Is that Alan Keyes? Oh Dear...

Earlier this week, the American public (well, those who were watching Iowa public television in the middle of the afternoon) were all subject to what Charles Krauthammer dubbed, "the worst debate in western history, and that includes the ancient Greeks." The aftermath of the Des Moines Register-sponsored Republican presidential debate consisted mostly of head-scratching and shell-shocked pundits asking each other “what the hell just happened?”

It certainly wasn’t because of the political fireworks generated, or any raised level of discourse. It was more because of the awkwardness of it all….and because of the strange reappearance of Alan Keyes, someone we all thought (and desperately hoped) was out of our lives forever.

To me, the low and high point of the debate occured when the moderator asked for a show of hands from those who believe global climate change is a serious threat. Fred Thompson-led pandemonium quickly broke out as each candidate sheepishly tried to distance themselves from such an absurd contention. Well, all of the candidates except one. And it just happened to be the one candidate who couldn’t raise either of his hands because five years of torture in a Hanoi prison camp prevent him from even being able to comb his own hair. The statement that followed from John McCain was as articulate as it was principled, especially given the mood in that room. It was just another one of those McCain moments when so clearly transcends everything around him and wins us over.

Otherwise, yes, the moderator did look like a strange morphing of Senator Amy Klobuchar and that mean lady from the Weakest Link. And yes, the only thing reassuring about the reappearance of Keyes was that he's still as crazy as we remember. This time around, he may have failed to announce an endorsement from Jesus Christ or that all homosexuals were selfish hedonists, but he did give us a couple more special moments.

Chris Cillizza provides a good breakdown of the debate winners and losers.

Secular Europe

There was an interesting column by Roger Cohen in the Times today that provided "secular Europe's" response to the Romney speech on faith.

“The Continent has paid a heavy price in blood for religious fervor and decided some time ago, as a French king put it, that “Paris is well worth a Mass.” Romney, a Republican presidential candidate, was dismissive of European societies “too busy or too ‘enlightened’ to venture inside and kneel in prayer.” He thereby pointed to what has become the principal transatlantic cultural divide.

Europeans still take the Enlightenment seriously enough not to put it inside quote marks. They have long found an inspiring reflection of it in the first 16 words of the American Bill of Rights of 1791: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Thomas Jefferson saw those words as “building a wall of separation between church and state.” So, much later, did John F. Kennedy, who in a speech predating Romney’s by 47 years, declared: “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.”

The absolute has proved porous.

…Religion informed America’s birth. But its distancing from politics was decisive to the republic’s success. Indeed, the devastating European experience of religious war influenced the founders’ thinking. That is why I find Romney’s speech and the society it reflects far more troubling than Europe’s vacant cathedrals.

…Romney rejects the “religion of secularism,” of which Europe tends to be proud. But he should consider that Washington is well worth a Mass. The fires of the reformation that reduced St. Andrews Cathedral to ruin are fires of faith that endure in different, but no less explosive, forms. Jefferson’s “wall of separation” must be restored if those who would destroy the West’s Enlightenment values are to be defeated.

The Huckabee Crusade

In Iowa, the growing appeal of the Mike Huckabee phenomenon can be largely attributed to the way his style and manner contrasts with Mitt Romney. Romney is the Ken Doll of presidential candidates – his shameless pandering and flexible principles, as well as his perfect hair and expensive suits, embody everything we have grown to distrust in politicians. On the other hand, Huckabee is one of the rare candidates who can draw you in with his eloquence, his genuineness, and his natural charm. If Romney was cold and calculating, many saw Huckabee as sincere and principled. If Romney is ivory towers and country clubs, Huckabee is the neighbor you’d invite over for dinner. And to top things off, he was the candidate who ushered in the much-anticipated arrival of Chuck Norris into presidential politics.

But as the issue of faith becomes more prominent in this campaign, some of Huckabee’s luster is wearing off and he’s beginning to resemble the typical politician we so desperately hoped he wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I respect Huckabee because I truly believe his sincerity of faith may run deeper than anyone else in the race. And it’s important that he has invoked the tenants of his faith in commendable efforts as Governor to provide health insurance for lower income children, alleviate poverty, and support a humane immigration policy…even if he distances himself from those stances today. Until recently, he spoke of his faith sincerely and articulately, and in a way that even secular Americans could clearly understand and appreciate.

