Exposing the myths of 'The Moderate'

I'll apologize for my rant in advance, but it is time to call out the scourge of any movement and any time – The Moderate. The chaos wrought by this ilk is immeasurable. I'll just address a few of the myths, the methods and the mess of The Moderates.

The myths of this species must be exposed because they are used to cloak the reality of this "animal."

Myth No. 1 – The moderate is the reasoned, rational "center" that balances the extremes.

Truth – Moderates are people without strong or any guiding convictions and are the caricature of what James 1:8 describes as a "double minded man, unstable in all his ways." These are the people who stand firmly on every side or no side when the battle lines are drawn. They are the deciding votes in elected bodies; they are the "water" in diluting absolute truth in theological debates; they have opinions without convictions.

Myth No. 2 – The moderate balances the extremes between the "radical right" and the "radical left."

Truth – They serve as "votes for sale" and can always be counted on to avoid positions that reflect absolute truth, conservative ideals and/or controversial issues. They sell out their friends when convenient, conspire with opponents to undermine principled positions and hold majorities hostage because of having one foot on both sides of the road.

Myth No. 3 – The moderate is more popular and well-liked.

Truth – Partially true. They are well-liked in circles of those who also have no guiding principles on both the right and left. Moderates make people who float in the middle very comfortable. On the flip side, being liked is much different than being respected. Unfortunately, this reflects a growing segment in both church and general populations, the majority of which have rejected absolute truth.

The bottom line is that God dislikes moderation when it comes to belief – and it is belief that determines thoughts, with thoughts determining actions. How dare I say that? I don't – He did.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. … (Revelations 3:15-17)

I have more respect for liberals who will fight for what they believe, no matter how wrong, than for clergy, Christians in general and political conservatives who will not stand when it will cost them something. The most egregious and visible manifestation of moderates occurs within religious and political arenas.

For example, take the "moderate" Islamic cleric. They are real; they are measurable and very possibly make up the majority of Muslim clerics in America. They are also irrelevant. They are and always will be neutralized and marginalized by those within Islam who are passionate practitioners of their faith, who act fearlessly and sacrificially – even if for a false religion.

Likewise, the moderate Christian clergy are those who repeatedly reflect one of two positions – completely separated from anything of meaning in church, culture and government, or consistently engaged in attacking conservative clergy who stand for the historic truths of our faith.

These moderates profess to believe the "essentials" yet criticize those who actually stand on those essentials – most importantly if doing so in the name of Jesus Christ. These wimps are the men and women who stand with the atheists, pro-abortion activists and the GLBTQI radicals.

Politically, we are well familiar with the names of "moderate" Republicans, such as the "Gang of 14" who sold out to Democrats to let liberal judges be confirmed and similar stories in state legislatures such as Texas. Our own "Gang of 11" moderate RINOs broke from their caucus in 2009 to vote with House Democrats and elect as speaker a one-and-a-half-term member the New York Times describes as follows:

When the Republicans nearly lost the majority in the Texas House in November, a small group of moderates from the party joined with Democrats to oust archconservative speaker, Thomas Craddick of Midland. Even more surprising, the Republican rebels engineered the election of Joe Straus, a decidedly centrist politician from San Antonio, to the speaker's office, making a junior lawmaker with not quite two terms under his belt one of the most powerful people in the state.

This is the same speaker who is now being challenged because of a new awareness of conservative voters in the state not only about the old adage that a representative's most important vote is his first – that for speaker – but also how liberal Straus is.

FINAL MYTH – Moderates are moderate.

Joe Straus is moderate by Northeast standards – not by Texas. He has a 100 percent rating by the National Abortion Rights Action League, was called, "the LGBT community's best friend in the Texas Legislature," has only a 50 percent rating by Texas Right to Life and has only a 52 percent rating by the conservative Heritage Alliance as well as similar ratings by other conservative groups. What we must realize is that when the heat is turned on, the stakes are on the table and the chips are down, moderates will fall to the left almost without exception.

By the way, when was the last time you heard about a group of Democratic moderates breaking away and voting with Republicans on something as critical as the choice of speaker? Right.

Whether it is don't ask, don't tell, extending the Bush tax cuts or choosing a speaker, moderates sell out. We must continue our commitment to elect people of right principles and convictions who will stand … and stand … and stand … and stand.