Lauren Boebert Blows up the GOP's Biggest Talking Point
It's an instruction that appears in virtually every publication written for the youth groups and Sunday school classes of conservative, Evangelical churches. It's such an integral part of the culture of conservative, Evangelical Christianity's church ministries to youth that several major publishing companies have come up with ways to help remind youth of their commitment, including fashioning a ring they could wear symbolizing the commitment they made not to engage in sexual activity until their wedding night.
To really see the full scope of what conservative Christians believe about premarital sexual activity, look at any of a dozen of their media outlets, and you'll get the full picture. Saving oneself sexually for marriage is a huge emphasis in everything that is taught to church youth groups and college students, so much so that they are able to explain their church's view on sexuality as thoroughly as anything they're taught, but can't articulate very much else in Christian theology or doctrine.
And yet, one of the members of Congress who is vociferous and outspoken about her Christian faith and the need for America to have more of it, stands up in front of a conservative political action committee and not only tells them that her 17 year old son is going to make her a grandmother at 36, but completely trashes conservative Christianity's whole perspective on the matter by celebrating what her brand of the Christian church labels "fornication."
This isn't the First Time Boebert has Demonstrated Her Ignorance of Christian Theology, Doctrine, and what the Bible Says
In virtually every church where I've ever been a member, most of the congregation sits in blissful ignorance of the core beliefs and practices of their church. They'll gather on Sunday and give nods and shout out "amen" to a sermon the Devil was preaching, if he wore a suit and tie, stood behind the pulpit, waved his arms and used a black, leather bound King James Bible. Most of them could not explain their belief, or their church's teaching, on soteriology, ecclesiology or eschatology and wouldn't know what those terms meant or the difference between them. But most of those in conservative and fundamentalist churches know that drinking alcohol is a sin and having sex before marriage is also a sin.
But given almost everything Lauren Boebert has said about her version of the Christian faith, I'm not really surprised at what she did, in front of a conservative political forum, upon finding out that her teenage son will be a father, to a child conceived out of wedlock. There's very little in her expression of what she calls her Christian faith that is consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ, or with the principles provided by the apostles who wrote most of the New Testament. When leaders like her are elected, and their lifestyle, and rhetoric becomes public knowledge, it becomes easy to see that the Christianity they claim to follow is something they've used to get elected, more than it is a sincere faith.
Her statement that "the government should not direct the church, the church is supposed to direct the government," is neither constitutional, in accordance with religious liberty and church-state separation, nor is it consistent with the two early church apostles who wrote about the fact that the submission of the church to governing authorities is part of its testimony of faith and its recognition of the very identity of God himself. Her use of Psalm 109:8-9 as a means of putting down President Biden, whether as a joke or whether she was serious, not only takes the verse she used completely out of context, but also demonstrates her failure to follow the single most important doctrinal point of the Christian faith, in loving all of humanity, including, perhaps most exceptionally, one's enemies.
Maybe she thinks that people don't notice, or perhaps she really doesn't care as long as it works for her, but I would tell those church leaders who are wringing their hands and complaining about increasingly empty pews and declining church membership, and financial support that hypocritical politicians like this might have something to do with that. Apparently, Boebert's son didn't see anything in his mother's actions to convince him of the veracity of Christianity or the sincerity of his mother's beliefs.
It's not being judgmental, according to the words of Jesus (Matthew 7:1-5) to observe that the teaching about what would be called, in old fashioned terms, Christian chastity, is not taken seriously by the congresswoman or her family. In publicly proclaiming that her son was making her a grandmother at 36, she also made light of the fact that she, too, had made her mother a grandmother in her thirties. If the speaker wasn't a well-known extremist conservative congresswoman, and the venue was a youth group gathering in a conservative, Evangelical church, would anyone in the congregation tolerate bragging about being illegitimately pregnant at 17, and about a 17 year old boy getting his girlfriend, allegedly two years younger, age 15, pregnant?
Do Some Reading and Study and Get Back to Me
If Christian faith is the trademark of a political campaign, and political stump speeches include references to faith principles and take place in church auditoriums and fellowship halls, then getting it right is incumbent upon the politician. It is also the responsibility of Christians who hear this jumble of words to speak up and correct the error instead of applaud the speaker and ignore their heresy.
No one is perfect. But sprinkling Christian talking points and references into the content of a political speech made by someone who is seeking election to public office, and is therefore placing themselves and their reputation on display means that part of their life needs to set an example and demonstrate that they've figured it out and got it right, and they live by the words they speak.
I wouldn't hold a politician accountable for something that one of their children had done that was considered immoral by the standards of the Christian faith. But in this case, passing it off in public, using it as a talking point to gain political points and after being caustic in criticism of President Biden and his son, and publicly proclaiming the President's accountability for his son's behavior opened the door wide to public criticism of the congresswoman. She got this one wrong, and her previous bashing of the President makes any criticism of her hypocrisy legitimate.
I would suggest that she start with Matthew, chapters 5-7, and then move over to Romans 12, 13 and 14 before she opens her mouth and sticks her foot in it again.
And What if Boebert Were a Democrat?
Let's just think of that possibility for a moment. What kind of holy horror would prompt the screams and shrieks and flapping of lips by Republicans if a Democrat with a "holier than thou" reputation had publicly attempted to justify their child's sin of fornication? They would already be appropriating funds for a full investigation of the incident, to see if this really was sexual abuse, given the ages involved, or worse, a case of covered-up rape.
It's not hard to imagine. Republicans have been apoplectic over Hunter Biden and his alleged laptop. In that case, they have nothing to shriek about, but that hasn't stopped them from trying to keep it in the news cycle or hint that there might be something incriminating, though they've been digging and searching for years, now, with no results. Hunter Biden is an adult, and the President has never worn his Catholic faith on his sleeve, or used it as a campaign slogan.
It's been incredibly disappointing to see individuals who claim to be conservative, Evangelical Christians, who are looking to be examples and leaders, not only as people of faith, but as political leaders, set aside the values of the Christian gospel, or demonstrate inexcusable ignorance of it, or try to change it, once they achieve their goal. It's been even more disappointing to see Evangelical Christians give them a pass on their immorality, greed and lack of integrity simply because they agree with a few political points, or can get them something politically in exchange for their support. That's an even worse apostasy.
-
No comments:
Post a Comment