In a recent article I took some conservative Christian leaders to task for threatening to bolt the Republican ranks unless the chairman of the Republican National Committee condemned homosexuality and agreed not to speak before homosexual groups like the Human Rights Campaign.
When the RNC chairman responded that it was his job to speak to as many groups as possible, Gary Bauer – a member of the delegation attempting to lay down the law – said, “You wouldn’t meet with the Ku Klux Klan.”
The point I tried to make in my article was that politics and religion belong to different worlds. In religion, the goal is salvation. If you mess with the devil, you endanger your immortal soul. Politics, on the other hand, is about getting into office. You make pacts with the devil all the time. I did not think the demand these conservatives were making was politically sound. While we are in the midst of a war on terror, it is not a particularly good idea to jeopardize the Bush presidency over what is basically a religious issue.
In my article I pointed out that I have been a defender of Christian conservatives under fire. I have even decried the intolerance of the left when it has attempted to silence Christians for expressing the view that homosexuality is sinful. But it is one thing to express such views as a Christian and quite another to express them as a Republican, particularly if you are the chairman of the Republican Party.
To make my point, I observed that in four gospels, including the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had never mentioned homosexuality. If Jesus did not make the sinfulness of homosexuality a matter of central importance, why did these political activists think it was worth the presidency of the United States?
I should have been more careful in stepping into these theological waters, even to make a minor point about emphasis. Robert Knight, also a member of the delegation to the RNC chairman, took strong exception and accused me of displaying a bigoted attitude towards Christians. Now, another friend, Ted Baehr, singles me out in the lead to his WND article on Jewish critics of Mel Gibson’s new film with this slap in the face:
Beware the Bigoted Kibbitzers
Recently, our friend Robert Knight chastised another friend David Horowitz for writing an article contending that Christian theology doesn’t classify homosexuality as a sin. Knight pointed out that both the Old and the New Testament treat homosexuality as a sin, and that it was bigotry for Mr. Horowitz to be lecturing Christians on their theology. David may not have considered the implications, but he reacted with a more strenuous broadside demeaning Christian theology.
Are my Christian friends tone deaf? Look at that title! I am not a critic of Gibson’s film, whose producer happens to be a good friend of mine. Why, then, am I even mentioned in this article, except that I am Jewish and that I criticized a small (but influential) group of Christian political activists?
Baehr is dead wrong in reporting what I said. I didn’t deny that Christian theology treats homosexuality as a sin. Quite the opposite. I said that I have defended Christians’ right to view homosexuality as a sin, but the issue of its sinfulness is a topic for religious sermons not political debates. I didn’t lecture Christians on their theology, as Knight maintains, and therefore didn’t demean Christian theology as Baehr contends. I wrote an article about the dangers of introducing theological issues into political debates.
In the article, I was explicit in reminding readers that I am a defender of Christians’ rights to have Christian views. I have even defended the Baptist leader who said Jewish prayers are not heard in heaven. Obviously if one is Christian and believes that Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, it is a logical conclusion of the faith that non-Christians are going to have a hard time reaching heaven and should be respected as such. For this Ted Baehr has called me bigoted and lumped me with Jews who are criticizing Mel Gibson’s new film about Jesus, sight unseen, and telling Christians what to think.
I think I am owed an apology.
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David Horowitz is editor-in-chief of FrontPageMagazine.com
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