The Bullpen is Empty

We are so shortsighted in America.  Most of us are so burdened down with earning a living that it is hard for us to focus our attention too far down the road.  Get up, go to work, attend our kids’ ball game, and go to bed.  Do it again tomorrow.  Before you know it another month has passed, and soon a year.  Life just seems to happen.  We become victims of our own busyness. 

It is especially true in the political realm.  Most Americans wake-up a month prior to an election, are bombarded by political commercials, cast a vote on Election Day oblivious to the candidate’s true positions, and quietly return to their daily routine.  So much of what happens in America seems to be out of our control.

A successful business man once told me that “failure to plan is planning to fail.”  The man with a plan always has a leg up on the man who has no plan.

Most of us are sick with politics and politicians.  The lack of enthusiasm for the Republicans among evangelicals has nothing to do with Mark Foley, or the war, or the cost of gasoline.  The truth is most are feeling disappointed that their hopes, so high in 2000 and 2004 for a return to mom and pop values, have so clearly been dashed.  The old adage “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me” seems so appropriate.  If the pollsters and pundits were to ask me I would explain it this way.  It is like a lot of marriages.  We are faithful to the one to whom we pledged our fidelity, but the passion has long ago left the relationship.  We view the bride we took years ago, and recall the passion that we once felt towards her.  Now, we found ourselves locked into a marriage of mutual convenience.  Void of enthusiasm, but nowhere else to go, we try to convince ourselves how great things are.

In 2000, after eight years of “marriage” to the Clinton administration, evangelicals were ecstatic to forge a new relationship.  Tired of the values emanating from the Clinton White House, like a divorced woman on the rebound, Christians flipped head over heels for President Bush and his Christian values.  So intent on getting it right in this new marriage, we jumped headlong into the new Republican bed.  This relationship would once and for all clean up the mess in America.  The value voters had arrived and a Christian was in the White House!

Six years into the marriage, although we are reluctant to admit it, the relationship between the church and the Republicans is more of a domestic partnership than it is a marriage.  As we roll over in the morning and look at the bride we so enthusiastically embraced a short time ago, we come to the realization that this relationship too was not what we thought it would be.  We voted our values, but realize now that many of our leaders trampled on them.

In many ways, George W. Bush is the worst thing to happen to the Republican Party.  I am not writing to debate his faith, his commitment to the values we share, or his job as president.  As we head to the mid-term elections it has become painfully obvious that George W. Bush IS the Republican Party, so ordained by the evangelical cheerleaders.

I keep hearing from the experts that there are a lot of “good conservatives” in Congress, men and women of principle who are willing to stand up for what is righteous. Unfortunately, as most are beginning to figure out, their blind support of President Bush and his policies does not do much to help their conservative image.  It's actually becoming embarrassing.

George W. Bush is not, and never has been a conservative. 

Rick Santorum is a conservative.  But in the interest of party unity, he campaigned for Arlen Specter.  Specter won and now Santorum is fighting for his political life.  He sold his principles for party unity.  He banked on Bush and it drained his account.  It is sad to see a true champion of Christian values lying against the ropes.

In my letter to Dr Dobson from a couple of weeks ago, I posited that now was the time to divorce ourselves from this doomed partnership.  Readers criticized me and bombarded me with the old line “we can’t let the liberals get in power.”  They are too blind to see that the liberals are in power, but they are in the Republican Party!  As the election draws near, every incumbent Republican is now paddling full-bore to the right, hoping that the fidelity of Christians will save them from the cliff that compassionate conservativism is hurling them towards.  They are ALL pro-life, ALL for traditional marriage, ALL for lower taxes, ALL for less government. The Democrats run as RINO’s and the RINO’s run as conservatives. Fool me once…..

So maybe this question will get you to face the truth about the Grand Old Party. Who is in the bullpen? 

As we lift our heads up and look down the road at 2008, who will be the Republican candidate for president?  Who will claim to be the “true conservative” that the evangelical base must rally behind?  Who will be the “conservative” standard-bearer to save us from Hillary?

• Pro-abortion, pro-gay Rudy Giuliani?
• “Maverick” Republicrat John McCain?
• Anti-family values Arnold Schwarzenegger?
• Governor Mitt Romney? (Sorry, Mormons are not Christians.)
• Thrice married former Speaker Newt Gingrich?
• Condi Rice?

I can’t wait to see how our evangelical leadership tries to sell us on this one.

I once had a girlfriend that would do anything for me.  She adored the ground that I walked on.  Because I knew her loyalty to me was unwavering, I took advantage of her.  Although I called her my girlfriend, in all honesty she loved me a lot more than I loved her.  No matter how much I disrespected her, no matter how much I took advantage of her, no matter how often I pushed her aside, I always knew that she would be there, like an old dog, waiting for me.

The relationship didn’t last long.  Our mutual lack of respect for her took its toll.  She wanted to be my girlfriend; I wanted her to be my servant.

Evangelicals give millions of their "tithe" dollars to Republicans.  They are the “base” of the party.  They man phone banks, work the neighborhoods, pass petitions, and sweat blood and tears for the Party.  They think they are the Republicans’ girlfriend.  The Republicans see us as their maids.

Stop a minute.   Those of you who are mad right now.  Why?  Why are you mad at me?  Galatians 4:6 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Conservatism is not Christianity and Christianity is so much more than conservativism.

I pray that Dobson and company are beginning to “get it”.

I love the Ohio State Buckeyes and the great program Jim Tressel has built.  Last year they lost nine starters from their great defense.  This year they are better.  Why?  Because Coach Tressel understands what Christian Republicans do not.  A successful team has to have a common vision and a common goal.  Once that is in place, the faces may change but the results will not.  A good program is always grooming the bench to carry on the tradition.  The strength of the team is its unity, not its diversity.

Look at the Republican bench.  It is full of empty suits who mouth our values but don’t believe in them.  Let us never forget--although some Christians are Republican, not all Republicans are Christians.

Despite what they try to convince us, America’s future hangs in the balance.  Not over sex scandals, or gas prices, or Social Security.  America is being destroyed by her values.

I’m sorry to be redundant.  No matter who wins in November it is time for a divorce. 

The bullpen is empty.  The cupboard is bare.  The bench is thin.  It is time to start our own team and draft our own players.

Are you a Christian who votes Republican, or are you a Republican who also happens to be a Christian?

What is that old country music song?  “You’ve got to stand for

 something or you’ll fall for anything.  You’ve got to be your own

man, not a puppet on a string.  Never compromise what's right

and uphold your family name
You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything.”

And can anyone truly imagine Jesus voting for the lesser of two evils?

By Coach Dave Daubenmire Email: coach@ptsalt.com Click here for bio and archived articles