It's rather disgusting but don't be surprised by it. Democrats and Liberals alike are now jumping up and down with glee because they somehow believe they've found the magic bullet that can kill the heart of the Christian Conservative "beast" and destroy the progress we've made in reestablishing those good old fashioned values we share, both north and south of the 49th. That bullet, of course, is hypocrisy, something those on the Left are very familiar with.
Yet the whole seedy affair with nationally-renown Christian leader Ted Haggard should really represent a lesson to all of us, Conservatives and Liberals alike. And that "lesson" is that no matter you are, hubris and arrogance are never far away.
As a Conservative, and a Christian, therefore, I cannot condone, nor in any way do I justify, Mr. Haggard's actions; any more than I could justify or condone those of President Clinton's with Monica Lewinsky. We are all human beings and we make tragic (stupid) mistakes which undermine our credibility. But where we Christian Conservatives may screw up the most, however, is in our lack of humility and in the acknowledgment of our own personal faults and failings of character.
Liberals, however, don't appear to have that same problem. That's because the only standard they have is a secular, humanistic one. It allows them to accept virtually any behaviour as acceptable on the grounds of it being part of "human nature." And, as long as it "doesn't hurt anyone else" (which is really the old Hippie mantra), who cares? It's no-one business what goes on in between the sheets, or while walking down the hallway in the White House, apparently.
That's why when a Conservative Christian is found out to be a liar and a hypocrite, it represents a higher failing than when a secular, humanist Liberal one is. That's not necessarily wrong or a double-standard either.
A Christian, after all, must live to a higher standard because he or she is answerable to the standards set down by God Almighty in the Holy Scriptures. A secular, humanist Liberal, on the other hand, doesn't have that as a guide and, consequently, is really only answerable to his or her own desires. Hence their behaviour, morally wrong though it may be, can also be more easily understood and accepted by non-Christians and Liberals alike, if not completely forgiven.
That's also why a former president can make a bold-faced lie to the public ("I did not have sex with that woman") and still feel fully justified, if only for the technical reason that the act itself did not include penetration. To the Liberal press and humanist, therefore, the act itself was morally inert; the consensual sexual act of two individuals.
Never mind that it disgraced the Office of the President of the United States and led to an impeachment. Never mind that, combined with the famous "I did not inhale" comments made earlier by the same president, it showed a serious lack of appreciation for the position and the honour of the highest office in the Free World and became a running joke to pundits and tv show hosts alike. These, somehow, became "separate" issues, divorced from both the man and the office he held, and caused those who worked tirelessly to restore dignity to the American Presidency (Conservatives, to man and woman) to be looked upon as right-wing fanatics trying to persecute an "innocent" man.
Well, turnabout is fair play in the bloodsport that is politics, I guess. But how Haggard's disgrace makes President Bush a homosexual, a hypocrite, and unfit to continue being the duly elected leader of the USA (which is the subtle line that people on the Left are trying to draw), is beyond me.
Hopefully it's also beyond the voters during this last mid-term election of, arguably, one of the most influential and important presidential administrations in US and World history.
Sincerely,
I.M. Ulysses
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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