Let the Anointing Begin!
More than any campaign in recent memory, the 2000
Presidential campaign placed both religion and faith in God front and center in
the political process. Whether it was
George Bush naming Jesus as his favorite philosopher on the nationally televised
debates, Joe Lieberman taking Saturdays off in observance of the Sabbath, or Al
Gore speaking in African American churches in the final days of the campaign,
the invocation of the Almighty was never far from either side in their quest
for the White House.
And if the candidates were
aggressive in courting Americans of faith, media savvy religious leaders were
positively rabid in their partisan support.
For the Christian Right, this was especially true. Self-proclaimed men of God Pat Robertson and
Jerry Falwell mobilized an army of volunteers, spent a mountain of money, and
poured forth an ocean of rhetoric, in support of their candidate, George W
Bush.
The reason was simple.
In the eyes of Mr. Robertson and Mr. Falwell, Bill Clinton had simply
been the most immoral man to ever occupy the Whitehouse, and God demanded that
his Vice President be defeated to forever remove the stain of his
transgressions from the Oval Office.
Now that Mr. Gore has conceded the contest to Mr. Bush,
perhaps it is fair to ask, did God have a dog in this fight? For as the events of the past several months
have made clear, nothing could have been less probable than a Bush presidency.
Mr. Bush began his campaign running against an incumbent
administration blessed with the longest economic expansion in history, and
immediately faced a 19 point drubbing in the New Hampshire primary. However, shortly thereafter, Mr. Bush
benefited mightily from a massive telephone bank operation run by the Christian
Coalition that shored up Lee Atwater’s famed South Carolina firewall. Mr. McCain, perhaps sensing that these
efforts had breathed new life into the wounded Bush campaign, went so far as to
describe the pillars of Christianity who had rushed to Bush's side as
"evil." But within a matter
of days, Mr. Falwell and Mr. Robertson were vindicated and Mr. McCain's
candidacy was over.
Later, after the general election had been held, it became
increasingly clear that not only had Mr. Gore won in excess of 300,000 more
votes than Mr. Bush across America, but that he had also received thousands,
perhaps tens of thousands, more votes in the critical state of Florida, which
would have put him over the top of the all important electoral college. But
when the votes were counted, a mechanical fluke had shown Mr. Bush to be the
winner. Was it the hand of God again
intervening for the Bush team?
As events unfolded in the post election phase, Robertson
repeatedly castigated Mr. Gore on his globally distributed religious television
program for trying to "steal the election", Mr. Falwell sent out
email missives urging his followers to pray for Mr. Bush, and in Florida,
Christian Conservatives went on hunger strikes to entice their Eternal God to
come to the aid of the Republican standard bearer. And then Vice President Al
Gore conceded.
So perhaps the Almighty did intervene in this
election.
But if Mr. Robertson and Mr. Falwell actually do speak for
Lord, and it truly was God's hand has purged the remnants of the immoral Bill
Clinton from the White House, it shouldn't be long before God's blessings rain
down upon our formerly lost and wayward Nation. Indeed, if God himself chose Mr. Bush We can reasonably expect
for things to be much, much better than they had been under President Clinton,
and in short order.
Let the Anointing Begin!
Christians who believe Mr. Robertson's interpretation of
the scripture should anticipate that unemployment, already at the lowest levels
in history, will vanish altogether. Mr.
Falwell's followers can expect, at a minimum, that the record economic
expansion of the past 8 years will be dwarfed by an economy operating with the
blessings of God the Father. Baptists across the South should anticipate 20%
per year growth in the GDP at a minimum.
And the Catholics, Pentecostals, and other various sects of Christianity
who anointed Mr. Bush the candidate of righteousness, should anticipate a quick
end to abortion, homosexuality and crime; as all of these blessings should
quickly come to pass now that America has responded and picked God's candidate
the President of the United States.
Of course, if these things do not come to pass; if the
fighting among God’s chosen in Israel does not subside, if the wages of the
poor reverse their recent increases, and if American prosperity is not
turbo-charged by Mr. Bush's plans to simultaneously provide billions of extra
dollars to dubious defense programs and a massive tax cut for the rich, then
Christians might want to consider the possibility that it wasn't God who put
Mr. Bush in the White House.
Rather, they may wish to consider that it was a corrupt
political system in a racist state run by his brother, and a Supreme Court that
willingly sacrificed its own nobility on the alter of partisan politics. And they may then want to reconsider which
political party God really favors.
© 2000 The Daily Brew