Basic HTML Version
'76 CAMPAIGN
(Cominued
from page 4)
wh ich holds a conse rvative ..error–
free·· view or thc Biblc. Mr. Ford
maintain ~
a closc
re l a t ion~hip
wi th
Michigan
C\
angeli
· ¡
Billy Zeoli \\·ho
acts as the
Pre~ident ·
spiritua l ad–
vi~er.
Mr. Fo rd has written his son Mi–
chacl tha t •'becausc r ve tru::-ted
Chr ist to be my sav iour. my lifc is
hi s.·· He has said he seeks to hecd
Proverbs
3:5-6:
"Trust in the Lord
\\ ith all your hea rt. and do not rely
on your own in ight. In all your
ways acknO\\ ledge him. and he will
make stra ight your paths' ' (RSV).
Ronald
R eagan:
Th e Republican
cha ll enge r is a membcr of the Chris–
ti a n Chu rch Di sciple of Chr ist and
at tcnds an evangclically oriented
Presbyteri an Church in Los Ange–
les. He has been de cribed by his
pas tor. Do nn Moomaw. as "a
k
no\\
1
ed ge a b
1
e
eh
r
i
l
i
a n '. \\' ho
.. rea lly knows tl oct rine.'· Hi wife
i
ancy ays he prays before every
maj or decision. an observa tion sec–
onded by a campaign aide who
not es that " he a ntl Moomaw are
pretty close. Sometimes they pray
toge ther O\·cr tough decisions.'·
Mr. Reaga n told a religious group
in Florida that the Uni ted Sta tes "is
in need of. and ready for, a spir itua l
reviva !.'' In a nationally televised
campaign address. the former Ca li–
fornia gove rnor amplilled the
thcme: ··call it rnysti cism if you
will. but
1
belicve God hada divine
purpo e in placing thi::. land bc–
tween the t\\·o grea t oceans to be
fo und by thosc who have a special
!ove of freed om ancl the courage
to
lea ve the count ri c oft heir birt h. "
Jimm r Carter:
Mr. Carter ca lis
him:-el( a "tlceply comm itted Bap–
tist.'' He has servetl as a deacon in
hi!> Bapt ist Ch urch in Pla im. Gcor–
gia. and has workcd in variou · Bap–
ti ~t
mission ctrorts. Mr. Carter
say~.
··¡
turn to [Christj in prayer tl a ily
and beforc eve ry
deci~ion
1
have to
make which
am~c t s
the tire of
other ." One publishcd repon
say~
th at
1\1
r. Cancr
pray~
very frc–
quently. a bou t t\\ en t) -five times a
da) . and
fini~he:,
thc tia
y
by reading
th e Bible in Spanish.
Mr. Ca ner says he thinks .. the es-
44
tabli'>hment of Israe l ... is a fulfill–
mcnt of biblical prophcc) ."
Religion as Vote-getter
Thc re a re an esti mat ed 40 million
cvangclical Prote
tant~.
rcpu ted to
be Amcrica's
fa)>lc~ l
growing reli–
gio us "configura tion." Th i
e~sily
tran::.latc~
in to
16
million vo tes in a
pre itlent ia l election. mo!> t of \\hic)1
ha\·c. in the
pa~t.
gone Rcpublican.
1
l is bclievcd. fo r ex
a
mpie. tha t
H uber t H umph rcy and Ge o rgc
McGovern - the Dcmocratic ft ag–
bearers in
1968
and
1972 -
got on ly
about a fifth of this siatblc vote.
The founding fathers
contrived to limit the power
of an individual to put his
spiritual stamp on the
government. They made no
provision for " spiritual
leadership" in the
Constitution.
lf Mr. Carter were lo do bet ter
among the ' 'eva ngc lica l" part of the
el ectorate. it could mea n a dramatic
Democra tic lands lid e because he
would be receiv ing ·o many nomi–
nal ly Republ ica n votes. .
rhc net e lrccl or religion in the
1976
campaign could be its power to
override the muncla ne, secular con–
s id era t ions upon which Americans
have traditionally voted. Política!
~cicnti s t s
have accumu la ted a great
dea l of evidence tha t "evangelica l"
votcrs are normal ly among the mos t
conscrvativc in the electorate. Yet
this yea r such vo ters are di splayi ng
an amazing tend ency to suppon Mr.
Ca rt er - who i · mu ch more liberal
on thc issues than the) are - per–
hap~
in th e belief that having the
sa me religious com ictions \\ ill more
than make up lor a ríy disparity in
political convict ions.
In the a rt crma th of Wate re.ate
and Congress iona l sex scanda ls.
s uc h ho pcs a re rcadily under–
standable. HO\vcver. uch voters are
lik ely to be di appointed. Th c
American
sy~tem
of governmen t
. tubbornly
re:,i~ts
indeed, it was
designed
10
resist - any form of
··spiri tua l regeneration." fh c lound–
ine. rat hcrs - most notablv James
;.iátlison
contrived to limit the
po\\·e r of any ind ivitlual lO put his
spiritual stamp on thc government.
The
~)~ t em
of "checb and bal–
ance~" wa~
specifi call) tl csigncd to
prevcnt individual!> from making
an) tlramatic changc in the políti–
ca ! or economic sphe res or life.
much les the religious one.
The authors of thc constitut ion
simply took it for grantcd that polít–
ica
1
office holders had a strong tcn–
dency to be se lf-secking. Th ey
thercfore proceetled to try ro "l imit
thc damage·' by pitting th em and
the interests they repre en t aga inst
each oth er. They made no provision
a t all for ··spiritual lead ership· · in
thc Ame rican gove rnment. To thei r
way of thi nki ng. po liticia ns .should
nevcr step into the rea lm reserved
for
mini~ te r
and preachers.
\Vhcn a clergvman confronted Al–
exa nder Hamilíon on thc
~trcet
and
dcmanded
to
know why thcre were
no refcrcnces to God in the constitu–
t ion. Hamilton's terse ancl some–
wha t di sdainful answer was: "We
lo rgot. " It wasn't that Hamil ton ancl
his compa triots were an tireligious.
but ra ther they wa nt ed Lo draw a
hard linc between the rcligious and
política! realms oflife.
"
Solution Transcends Politics
Thc New Testarnent clea rl v ditfer–
en tiates between what is 'caesar's
an d what is God 's. l t speaks of' this
"present imperfect world ' ' and of
the need for the kingdom or gov–
ernment - of God to ul tima tel) re–
place the government or man.
Many ob ervers. as well as thc
ca ndid ates themselves, agrcc that
Ameri ca faces many dce p-sea ted
and pervasive mora l problems. and
thc growing awarencss of thc moral
and
~ piritual
cl imatc in thc country
is a hopeful sign. Th c solution to
th osc problems. however, \\ ill have
to transcend human politics. if onl)
beca use the design of the American
gove rnmcnt doesn'L allow for
polili–
ca/~ ¡ ·
inspired
moral and spiritual re–
gc ncra t ion. Whil e it
appca r ~
almo t
ce rt ai n that the nexl Pre idcnt will
have somc trong rcligious con–
vict ions. it will take more than that
to produce a repenta nt. rcvitalized
Chr i, ti an America.
O
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1976