Worldview Dis-qualification

While honesty may still be the best policy, in today’s conservative-hostile media climate, unguarded honesty certainly won’t keep one out of hot water.  Dr. Ben Carson recently found himself facing the ire of liberals and the politically correct movement when questioned on his views concerning  faith in the public arena.  In a Sunday morning "Meet the Press" interview, moderator Chuck Todd asked Carson, an Evangelical Christian, whether a president's faith should matter to voters."

In response to the question, Carson sensibly replied that he does believe a president's faith should matter, "depending on what that faith is."   Adding, "If it's [a president's faith] inconsistent with the values and principles of America, then of course it should matter," he said, but "If it fits within the realm of America and is consistent with the Constitution, I have no problem."

In the inevitable follow-up, ‘gotcha’ question, Todd pressed him as to whether he believed “that Islam is consistent with the Constitution?”  The good doctor forthrightly replied, “No, I don’t, I do not.”   Continuing, "I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that."

Dr. Carson was essentially saying that a candidate’s worldview matters.  In fact, it matters a lot.  Unfortunately, he did not insist on being given time to explain the fine points of Sharia law, the consequences thereof, nor the obligation thereunto by devout Muslims - an obligation which would create seismic tremors throughout our society and judicial system.  Certainly as a candidate addressing an issue touching on religious liberty, Dr. Carson could and should have been more nuanced and clear about the conflict of worldviews involved.  But as it was, the usual suspects were soon in line a dozen deep blasting away at Carson.

At the front of that line was Nihad Awad, the National Executive Director of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) who in a press conference the next day demanded that Carson “withdraw from the presidential race” for holding those beliefs, claiming, “he is unfit to lead because his views are in contradiction with the United States Constitution."

Really?  It probably would have bolstered Awad’s already tenuous credibility had he read the Constitution before attempting to bludgeon Carson with it.  Dr. Carson has the same rights as any other person (including Awad) in this country to draw conclusions about the suitability of candidates for public office (freedom of thought), publicly express his beliefs about those candidates (freedom of speech), and then to vote - or not vote - for his preferred candidate (suffrage).  Clearly Awad isn’t well versed in either the laws of this country or for the matter, the rules of logic.

Mr. Awad simply didn’t like what Carson said and wants to shame him into shutting up.  Please forgive me if I find it ironic that CAIR – which is basically an apologist group quick to defend radical Islamic terrorists and to denounce anti-Islamic-terrorist efforts – is invoking our Constitution that guarantees both freedom of speech and religion while enshrining universal suffrage.  Especially since in almost every – if not all – countries with Muslim majorities, the citizens enjoy none of those freedoms.

In Sudan, Saudi Arabia or almost any predominantly Muslim country, do you think he would be allowed to vocally criticize the country’s leadership?  If Carson was in Iran, just how long would he be allowed to claim the Supreme Leader of Iran unfit to lead before he was arrested, brought up before some kangaroo Islamic court as an infidel, and very likely beheaded?

In a Monday night Facebook post, Dr. Carson clarified his position.  "I could never support a candidate for President of the United States that was Muslim and had not renounced the central tenant of Islam: Sharia Law."  He continued, "I know that there are many peaceful Muslims who do not adhere to these beliefs.  But until these tenants are fully renounced... I cannot advocate any Muslim candidate for President.”   Later on Fox News, he equally applied his logic to non-Muslims, saying ”If, for instance, you believe in a theocracy, I don't care if you're a Christian. If you're a Christian and you're running for president and you want to make this into a theocracy, I'm not going to support you. I'm not going to advocate you being the president."

But despite his best attempts to educate the voters or explain his view, in the eyes of the politically correct crowd, the damage was done, the point scored in their favor, the horrifying verdict rendered:  Carson is an intolerant bigot.

As Christians we do walk a fine line.  We need to hold firmly unto our convictions, but we also don’t want to needlessly offend our neighbors who don’t share those convictions.  But selecting a president is no trivial task.  We have a unique system of self-government.  As citizens, we are entrusted with the responsibility and duty not only to have an understanding of the unique and precious system that we have inherited – a government of the people, by the people, for the people as Lincoln famously said – but also to be fully informed about the motivations and views of the person who will set the direction and lead our country for the next four years.  The worldview of that person is vitally important.

