Dean has a strange way of showing his belief in Jesus

Tallahassee Democrat ^ | Jan 4, 2004 | Cal Thomas

[nwrep]

Democrats have been trying hard in recent years to squeeze God into their politics, perceiving that Republicans have an edge on invoking the Creator to bless their policies. Democrats worry they suffer from a "God gap."

Bill Clinton and Al Gore, with their Southern Baptist backgrounds, were fluent in the language of religion, though not always in its personal application. Who can forget Easter Sunday 1996, when President Clinton emerged from church flashing a Bible for the cameras and later returning to the White House, where Monica Lewinsky got down on her knees to perform an act that did not resemble prayer?

Clinton and Gore often quoted what they said were verses of Scripture, which turned out to be incorrect and/or misapplied. And now Howard Dean will rush in where political angels have feared to tread and try to advance the theological ball down the field to see if he can score votes for his candidacy.

In an interview with the Boston Globe (Dec. 25), Dean announced that he is a "committed believer in Jesus Christ." He told writer Sarah Schweitzer that he plans to include references to Jesus and God in his speeches as he campaigns down South. That's the land of Confederate battle flags and pickup trucks Dean so recently disparaged. In the Globe interview, he said Southerners understand religious talk better than his fellow New Englanders. Yes, that "vast Unitarian wasteland of the Northeast," as Charles Colson has jokingly called it, is the latest target of Dean's regional stereotyping.

Dean is from a Congregationalist background, a liberal denomination that does not believe in ministerial authority or church hierarchy. Each Congregationalist believes he is in direct contact with God and is entitled to sort out truth for himself. Dean's wife is Jewish and his two children are being raised Jewish, which is strange at best, considering the two faiths take a distinctly different view of Jesus.

What exactly does Dean believe about Jesus, and how is it relevant to his presidential candidacy? "Christ was someone who sought out people who were disenfranchised," he told the Globe, "people who were left behind." Dean makes it sound as if He might have been a Democrat. "He was a person who set an extraordinary example that has lasted 2,000 years, which is pretty inspiring when you think about it."

Not really. If that is all Jesus was (or is), then he is just another entry in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, to be read or not, according to one's inspirational need.

C.S. Lewis brilliantly dealt with this watered-down view of Jesus and what He did in the book "Mere Christianity." Said Lewis, who thought about such things at a far deeper level than Howard Dean, "I'm trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I can't accept His claim to be God.'

That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God - or else a madman or something worse."

One hopes that the next journalist who gets a chance to ask Dean about this will inquire as to which Jesus he is talking about, if for no other reason than to gauge whether Dean is being sincere or a political opportunist who seeks to bamboozle Southern religious Democrats. That reporter might also survey Christians in New England (there are more than Dean thinks) as to whether they are as offended by his reference to their region as Southerners were to his characterization of their symbols and driving choices.

I can't wait to see how Dean panders to Californians. Fruits and nuts, anyone?

[farmfriend]

Bttt

[cyborg]

Dean said his favorite book of the New Testament was the book of JOB...man never cracked open a bible in his life. God should strike him down for lying.

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[farmfriend]

I have a hard time believing Job as someones favorite book anyway.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Agreed... There are certain pieces of biblical information that are so basic, so fundamental to a person of faith that they cannot be "misspoken". Job's standing as an Old Testament figure is one of them.

[I still care]

I wish he would have told me that. I would have asked him what it was about the book of Job he found so inspiring.

He probably would have said the sermon on the mount...

[freebilly]

I have a hard time believing Job as someones favorite book anyway.

Hey, it beats Leviticus so far as I'm concerned....

[azcap]

Someone needs to ask Dr Dean if he "got Jesus" before or after working at Planned Parenthood.

[cyborg]

lol... you're right

[T Lady]

As C. S. Lewis so accurately points out, there are those who prefer a watered-down view of the Son of God: A harmless philosopher who only spoke peaceful and loving platitudes. In other words, a Saviour without a spine. The Democratic view.

...Of course, anyone with any sense at all would know that Jesus is neither Republican or Democrat (Apparently Al Sharpton has it on good terms that God is definitely NOT a Republican...but you know only Crazy Al would make such a statement). And that no one should attempt to reduce His stature as such.

The only reason Dean and any of the other Democrats are making any noise about this at all is President Bush just happens NOT to be ashamed of his relationship with the Creator, and that the majority of Americans share that same point of view. In other words, this president identifies with most average Americans. The Democrats, on the other hand, only believe that going into Black Churches to slander their opponents validates their religious beliefs, instead of having any relationship with God at all. They see other (White) believers as uptight zealots, and find religion as something only the uneducated and trailer park-types practice. It seems the only time any of these snobs attends church is either for an extavagant wedding, christening, or a funeral. Just like their European counterparts.

As Thomas correctly points out, Dean is only using the Lord as a means to garner votes; perhaps he ought to try getting to really know who He is instead of mocking His followers.

-Regards, T.

[cyborg]

This just shows that Dean is a pandering twerp who can't even get his facts straight.

[Jorge]

I have a hard time believing Job as someones favorite book anyway.

Dean also said some rap tune was his all time favorite song.

I don't believe anything this guy says.

[GeronL]

I liked Luke

[GeronL]

didn't he call Job one of Jesus' disciples? (sic) .... and all that it entails... entrails?

[farmfriend]

Mine is obvious.

[T Lady]

From what I read on a previous post, I believe he did, which only proves Dr. Dean needs to open the Bible and actually read it, and not as a primer for talking to White Southernes.

-Regards, T.

[T Lady]

Southernes=Southerners

[Pure Country]

That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -

Sounds like Cal Thomas has read Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands a Verdict. Besides, Jesus couldn't be a moral leader and a liar at the same time, if that were the case his name would be Bill.....

[LiteKeeper]

bump - lest we forget