What morals do you think we should make a stink over? Just the adultery bit?
Well, no, and I’d have thought that all the other issues I mention in the article make that clear. Adultery sort of pales by comparison, but the values I’m talking about here are not arbitrary or relative according to the evangelicals who articulate them. Asking if anyone believes moral laws apply to the president or the government is beside the point. Not only have these groups traditionally believed that for decades, but believing the opposite is arguably a morally problematic position in itself.
“Thou shalt not kill” doesn’t appear to be anyone’s expectation, given how religiously both parties have kept us at war. Bearing false witness against the other side is standard procedure in politics. If a 70% tax rate isn’t covetousness, what is?
While I understand the point you’re trying to make here, I’m not as pessimistic about the possibility of a Christian defending certain norms as this critique might suggest. There is a vast literature written by theologians and religious philosophers about the meaning of the commandment to not kill, which is more accurately understood as ‘thou shalt not murder.’ Just war theory has a long history of association with conservative religion, too.
Labeling a high tax rate covetousness is just about the most exaggerated of these claims, though. There’s an unstated assumption in there that represents taxation as theft rather than a means of supporting various government institutions or social programs. That’s highly debatable to say the least. These are all more justifiable on an evangelical worldview, in my opinion, than much of what the current administration has engaged in.
It’s also worth noting that playing the ‘what about’ game where you point the finger at the other guy to redirect attention does not in any way provide moral justification to one’s own actions or positions. This is often broadly acknowledged in theory and rarely practiced. Comparing candidates is necessary and deciding how we should weigh their actions is important, but this also seems to be where a lot of us end up in lapses of judgment. Either we suddenly become relativists or we make the perfect the enemy of the good.
Escaping these tendencies might be hard, but it’s not impossible and we should stop pretending like it is when convenient to us.
