The litmus test for most evangelicals, and for me, has historically been whether a candidate is pro-life. If a candidate is willing to do philosophical somersaults to differentiate between the kinds of life we should defend, whatever else they say is irrelevant. I believe, however, that in this election there is much more at stake. The new litmus test for Evangelicals should be gauging what a candidate says versus what he does, i.e. the fruit that a candidate produces.
Time and again, the president has said that he is pro-life. With seven of the nine Supreme Court Justices having been appointed by Republican presidents (the remaining two being moderates), George W. Bush had every opportunity to promote the overturn of Roe v. Wade, had he wished to: He did not. Now he would have us believe that by appointing 3 or 4 new justices during his second term, things will change. Why should we believe him? Actions speak louder than words: under the Bush administration, the steady trend of decreasing abortions that started and continued under the Clinton presidency, has been reversed. You can say you are pro-life, but you must be ready to back up your proclaims with adequate social policies. Also, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban was a scam. If you don’t believe me, reread the exceptions within the ban.
Christians, don’t you see that we are being taken for a ride? We are but a demographic – the most powerful one since labor unions. Do you think that it is by accident that we are being delivered a bill of goods full of catch-phrases like God, country, and babies, while the results are exactly opposite? Instead of peace, we have a war premised on greed and deceit (what allies will help us next time?) Instead of a hopeful future we have war, higher unemployment, a higher national debt, Patriot Act II (which makes some of our rights and liberties a thing of the past), no more protection of the unborn than we had under any liberal president, and bogus elections where no one can be assured that his vote will count or will not be tampered with.
For four years, we have been presented with a caricature of our faith by this president. We have been lied to. The president’s actions do speak louder than his words. Even with all of Kerry's many flaws, a candidate who is not making a mockery of the Christian faith is the lesser of two evils. With Tuesday’s vote, let’s send a powerful message to those who wish to hijack our beliefs to further their agendas: you can fool some of the people some of the time... Let’s vote Kerry. At least, unlike the president, he has not yet said that things would be easier if this were a dictatorship.
NOTE: The views expressed in this article are my wife's. I myself am a shameless liberal.
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