In keeping with the now long-standing American tradition of professing Christian conservatives claiming the name of Christ and an affinity for the Bible in word while pretty much ignoring the Word of God on law and civil government in practice, Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz have locked horns in a political life-and-death battle over who will carry the banner of “Bible-believing Christian” forward in the GOP nomination process…while dutifully avoiding the application of Scripture in detail in the realms of law, economics, immigration, warfare and civil government.
It’s a regular clash of the Bible Proclaiming (in word)/Denying (in practice) Titans ’round here these days, with Cruz and Rubio each desperate to preserve the trace-paper thin veneer of biblical fidelity covering their worldviews, particularly as those worldviews intersect with law, economics, government and the like.
On display throughout the campaign for the GOP presidential nomination has been the decidedly un-Christian manner in which such “Christian” campaigns are run these days. Senator Cruz in particular – who I like personally (but am not necessarily voting for) – has already racked up quite a pile of infractions along the way, including a batch of flagrantly deceitful pre-Iowa Caucus mailers and an embarrassingly lame/dishonest promo bit featuring a very poorly Photoshopped pic of Senator Rubio and President Obama shaking hands. Even so, professing evangelicals in 2016 America are far beyond (or beneath) holding their favored political saviors to actual Christian standards, so Cruz and Rubio get passes on these sorts of things…again and again and again.
And again.
After all, that’s “just how things work in the real world”, right?
Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
Once saved, always saved…from the consistent application of Christ-centered standards, anyway.
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Think about it: If Donald Trump can get 33% of the evangelical vote in the South Carolina GOP primary, then little things like “ethics”, “morality” and “honesty” in campaigning aren’t really “a thing” with large numbers of politically active professing Christians in 2016 America.
But they still want a “good Christian man” in office, of course.
Just not necessarily a Christ-like one who, you know, actively seeks to obey and apply the Word of God in detail in every area of life and realm of creation.
Oh no, we can’t (and won’t) have that!
As reported by CNN (and many others), this Clash of the “Christian” Titans escalated today to the point that Cruz actually had to call for the resignation of his own national spokesman:
Ted Cruz asked his national spokesman Rick Tyler to resign Monday, after he distributed a video that falsely depicted Marco Rubio dismissing the Bible.
Cruz says he spent the morning investigating what happened before making his decision.
This latest episode of As The “Christian” Political Ethics Turn centered on a video in which Senator Rubio was portrayed by the Cruz campaign to have been dismissive of the value of Scripture when, in fact, he was praising it.
Of course, the praises in question – however lovely and noble they may sound – rarely, if ever, translate into actual, substantive application when it come’s to Senator Rubio’s approach to law, economics, war, civil government, and pretty much everything else.
Back in November (in Marco Rubio: “God’s rules always win.” Now ignore ’em all and vote for me!), we tried to shed some light on this troubling, but hardly surprising, worldview theme of one of the GOP’s fastest-rising stars:
“God’s rules always win.”
File that sweet line atop the Marco Rubio section of the “it would be awesome if they really believed it” section 0f quotes from GOP candidates now predictably making the rounds pretending to love and revere the law of God in order to snag the votes and cash of politically active professing Christians in America.
As The Hill reports:
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) says religious believers are called to “ignore” laws that violate their faith.
“In essence, if we are ever ordered by a government authority to personally violate and sin — violate God’s law and sin — if we’re ordered to stop preaching the Gospel, if we’re ordered to perform a same-sex marriage as someone presiding over it, we are called to ignore that,” Rubio said in an interview with CBN on Tuesday.
“So when those two come into conflict, God’s rules always win,” he added.
Really, Marco?
Do God’s rules (aka “laws”) really trump man’s whenever the two hold contrary positions?
Howsabout when it comes to defining the roles, responsibilities and limitations of the Family, Church, and State?
Howsabout when it comes to Scripture condemning State-empowering, citizen-enslaving Socialist systems like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Public Schools, etc., etc., etc.? (See: Our “Free Money” Heroin Habit: Why “conservative Christian” Americans sell their own children for just one more hit of Socialism.)
Howsabout when it comes to defining what is good and evil in the definition and pursuit of children’s education? (See: Statism 101: State-run “education” makes a State-dependent population.)
Howsabout when it comes to immediately shutting down (forget just defunding, which the GOP can’t even do) the “legally” protected baby mass murdering facilities openly operating all across the fruited plain? (See: Just in case you still think Republicans are ever going to actually stop abortion…)
Howsabout when it comes to Scripture clearly condemning our “magic money”-for-some/economic-bondage-for-the-rest economic system as an abomination (the same term used for homosexual practice)? (See: Proverbs 11:1 and Fiat $lavery: We have been bought and paid for…with nothing.)
Howsabout when it comes to law itself? (See: Presuppositional Law: Where we begin with law determines where we end.)
Something tells me that Marco didn’t mean any o’ that.
Not even close, and the funny/sad thing is that we all know it.
We all know that he’s fully expected to say these things during this season of vote chasing and we all just as fully expect him not to follow through in application on any of it if/when given the chance.
Most pathetic of all: It works every time.
So why wouldn’t Marco run with this most tried and successful of political gimmicks?
American Christians are the ultimate – and most dedicated – suckers, it would seem.
Policy wise, Marco routinely advocates overtly unbiblical American Statism as consistently as anyone else in the Pagan Political Right field of wannabe Presidents. He’s just doing what they all do: Pitching Christian lingo to professing Christian crowds in order to gain support for the same Statist bondage that’s been successfully sold to American Christians for generations now under the guise of secular conservatism. (See: How’s that Pagan “conservatism” workin’ out for ya, Christian?)
Lord willing, we’ll someday finally stop buying what guys like this are selling.
‘Til then, we’ll continue to get what we deserve.
Since that post back in November, Rubio has soared into the top tier of Republican President wannabes, in large part due to his successfully pitching The Christian Card to millions of professing believers in America who are no more interested than the typical Leftist Democrat is in pursuing Christ as Lord over their politics, law, and government. (For more on Senator Rubio’s anti-Christian worldview in political practice, please read Rubio makes Orwellian case for perpetual war even better than Bush; “conservative Christians” swoon.)
No wonder God is giving the GOP over to Donald Trump.
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Finally, here are a few good intro/reminder links for those of you who are new to Fire Breathing Christian and curious about exactly what’s goin’ on ’round here:
What are you, some kind of [insert label here] or something?!
What’s with that shark-fishie graphic thing?
Intro to Fire: The Power and Purpose of the Common Believer
When the Bible gets hairy. (Or: Is it right for men to have long hair?)
And especially this one: Never forget that apart from God’s grace you and I are complete morons.
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