Personally, I am neither a politician nor influential leader so thankfully my words and nuances won’t ever be analyzed to the extent that the Presidential candidates are subjected to.  I would readily vote for a black man, an Asian woman, or someone committed to their Jewish faith – if, I agreed with their positions on the issues and thought they were solidly grounded in the Judeo-Christian ethic.  This is not simply an issue of identity politics.

It should be of great concern to thoughtful citizens that there were those who voted for Obama simply because he is black – with little understanding of his (in my view) radical influences and ideas.   It should be equally troubling that there are those who have indicated they will vote for Hillary Clinton – or Carly Fiorina for that matter – simply because she is a woman – without regard to her history or policy proposals.  As Christian citizens, we need to be more responsible than that.

Much like Carson, I too can’t imagine supporting or voting for a theoretical Muslim candidate for president of this country.  The frame of reference is too dis-similar, the worldview differences are simply too great.  Nor could I support someone whose worldview accommodates abortion (such as past candidates Barry Goldwater, Gerald Ford, or Rudy Giuliani), despite any other truly admirable qualities.  That said, I wouldn’t vote for a self-avowed socialist, such as Bernie Sanders, and for that matter, I wouldn’t – and didn’t – vote for someone who does not describe himself as a socialist, but in my view, is one nonetheless:  namely Barack Obama.  It is simply a matter of worldview.


Dr. Carson is right.  Worldview matters.

10/13/15 Addendum:  I just happened to locate the following quote from John Jay.  Jay, as you will recall, was one of the country's founding fathers and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court:

Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty - as well as the privilege and interest - of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.

Hmmm... Who do you trust to have a greater understanding of Constitutional law?  Nihad Awad, CAIR's apologist for Islamic extremism, or John Jay, our country's first Chief Justice.

The Conservative Mood

As somewhat of a political junkie, I watched the 2nd Republican candidate debate with great interest.  That’s not surprising to those who know me.  What was surprising was that despite how early we are in the process, its length (3 hours), and moderator Jake Tapper’s penchant for focusing on fireworks instead of policy positions, this debate proved to be CNN’s most watched debate ever.  Twenty three million – nearly 1 in 10 Americans (at least the legal ones) – were actually paying attention to what the Republican candidates had to say.  I believe this portends well for the state of our republic.

What I find most encouraging is that the top two candidates in all the polls – Dr. Ben Carson and Donald Trump, as well as the rising star Carly Fiorina, have this one thing in common:  they are all Washington outsiders.  Although not currently polling as high as the others, I have to include the anti-establishment Ted Cruz in the outsider list as well, since he is effectively 'persona non grata' with Republican leadership.

While I have been working on these thoughts for several months now, I suppose one could argue that none of these outsiders have the experience and/or the temperament to be the leader of the free world.  Doctor Carson may indeed just be too nice a guy, Mr. Trump too 'New York' brash, Ms. Fiorina inspiring but too inexperienced.

But consider here for a moment that perhaps the message being sent is truly just that simple:  Americans want someone they can respect and trust (like Carson), someone who will tell us what he thinks and take the heat (like Trump), and someone who is a fresh face to lead us (such as Fiorina).  What we clearly don’t want - Washington D.C. experience.  The thought of that must be keeping the establishment Republicans awake at night.

Yet this is a situation created entirely by the Republican establishment.  The apparent strategy of having a well-funded, anointed-by-the establishment candidate (Bush with Christie as a backup) running against a handful of gad-flys (Graham, Kasich, Paul, Trump), and so many committed conservatives as to hopelessly split up both their money and votes (Carson, Cruz, Fiorina, Huckabee, Jindal, Perry, Rubio, Santorum, Walker, etc.) seems to have back-fired on them this time.

Now conservatives in general have about had enough of Republican candidates telling us what we want to hear, but failing to act once we send them to Washington on our behalf.

