Are liberals more sinful than corruption?

The Christian Post for some reason has been running older columns by our friend Albert Mohler. This one is originally from March 2005: Does Liberalism Have a Future? by Albert Mohler 01/12/06.

Using a column in the New Republic by Marty Peretz trotting out the usual Republican talking points about how the Democratic Party has abandoned its virtues (of long, long ago, of course) as a reference, he recites a standard litany of how the Christian Right defines "liberals".

Liberals, according to the view, have no worthwhile ideas; cater cynically to special-interest groups; are much too nice to black people, who are actually treated much better by Republicans; hold on to stupid and outdated ideas about regulating business to protect workers and consumers; support "the welfare state"; love Commies; and hate marriage and the family. He devotes the most time to complaining how interested the Democrats are in the concerns of blacks, which seems to concern him more than the liberal Commie free-love orgies.

But here in the "reality-based" world, the current drama over the vast structure of corruption that has been serving such champions of the Christian Right as Tom DeLay suggests that they mat be listening to the ideological rattling in their heads more intently than they are focusing on Christian principles of conduct. As Gene Lyons puts it in Nothing bipartisan about Congressional scandal Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 01/11/06:

An orthodox Jew, Abramoff missed few chances to pose as a man of God and philanthropist while bribing legislators with casino cash. Former Christian Coalition choirboy Ralph Reed played along, admonishing the faithful in Texas and Louisiana to fight the moral scourge of gambling while helping himself to millions from Mississippi casinos that he was secretly working for. DeLay has rarely missed an opportunity to stress his personal relationship with God. He's repeatedly lambasted Democrats for having the "wrong world view." Meanwhile, his U. S. Family Network was building the nation's "moral fitness" by taking $1 million checks from Russian oligarchs presumably in return for services rendered.

Joe Conason reminds us of one of the perils of the Christian Right style of politics. When you've spent years telling everyone who would listen how very Christian and righteous you are, that could make it considerably harder to convince the parole board that you've had a life-changing religious experience in the slammer: Let us prey Salon 01/06/06.

DeLay once claimed to have been inspired by the writings of Charles Colson, the Watergate felon who found religion in prison. Whatever may become of Abramoff, Reed, DeLay and their luckless co-conspirators, the Colson path will not be open to them. When you've spent a lifetime exploiting religion for profit and power, it's a lot harder to convince anyone that you've undergone a jailhouse conversion.

But I guess they could always convert to Islam.

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