Republicans Reject Biblical Principles

Do Christian Right politicians really believe their own religious rhetoric or do they simply use it to get what they want? A revealing case comes from Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa. A staunch member of the Christian Right, he overtly rejects the intrusion of Christian principles when it comes to his support of the new bankruptcy bill.

The Des Moines Register explains that a national organization of Christian lawyers is lobbying against the legislation:

The lawyers say the legislation runs contrary to the forgiveness of debt and charity required by the Bible. "As Christian attorneys, we strongly believe that it was never God's intention to create a society where indebtedness was a crime or a badge of dishonor," Christian members of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys wrote in a letter sent Feb. 26 to hundreds of church leaders across the nation. ... The lawyers note that in the Old Testament, God did not outlaw borrowing and lending, but provided that loans would become discharged every seven years.

In response, Grassley said Congress could not be bound by biblical mandates because "the Constitution does not provide for a theocracy."

"I can't listen to Christian lawyers because I would be imposing the Bible on a diverse population," Grassley said. "I'll bet those lawyers wouldn't want us to impose the principles of forgiving debt every seven years. If that were the law, nobody would loan them money."

What an interesting time for Grassley to suddenly discover the value of separating church and state — though note that he is careful not to actually mention those words.

When introducing his bill, Grassley said bankruptcy was not intended as a "convenient financial planning tool where deadbeats can get out of paying their debt scot-free while honest Americans who play by the rules have to foot the bill."

I guess the fact that half of all bankruptcies are due to medical bills makes no difference to Grassley — but the Christian lawyers are right that imposing more pressure on people driven to bankruptcy because of skyrocketing medical costs does contradict Christian principles of charity.

Why should that matter? Well, Grassley is a member of "The Family," (aka The Fellowship), a secretive, fundamentalist Christian group responsible for sponsoring the National Prayer Breakfast and which works behind the scenes to influence public policy. The Revealer also notes that Grassley is:

...a 100% Christian Coalition rankee; a stalwart social conservative (supporting measures such as H.R. 235, the "pulpit tax" bill that would allow religious leaders to endorse political candidates from the pulpit and the strict adherence to abstinence-only sex education)...

Grassley is absolutely right that, as a civil legislator, he cannot be bound by biblical mandates and that he cannot craft legislation based upon biblical commands. These are not, however, principles which he normally abides by — he only seems to do so when it would conflict with the needs of his corporate masters. These are the fruits of the alliance between corporations and religious extremism and there is nothing the least bit surprising about this.

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