Moral Leaders?

The outpouring of unseemly and unchristian lies and distortions from the nation's self-proclaimed "Moral Leaders" that appeared in the days before the Nov. elections was truly amazing. I'm no stranger to hardball politics, and as the President of the Board of Trustees of my Church, with my own political opinions, I'd be the last to argue against any one's right to be in the fray. But, I cannot bear to let go unnoticed that many of the candidates who were most closely associated with the Religious Right, those who proclaimed themselves the candidates of the "Values Voters," abandoned the values of honesty and decency in the closing days of their campaigns.

A Few Examples among many:
Ohio Gubernatorial Candidate Kenneth Blackwell, favored by the so-called "Patriot Pastors"- accused his opponent, a decent, humane man who served in Congress and as a United Methodist minister, of supporting sex between adults and children.

Senator Rick Santorum, declared by archconservative leader Paul Weyrich to be the most important senator in America at the recent "Values Voter Summit," accused his opponent, a popular state treasurer, of aiding and abetting terrorism and genocide.

Virginia Senator George Allen, who will forever be known for his ugly mocking of a young person of color to a chuckling, all-white audience, attacked his opponent, a respected author whose military-themed novels have been praised by George Will and John McCain, by calling a few out-of-context quotes, "OBSCENE."

It's not just the politicians, The American Family Association was so desperate to energize conservative Christian voters that it told its members that if Democrats won, they should expect attempts to make "polygamy legal in all 50 states."

In 2000, GOP strategists went to work in South Carolina demeaning John McCain. They orchestrated a malicious campaign of phone calls and fliers whispering about illegitimate mixed-race children, mental instability, and other falsehoods.

George W. Bush, the president who is so eager to wear his "Jesus-Changed" heart on his sleeve, responded to a righteously angry McCain with the dismissive comment, "It's only politics."

Mr.. Bush and Karl Rove aren't the first or the last politicians to adopt an end-justify-the-means approach to winning elections, but there's a glaring disconnect between their proclaimed commitment to truth and biblical values and their willingness to shuck it all aside if it means getting enough votes to hang onto power.

Unfortunately I have already received, so early in the 2010 election process, several delightful email lies about Barack Obama. And, I know there will be more.

Please check out the facts on www.snopes.com and just type in Barack Obama in the search field.

I know this will be the first of many from the "Family Values" side of the aisle. I just never realized that lying was a family value.

Americans are beginning to demand a new direction in politics, a direction that holds up hope instead of fear, the common good instead of divisions, and aims at solving real problems that affect real American families rather than ideology. And that is a politics that is much closer to the good news of the Gospel than anything the so-called "Moral Values" crowd has offered.