Thursday, November 8

When the leadership forgets.............

Pat Robertson, the Christian Coalition's high profile social conservative and 'prominent leader" of Christians, has forgotten what his own organization was founded for and what it is endorsing with his public endorsement of Republican frontrunner for President, Rudy Giuliani. According to the Christian Coalition website, the organization was created to "preserve, protect, and defend the Judeo-Christian values that made this the greatest country in history."

The Christian Coalition, the political organization that is allegedly made up of "pro-family Americans who care DEEPLY about becoming active citizens" who's sole purpose is to protect families. This is accomplished by Christians being actively involved in politics, to influence and change policies that are identified as political activism that will.....protect and defend the values of the American Nation. By invoking Reagan's call to do "the work of freedom", the CC claims to have worked to ensure that the Conservative Christians have the "critical education and information" to be effective in conservative politics.

As several studies have shown, and simply looking back down the annals of history, abortion is devastating the family dynamic and critically wounding the future of American society, at all levels. There are many foreign countries who are showing that the destruction of the next generation through controlled abortion and birth levels is being accomplished to the degree where the death of the aging in those cultures are the harbinger of the culture's demise. As the culture ages, the culture is dying because it is destroying its future.

Rudy Giuliani is pro-choice, which is fancy language for pro-abortion, and he is counting on American voters to overlook the difference between his record, values, and leadership and the morals of Christianity. But, as Pat Robertson's endorsement stated, the abortion issue isn't the issue that the coalition should be looking at; rather, the issues that Conservatives should be focused on is "the defense of our population from the bloodlust of Islamic terrorists" and "massive government waste and crushing federal deficits."

Of course, this is what the Giuliani camp is counting on, that the Christian conservatives are following the 'new' evangelical leaderships' generalization of the morals and ethical issues of the conservative christian and the foregoing of dealing with biblically 'rigid' principles. According to Marc Santora of the New York Times in his article "Giuliani Tries to Reassure Religious Conservatives", the Giuliani camp is calculating that "the evangelical movement [is] evolved and shown interest in going beyond the singular focus on abortion.......[and] will see a larger threat in the election of Hillary Rodham Clinton." In Giuliani's own words, "I am not a threat at all......maybe it is respect for the idea that I will be straight with you."

The problem is, Giuliani isn't being straight with anyone, except maybe himself and his agenda. Giuliani has claimed the title that the liberal media gave him in the wake of 9-11 of being "America's mayor", based on the portrayal of strength that he gave the nation during the aftermath of the attack. The media portrayed this mayor as a man for the times, wading through the chaos and destruction to show American will and resolve. According to his supporters, he took a city riddled with crime, corrupt government, and high taxes to a modern city in a way that proves bipartisanship and reduced bureaucratic regulations can exist in the cultural climate of today, something that cries "Alleluia!" to any conservative's heart. But, as is most commonly found in the Democratic Party's rhetoric, the truth is only partially told.

The 9-11 commission found that Giuliani's mayoral style prior to the attack contributed to the chaos and death that resulted in the minutes after the planes struck the towers, citing Rudy's failure to resolve feuding between the fire and police departments. This contributed, directly or indirectly, to the resulting high casualties in the rescue personnel because of inability to hear (in part) warnings from police helicopters about the impending collapse of the South Tower. The commission said it appeared that the two departments were designed to operate "independent, not together."

Giuliani's response was to redirect the focus away from his management of the crisis with a criticism of the commission, "Our anger should clearly be directed at one source and one source along --the terrorists who killed our loved ones." This seems to fly in the face of what Robertson views as the #1 priority of Conservative Christians, the protection of the population from those terrorist. This accomplishment is done by the examination of what went wrong, designing solutions to those problems, and implementing those changes to be consistent with the primary goal: protection of America. Yet Giuliani cries that any criticism of his administration of New York is 'misdirected anger.'

According to the Giuliani website, "America is hungry for a President who will say what he means, and do what he says... Rudy had the leadership qualities and the experience to handle whatever challenges America faces in the next 10 years." From what I understand of the current term limitations of the Presidential office, Giuliani would only have eight years (actually 6 if you consider how difficult it is for the exiting President to achieve anything the last two years of office) to "handle the challenges." Unless he is attempting another suspension of the electoral process, by suspending term limits for the Presidential office. That can't be true?

The only problem with that view is the fact that Giuliani was willing and insistent in trying to suspend electoral rules by pushing to postpone the inauguration of his democratically elected successor in the wake of 9-11. Instead of volunteering and showing service to the nation in standing beside the chosen successor to his administration, to ensure reconstruction and healing continued uninterrupted, Rudy tried to overrule years of American political structure. As it seems with the cultural denial of our nation's heritage, Giuliani seems to feel it is okay to ignore the process that secured his "success" as mayor.

Instead, when the attempt failed, our "American Mayor" jetted into the cultural limelight as "A Man with a Bullhorn", according to Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone magazine, to $200,000 speaking engagements, which have cumulated into a reported $11 million year speaking income. Which means he doesn't "need" the money for the position. So what is he seeking? In the smoky haze of scandals, Rudy stated over and over again that his personal life is not the business of anyone else. But we know that the highest office in the land can be tarnished and diminished by a scandalous man. Clinton is the most recent that we know of.

