate him for leading this effort in the Senate.

Stay tuned for more developments...

Dangers of Hate Crime Legislation

With hate crimes legislation moving to the full Indiana House, it is timely to look at the potential dangers of such a policy.  The potential abuse of such policies on individuals who disagree with homosexuality has been a problem in different places around the world.  Here is but one example from Wisconsin:

Additionally, hate crimes legislation promotes unequal justice under the law.  Under such a law, a criminal who assaults someone, simply because they hate their victim and feel pleasure in seeing him or her suffer, would be punished LESS severely then a criminal who assaults someone because of their sexual preference.

A more common sense approach to fighting crime would be to raise the penalties for the crime itself, across the board, not picking and choosing politically correct aggravating circumstances to reward certain groups and punish others.  However, it seems that some proponents of hate crimes legislation do not care about equal justice for all, just a select few.

How can we strengthen marriage between a husband and a wife?

Tomorrow at 9 a.m. the Senate Judiciary committee will meet and hear the Covenant Marriage bill (Senate Bill 172).  The bill is meant to strengthen the marriages and families of Hoosiers.  It would be a separate marriage option (when a couple would go to the courthouse to get a marriage license they could choose the regular marriage license or the covenant marriage license).  Couples who are currently married would not be left out; they would have the option of switching to a Covenant Marriage.  Covenant Marriage is different in that it would require couples to go through pre-marital counseling before they would be eligible to apply for the Covenant Marriage license.  They would also have to agree that they will go through marital counseling if problems arise within the marriage.  Also, if the couple chose to divorce, a judge could order the couple to go through additional counseling.

Why the focus on pre-marital, marital and crisis marriage counseling?  The research shows that counseling helps to strengthen marriages and reduce divorce.  In years past, the bill also contained a clause mandating that covenant marriage couples must prove fault (adultery, abuse, abandonment, etc.) before they would be granted a divorce.  We were forced to take this provision out in order to make the concept politically feasable, so hopefully this pro-family idea will make it's way out of committee tomorrow.

Many commenters on this blog have overlooked the ways in which IFI has and continues to focus on strengthening the institution of marriage, as it is currently defined.  This is but one example of our efforts.

770 Bills Pending In General Assembly

     The Indianapolis Star reported today legislators have introduced 770 measures in this "short" session of the Indiana General Assembly.

     For those who say this session is only about property tax reform, and that lawmakers should not address a state Constitutional amendment defining marriage, the judgment of the lawmakers themselves on that concern is very different.  Obviously, not all measures will be given a hearing let alone a vote, but the range of topics and the number of bills shows this is not a single-issue session.

     News accounts Friday night indicate the House will not hear the amendment (HJR 8) in that Chamber, making the Senate's hearing and likely vote Thursday all the more important to keep the discussion alive as this fast-paced session advances.