Noonan, Huck, and The Cross

Peggy Noonan is like Slashdot. Both should be read dutifully, but bloggers should beware that it's almost useless to re-post the content. In the case of Slashdot it's because everything that can possibly be said has already been said in the comments. In Peggy Noonan's case it's because she is a phenomenally acute political observer. Just shut up and listen.

But today's Noonan column is particularly dead-on with regards to religion and politics, a topic that has already gotten tiresome this early in the election cycle. About the recent campaign advertisement from Mike Huckabee (which "accidentally" featured a cross in the background) she was conflicted, as a Christian, but:

I wound up thinking this: That guy is using the cross so I'll like him. That doesn't tell me what he thinks of Jesus, but it does tell me what he thinks of me. He thinks I'm dim. He thinks I will associate my savior with his candidacy. Bleh.

And:

Does Mr. Huckabee understand that his approach is making people uncomfortable? Does he see himself as divisive? He's a bright man, so it's hard to believe he doesn't. But it's working for him. It's getting him his 30 points in Iowa in a crowded field.

Could he win the nomination? Who knows? It's all a bubbling stew on the Republican side, and no one knows who'll float to the top. In an interview this week with David Brody of CBN, Mr. Huckabee said people everywhere were coming to him and saying, "We are claiming Isaiah 54 for you, that the weapons formed against you will not prosper."

Prayer is powerful. But Huckabee's critics say he's a manipulator with a mean streak and little knowledge of the world. And Isaiah 54 doesn't say anything about self-inflicted wounds.

That scripture she cites is worth a look. Although one should tread carefully when interpreting these things, the upshot of the passage is about how the faithful will evangelize and prevail - a thought that will make the defensive secularists almost instinctively seethe. It's a favorite of those who believe in active Christian ministry. But it also contains this gem, which reads curiously in light of Red State / Blue State America:

Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.

For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.

Maybe I should post about scripture more often.

But I'm not running for president. And I think Noonan is right. Politicians cheapen themselves and their audiences when they try to deploy faith during the process of getting elected. I don't believe Mr. Huckabee didn't review the final cut of that commercial, didn't notice the "cross", and didn't comprehend the meaning that was in play.

Personally I want leaders with conviction and principles - and more often than not these traits are found in people that are trying to lead their lives based on faith. But this doesn't need to be explicit - and it's much more powerfully instructive when it's implicit - unspoken, but clear. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's - including your service. And I don't want my president using their constitutionally-granted power to actively promote any religion any more than I want to hear it from the city trash collector on the clock.

Doing your job well is a genuine form of stewardship.