• Recall John Boehner famously saying that we only control one-half of one-third of the government. 
• Keep in mind how we were told that all you have to do is give Boehner and Mitch McConnell a Congressional majority in 2014 and they will accomplish great and wonderful things.
• Remember that the few who are serious about enacting the things we sent them there to do (including Senator Cruz) are marginalized by the elite, castigated in the media, and - if in Boehner’s House - stripped of their rank and committee positions.

Indeed, as conservatives we have seen effectively no practical differences coming out of the current Boehner/McConnell Congress than when Harry Reid was in charge in the last session.

Just a couple examples:  Obamacare is steaming full speed ahead and taking the healthcare system with it over a cliff, while the Executive branch has taken rewriting or enacting its own legislation that it can’t get from Congress, and/or simply refusing to execute laws it doesn’t like - effectively emasculating the Constitutional balance of powers.  All indications are that Planned Parenthood will unabashedly continue its gruesome activities at taxpayer expense while auctioning off ‘baby parts’ to the highest bidder all the while repeating the mantra ‘women’s health’ - this because of John Boehner’s cowardly refusal to exercise the power of the purse Constitutionally given to the House of Representatives.  Yes, conservatives are sick of being used, abused, and lied to.

Putting my own candidate preferences aside, I would almost like for a Trump to be the GOP candidate just to stick it in the eye of the Republican establishment.  (Please note, however, that I said “almost”.)  A Dr. Carson candidacy would be both honestly refreshing and comforting while giving our young people an incredible role model of hard work leading to achievement.  Having Fiorina as the (“beautiful” *) face of the GOP would be reminiscent of Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher’s principled leadership of the U.K.  Just the prospect of the quick-witted former prosecutor, Ted Cruz, skewering Hillary Clinton on the debate stage in front of the entire nation gives me goose-bumps.  And governors Walker, Jindal, and Huckabee, too, seem to be principled, articulate conservatives from outside the Washington beltway.  Yet, it is very hard not to be cynical about any of these scenarios ever happening.

Even from within the mainstream, some are apparently beginning to take note of the all too cynical mood of the nation.  Speaking in a more general sense of the entire electorate, former U.S. Rep. Vin Weber has concluded that voters have reached a “breaking-point” in regards to the dysfunction of the status quo.  Bothered by the fact that for more than a decade the American people have been saying that the nation is on the wrong track, he states “Eventually, that has a corrosive effect on our politics.”  Speaking before the U. of M.’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs yesterday (09/17/15), Weber (who is a Bush supporter), noted that while the electorate is currently venting their anger at the establishment candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, because the system is rigged in their favor, they will both eventually be nominated.

Hopefully, this prediction will be proved incorrect.  In the end, I would like to believe that the American people will ultimately rise above and take their country back - taking it back from an unconstitutionally expanding centralized government, back from the ever more imperial presidency, back from a dangerously over-reaching Supreme Court, back from a Praetorian Guard media, and in the case of the GOP, back from a self-serving, principle-less Republican establishment.  An establishment which has given us bland, spineless, milquetoast, and ultimately un-electable (as evidenced by 4 of the last 6 presidential cycles) candidates – the kind that will lose every time to their committed, youthful, and charismatic opponents.

Perhaps the time has come for a principled conservative.

* quoting Donald Trump in referring to Fiorina from Wednesday’s CNN presidential debate

ADDENDUM:  I just (09/23/15) read this editorial that explains pretty well what is wrong with establishment Republicanism.  http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/ted-cruz-republican-party-surrender-213179#ixzz3mb6aT7JB

Initial Post

This is where my blog posts will be displayed.  Once I am up and running, I would like to try for one per week, although that may be a bit optimistic.  Nonetheless, I do need an outlet for some of the thoughts that dog me the most, and this seemed like the appropriate place for them.

You can expect a variety of topics, reflecting my eclectic interests, including Current Events, Theology, History, Sports, books, some genealogy, and also the occasional musings about music and the cars I have owned or wish that I owned (see "The back page...").


Thank you in advance for your patience with this new blogger.


John <><