Sadly, to cement his base of support among Iowa Evangelicals and fend off Romney down the home stretch, he has resorted to the politicization of his faith – a disturbing and growing trend in Republican politics. Americans have almost become resigned to these tactics but we also thought Mike Huckabee was different. He was the Baptist Minister with the theology degree who relied on his faith to bring us together, not tear us apart. Now he is the candidate who plays the religion card to exploit the insecurities of those who hold prejudice against others who may or may not be “Christians.”

The temptation for Huckabee to employ these tactics was inevitable but we hoped he wouldn’t take the bait. Now that he has, it has cheapened his campaign and it has cheapened the very faith he espouses. In the end, is it more about the origins of a particular faith and which bible you read (or do not read), or is it more about how the followers of a particular faith, or even those who don’t adhere to a particular faith, choose to live their lives? Calling someone out for falling under a different religious category, especially if you are a “Christian leader” such as a Baptist Minister, is nothing more than a shameless way of appealing to the worst in people.

His tactics may ultimately appeal in a Republican primary where a number of ideologues genuinely believe someone is a lesser person because of their particular faith, but it will surely backfire. When it comes to faith and politics, I believe the American people, even a good number of Republicans, want change. We are tired of a president who uses his faith to justify waging war, to veto vital funding for medical research, and to write discrimination into the Constitution. We want someone to bring us together, not someone to tear us farther apart.

Hijacked Faith

In an event that recently crept under the radar screen, Reverend Joel Hunter stepped down as president-elect of the Christian Coalition. According to Rev. Hunter, he volunteered his resignation, but according to the chair of the Coalition Board, his resignation was called for. The significance of this event is not the decision itself, but the reasons behind it. Hunter saw the Coalition as moving beyond its traditional role of messengers who, in the name of Christianity, have done nothing but polarize Americans by putting partisan politics above a strict adherence to the faith they espouse.

Hunter envisioned a movement that could broaden its agenda beyond abortion and same sex marriage, possibly to such issues as poverty and the environment. But his positions on global warming, increasing the minimum wage and opposing the death penalty left the Coalition running for cover. “These are issues that Jesus would want us to care about," says Hunter. "My position is, unless we are caring as much for the vulnerable outside the womb as inside the womb, we're not carrying out the full message of Jesus."

Hunter believes a large number of conservative Christians are driven away from right-wing organizations like the Coalition because their energies are too narrowly focused on “moral issues.” He also believes the Coalition has lost touch with its constituents because, instead of a focus on grass-roots organizing, their focus is solely on Washington-based advocacy.

"I saw an opportunity to really broaden the conversation and broaden the constituency... I think the board just got scared. When we really got down to it, they said: 'This just isn't for us. It won't speak to our base, so we just can't go there.'" The Coalition claims that he was acting too fast without consulting his superiors, but Hunter says the Coalition's board had already signed off on this approach, only to later get cold feet. The back and forth continues...

It’s just the latest in a long line of missteps by the Coalition, which was founded 17 years ago by Pat Robertson (author of the following quotes and an advocate of dropping a nuclear bomb of the State Department, assassinating Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and bringing righteousness back to our country so the atheists, liberals and homosexuals won’t bring about another 9/11).

"Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history."

"Many of those people involved with Adolph Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals--the two things seem to go together."

"I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."

"I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period."

"The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians."

"The strategy against the American radical left should be the same as General Douglas MacArthur employed against the Japanese in the Pacific... bypass their strongholds, then surround them, isolate them bombard them, then blast the individuals out of their power bunkers with hand-to-hand combat. The battle for Iwo Jima was not pleasant, but our troops won it. The battle to regain the soul of America won't be pleasant either, but we will win it."

The Coalition quickly became the chief lobbying group and voter organizer for the religious right but since Robertson’s resignation five years ago, it has struggled with creditors, defections by state affiliates and a dwindling presence in Washington. In the mid-1990s, its budget topped $25 million. Today, it is more than $2 million in debt. And yet they continue on their crusade with no regard for the lessons of the past. “Conservative Christians need to be more ambidextrous than just 'right' or 'left' oriented,” says Rev. Hunter. “I'm really over this whole polarization thing." I think the American people would agree.