Character and the VP Debate

Those of us here at the busy offices of Eye On Christianity have a policy: Since this is a blog about Christianity (religion), we do not mix religion and politics unless, well, unless the politician mixes religion and politics. Then, all is fair. So when Martha “Dearest” raised the question of abortion last night in the VP Debate, religion and politics became a fair mix.

The answers by both men revealed a lot about their character. You can say what you want about their policies, foreign or domestic, it doesn’t really matter. There will always be differences. A Donkey and an Elephant will never see eye-to-eye. What matters is how they approach the job and that is revealed by their character.

Now bear in mind that both men are Catholic and both profess to be “practicing” Catholics – whatever that is. In fact, VP Biden made sure everyone knew that. “I’m a practicing Catholic,” was his statement

Ryan went first when the question of abortion came up. He said his faith influences his beliefs and actions. He went into a short discussion of how he believed life begins at conception and then a heart-warming story about his first child. In short, what we saw here was a man who lives his faith. What he believes about God and the Bible is transferred into all facets of his life.

VP Biden went next and echoed Ryan’s statement about life beginning at conception. That’s his belief too. If he had stopped there, there would be no further discussion. Now he had to justify his support of abortion. The qualifier came next. The VP doesn’t want to impose his views on anyone else. What does that mean? It’s simple: I have my views, but I’m not going to live them out in public. In other words my faith does not influence my actions.

What this attitude does is relegate faith to being a convenient prop in the journey of life. It says, if this aspect of my faith is convenient for me in my life, then I’ll adopt it. If it looks like it might cost me something, I’ll dump it.

That, my friends, is moral relativism – see Judges 21.25.