Whither Christian Conservatism?

Now that Barack Obama is our nation's 44th president, the season of chest-beating has begun for Christian conservatives. We are suddenly back to 1992, facing the victory of a populist, pro-choice, liberal president. The sky was falling then, as now. But eight years ago, we got exactly what we wanted: a pro-life conservative Christian president! Things were looking up!

So what went wrong? Frankly, it is time for us to admit that George W. Bush's presidency was a disaster -- for America, for the conservative cause, and for Christians. 

Why was it a disaster? In the last eight years:

• The national debt has more than doubled, from 4.5 to 10 trillion dollars.
  
• We have inched closer to a police state with the so-called Patriot Act and other legislation and executive orders.
• With the passage of the RealID act, we will soon have a single national ID card for all citizens.
• We invaded a sovereign country without first being attacked.
• We now officially use torture.
• We jail (without legal recourse) foreign citizens under suspicion of being illegal combatants.

Did we, as Christians, stand up against any of this? No. Is it any wonder we are no longer taken seriously by the culture at large? We have lost the culture war, and with it, the hearts and minds of the average American citizen.

Why?

You won't like my answer, but here it is: We are not much like Jesus. And we will not make a lasting difference in our country until we are.

You probably won't like my ideas for change either.

• Pro-life efforts should stop trying to change the laws and begin changing hearts.
• We should respect others' points of view.
• We should understand why people vote for Democrats rather than look down on them for it.
• We should stop worrying so much about gay marriage and work on straight marriages. The divorce rate within the church is no different from the culture at large.
  
• We should repent of our failure to address moral issues such as greed and treatment of employees.

And one last thing:

• We should be Christians rather than Conservatives.
  

Ask Billy Graham about that last one -- he is, after all, a registered Democrat.