Michelle Malkin points out that “The New York Times‘ sanctimonious reporters and editorialists loudly declaim the mixture of religion and politics whenever conservative Christians are involved. But when the religious Left brings Democratic partisans to preach to the choir, the church/state separatists in the media are quieter than country church mice.”
Her point is well taken and Rothbard went off on this hypocrisy as well many years ago: “…I’ll say it only once more: it does not violate the separation of church and state principle for Christians to get involved in politics, or to take political stands. Or even for Christian ministers or priests to do so. For people who use this absurd argument, this point should be thrown into their face: All right, are you prepared to repudiate all the political activities of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King? Or of all the other black ministers? Are you prepared to condemn Catholic Bishops when they agitated for civil rights legislation? And if not, why not? And if not, please inter this idiotic argument once and for all. The blatant hypocrisy of left-liberals on this entire matter is a stench unto one’s nostrils. They must not be allowed to get away with this intellectual fraud.”
Nevertheless, it does not follow from the hypocrisy of left-liberals on this matter that it is a good idea for conservative Christians to be deeply involved with the political machine, or even worse, become intimately intertwined with one particular political party. My concern is that the process of becoming a special interest group in a mass democracy involves selling your inheritance and not even getting a mess of pottage. I remember a National Review cover many years ago about American blacks being stuck on the “liberal plantation”. Their point was well taken. While working with black children in the inner city of St. Louis I saw how deeply their community was committed to the Democratic party. To vote Republican would make you some kind of race traitor in their eyes. What does this community get for their loyalty to the Democratic machine? Broken families and “social services” that help keep them mired in the ghetto. Well soon we’ll be able to talk about conservative Christians being on the “conservative plantation”… Meaning total loyalty to the Republican political machine in return for losing any independence and spiritual perspective on the messianic State.
Here is my question for conservative Christians: “Are you so impressed with the effects on the religious left of getting wrapped up with politics that now you want to imitate them?”
9:59 am on September 3, 2004
