Scandals, Politics and Faith: In Whom Do We Trust?
For Christians, selectively holding our political and prospective leaders to high moral standards reveals in us an unsettling lack of faith.
The past few months have been dominated by an endless parade of revelations about the sexual misconduct and predations of powerful men. From Hollywood to New York and from Minnesota to Alabama, and just about everywhere else in between, the depths to which fallen human nature can sink have been laid bare.
While these revelations are dismaying, they aren't, or at least shouldn't be, surprising. But what is both dismaying and surprising is the willingness of too many people to deny, excuse, overlook, and even dismiss wrongdoing when it's committed by someone on "their team."
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Thus, one elected official, whose Christianity is well-attested, told the press that she was "troubled" by the accusation of sexual misconduct against her party's candidate and that she "certainly had no reason to disbelieve" the candidate's accusers. And yet she announced her intention to vote for that candidate because, in her words, "the United States Senate needs to have in my opinion, a majority of Republican votes to carry the day."
It's difficult to see what distinguishes this sort of reasoning from Gloria Steinem's infamous defense of President Clinton two decades ago. Steinem urged feminists to defend Clinton because he was "vital" to "preserving reproductive freedom."
Steinem concluded by writing "What if President Clinton lied under oath about [his sexual misconduct]? . . . There seems to be sympathy for keeping private sexual behavior private." To do otherwise, Steinem concluded, "will disqualify energy and talent the country needs."
Now someone who disagreed with that kind of rationalizing back then and would, I'm confident, disagree now, was Chuck Colson.
At the height of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandals, he called the sympathy Steinem alluded to "completely wrong-headed." He went on to say that "In a democracy, character and leadership are inseparable."
He then told the story of how George Washington defused a potential mutiny by unpaid Continental Army veterans. Meeting with his officers and urging them to give Congress more time, Washington paused to put on his glasses, and said "Gentlemen, you must pardon me. I have grown gray in your service and now find myself going blind." The soldiers began to weep. Mutiny was averted.
As Thomas Jefferson later wrote, "the moderation and virtue of a single [man] probably prevented this Revolution from being closed, as most others have been, by a subversion of that liberty it was intended to establish."
As Chuck said, "What the Founders understood is that character is the first requirement of leadership," because "a nation whose leaders do not lead through their own example of virtue and character cannot inspire sacrifice for the common good."
One of the things I respect most about Chuck is that he did not apply these principles selectively. Those of us who knew him are aware of the pain that he felt when prominent Christian elected officials, some whom he regarded as sons, succumbed to temptation and saw their moral failings exposed in humiliating fashion.
Chuck stood by his friends but he never excused their actions. He told them that they needed to resign their office and get their lives in order. Character wasn't a partisan issue for him.
Based on recent events, it's reasonable to wonder if the same thing is true of us. Now let me be clear; due process is due to the accused. However, too many are justifying the well-documented 180-degree turn Christians have done on the importance of character in public office by appealing to some overriding, political concern.
But if it was wrong 20 years ago, it's wrong today. And it's a terrible witness.
In the end, where do we place our trust? We do not have to sacrifice our principles or our witness on the altar of political expedience—precisely because of the ultimate Truth we believe in and live for: that Christ is risen, that He is Lord. And that He ultimately will restore all things. No election can ever change that.
Originally posted at breakpoint.org