Prior to the 9-11 attack, Giuliani was considered by most New Yorkers to be an ambitious, self-serving politician who didn't care how his personal scandals affected the management of the 'city that never sleeps' and smeared its image. What happened to this bumbling mayoral mistake? When post-attack reports accused Giuliani of mismanagement and cowardly behavior, he deftly entered into the limelight wearing 9-11 as a badge of honor, misdirecting the attention given by opponents, as he stepped briefly into the benzene, asbestos, PCB, and dioxin (ingredient of Agent Orange fame) -laden atmosphere to declare it to be free of "significant problems" and to give the image of strength, determination, and power.

This is the image most Americans have of Rudy, standing next to the fallen towers with a face mask hanging limply from his neck. Yet, referring to a class action lawsuit being pursued against New York by thousands of cleanup workers who suffer from a host of diseases like sarcoidosis, leukemia, lymphoma, other cancers, and immune system problems, "The likelihood is that more people will eventually die from the cleanup than from the original accident," according to David Worby, an attorney who represents those cleanup personnel. Is this the kind of "American Mayor" we want to place into office as representative of all people?

Giuliani's administration was rife with corruption; from a deputy mayor being allowed to work on deals for the sports teams of the Yankees and Met despite his status of being on the Major League Baseball payroll to a commissioned $600,000 dollar report for the privatization of airport management of JFK and LaGuardia by a consultant who had ties with British Airport Authority, his handpicked management company to secure that contract to Bernie Kerik, Rudy's choice for director of Homeland Security, who was rejected after an investigation discovered a gift of questionable integrity from a company that wanted to do business with the administration.

Giuliani's own personal and professional life is rife with corruption, immorality, and unrepentance too. His highly publicized divorce, where he has gone so far as to lambast his ex-wife in the paper with childish name calling to the money that Giuliani's been paid by liberalists, criminals, and other questionable sources.

Even with a questionable history, unreliable confidence in his rhetoric of 'being straight with' us, and a less than stellar administration and personal image, we cannot use this to judge Giuliani's fitness to be our President. At least that is what Rudy would ask you to do. "I am no threat," he claims.

Yet, in view of conservative Christian views, he is. He is opposed to most of biblically provable teachings, from abortion to accountability. Giuliani truly represents the American people in the sliding and immoral behaviors that plague our great land, if you consider what he represents and his expectations.

Giuliani leaves the decision to abort to the woman, who is often bombarded with misinformation and limited access to resources opposing abortion by an industry that records billions of dollars in revenue each year. He accepts Planned Parenthood's illegal actions by donating significant sums to its operation throughout the 1990's. He was against any ban on partial birth abortions in 1999, but since has changed his view to banning such "except when the life of the mother is at stake." He now accepts "reasonable restrictions" on abortions, giving "parental notification with a judicial bypass." He claims a 66% increase in adoption while abortions decreased by 16% despite his understanding that the right to choose is a "deeply personal moral dilemma." These numbers have been proven to be 'exaggerated.' He believes that while it is okay to repeal Roe Vs Wade, it is also okay to view it as a precedent for abortion rights.

Rudy supports "domestic partnerships" and opposed President Bush's ban on gay marriage despite his statement of being supportive of "traditional" marriage. He extended all city benefits to same-sex couples during his administration as America's Mayor.

This is the frontrunner that is being touted as 'acceptable' to the conservative Christian. An politician who has redirected any accountability for his mismanagement of a city and a national crisis into a million dollar image that he cannot morally claim. He is opposed to the basic core issues that any Christian has to have an opinion of, and uses politick double talk to cover any issue that the Christian Coalition claims is the new focus of conservatives.

God has been left out of Robertson's endorsement of this Republican candidate. The positions that Rudy has taken which has put him at odds with the evangelical Christians and their values still exists and a misguided 'leader' of the conservative vote Christian weld doesn't change it.

It only muddies the issues that have created the societal immorality that riddles the American landscape. Rather than defining an acceptance of a candidate that is unfit for the office he pursues, it has only served to further witness of his unfitness to serve our values and destroys any effective resistance to the democratic candidate.

If Giuliani wins the vote to the office of the President of the United States of America, all we will have done as a people is to elect a male version of Hillary Rodham Clinton. As a follower of Christ, a conservative, and a evangelical believer, I cannot do that. Regardless the cost, I will vote the Constitutional party if Giuliani is the Republican's best hope.

If you don't feel that we, as Christians, can affect change, then Giuliani is your choice for President. If you feel that Christians should not stand the line, defend against the decay and demand the AMERICAN right for the best to represent us in the highest office in the land, Rudy is indeed your man.

But I ask you to consider this........

Look at the core values you, as a follower of Christ, hold in accordance with biblical truth (that truth that extends beyond your own influence and persuasion)and vote your conscious, vote your beliefs, and stand upon your values...do not give in to your fear.