Alabama Election Results

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

We've heard a lot of interpretations this morning of Alabama's election results.  It's one I've been paying rather more attention to than most, because one candidate was Roy Moore.

Moore has been on my radar for some time, for his belligerently rebellious "Christian" stances, which served him well  in the politics of overwhelmingly-Republican Alabama.  He was twice removed as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court for disobeying federal law: once for refusing to remove a marble tablet of the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the Alabama Judicial Building where he presided, and once for directing Alabama's judges to continue enforcing state laws against same-sex marriage which a Supreme Court decision had ruled were unconstitutional.

Alabamans seem to have revered Moore for thumbing his nose at the federal government and "liberals" in those high-profile cases.  In the recent election, however, allegations came out that Moore had a history of sexual liaisons with teen-age girls when he was a 30-something prosecuting attorney, over 30 years ago.

Moore's defenses were the usual ones of all politicians in his situation: that the allegations were lies, or that his political enemies cooked it all up to get him, or that (not saying it DID happen, mind you, but) it all happened a long time ago, etc., etc.  But, as with his lawless acts while Chief Justice, Moore especially made it his defense that he was being persecuted for being a "Christian."

If true, it seems the Christian thing to do would be to either confess your sin, or affirm it did not happen.  The latter (which Moore never explicitly said) would go a long way as a defense for anyone who was known for their strong Christian faith and life.  The way Moore played it, he instead made himself the poster-boy for all the deception that typifies political "conservative Christians" these days.

Moore lost yesterday's election.  That's good for Alabamans, who get a more honest man than Moore to represent them in the U.S. Senate.  It also speaks well of Alabamans, that (for a small majority of voters, anyway) they can see through some politicians' blatant deceit, in some situations.  That's cautiously-qualified praise: but in the political world of relativistic standards, "cautiously-qualified" praise or censure is usually the most anyone deserves, or gets.

What seems more important than the results of this one election, however, is what people take it to mean.  The usual explanatory suspects were all trotted out this morning:in interpreting why Moore lost (or why his opponent Doug Jones won): the behavior of the Trump "base," or of black voters, or moderate Republicans, or suburban voters, etc.

I don't really believe any of those are the real explanation.  I think the real explanation is moral, not a racial, political or demographic one.  I'm sure there are many real Christians in Alabama: by which I mean people who "get" Jesus' teachings, and take them seriously as the guiding principles of their personal lives.  I think a lot of those folks voted their suspicions that Moore might have "Christianized" his possible sexual sin.  (In their place, I'd have certainly voted against him for "Christianizing" his Chief Justice lawlessness, which is in no doubt whatsoever: but maybe many Alabama Christians did that too.)

That's what I consider the election-results showed most clearly.  That's what makes me glad for Alabama, glad for America, and proud of Alabamans: that many of those Christians showed themselves doers of God's word, and made their voting decision in the light of Jesus' teachings.

What played out in Alabama's election...as it does in all aspects of every human life...is Jesus' Lordship.  I praise Him for all His faithful people !


                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

White Horse

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Yesterday N.P.R. was profiling the new Governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, who took office after the elected governor was forced to resign for sexual involvement with a staffer.  (Three of Alabama's last six governors have been forced from office by scandal, the other two for
financial shenanigans.)

They interviewed a long-time Alabama legislator, who had high praise for Mrs. Ivey.  Then talk turned to the departing governor, who'd won office as a "Christian conservative" with strong "family values."

Paraphrased, the experienced legislator observed that in politics, "when you ride a white horse, you have to stay out of the mud."

Well-put advice.  I hope self-professed "Christian" politicians, and their followers, will take heed of the difference between political pose and real-life Christianity.