I recently moved to South Carolina, where my wife grew up, so that we could be closer to her family, and in the past few weeks, I have done as little as I can to acquaint myself with South Carolina politics. However, I would have had to crawl under a rock to avoid hearing about the scandal regarding Governor Mark Sanford and his mistress.
I won't bore you with yet another commentary on the "sad state of American politics," "what this says about marriage in our country," or especially "what message Sanford is presenting to the public about Christianity." You know as well as I do that every time a scandal like this one erupts, there are at least a thousand public voices that cry foul on all these topics, and their messages have all the resounding influence of a police siren in a big city. Moreover, as I have yet to see American politics, American marriages, or (for that matter) American Christianity improve with any degree of substance as a result of these outcries, I will not be so foolish as to add my own to the mix.
What the scandal DOES reveal to me, however, is the following:
1. Christians--especially the Christians who care about issues relating to the health and well-being of families--have become far too dependent on the Republican Party. Come on, ladies and gentlemen, when was the last time the Republican Party took a remotely Christian stand on anything--except perhaps supporting the public display of Nativity scenes, school prayer, and the pro-life movement? (I might add that the Republicans' stance on even these 3 issues seems to have become significantly weaker over the past 10 years.) These people are simply using the abortion issue, as well as other superficial cultural issues, to deceive Christians into thinking that they support Biblical values. They are no more "Christian" than I am Swedish--perhaps a passing familiarity with Christianity, the Bible, and Christian principles, but not much beyond that. When it comes to the "Christian" vote, I believe that anyone who loves Jesus should consider him-/herself an independent voter at best, a non-voter at worst, in order to ensure that BOTH parties respect the values and beliefs of the body of Christ.
2. More importantly, I think that most and more, American politics has become a television soap opera. Forty or fifty years ago, even a hint of adultery would have sent shivers down a politician's spine, and no one serving at Governor Sanford's level would have dared admit publicly to having a "soul mate" other than his wife. Today, however, things have changed, largely because juicy scandals make for juicy television. In the past few decades, because of the advent of professional wrestling, Americans have coined a new term: sports entertainment. Will there be such a thing as political entertainment 10 years from now?
A lot of people have expressed outrage over Sanford's abuse of his office to conduct an extramarital affair. What I see as far more alarming is his abuse of BOTH his office AND the affair to boost his ratings. If this is the direction that politics and television are taking, beware.
In the next few weeks, I intend to write a bit more about Christian politics in America, what dangers it potentially brings to Christians, and what Christians can do to avoid those dangers. In the meantime, keep your eyes on Christ, and keep them away from the rulers and powers of this world.
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