A very curious, but not surprising, piece from Reuters this morning chronicled a speech by Michele Bachmann given to senior citizens this weekend in Poinciana, Florida.
This seemingly straightforward piece illustrates how bias toward evangelical Christians can work to marginalize their conservative views and potential candidacies.
Here are Congresswoman Bachmann’s words:
“Washington, D.C., you’d think by now they’d get the message. An earthquake, a hurricane. Are you listening? The American people have done everything they can, and now it’s time for an act of God and we’re getting it.”
We presume that Representative Bachmann’s comments were mostly, if not completely, tongue-in-cheek. Video of the speech shows that she was clearly joking. Reportedly, several audience members chuckled as if they understood it as humor; her spokeswoman has recently acknowledged that it was indeed a joke.
Reuters’ headline, however, painted a different picture:
For Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, Hurricane Irene and last week’s earthquake in the eastern United States were a message from God that Washington needs to change its policies.
The article added that Bachmann asserted that that “the hurricane was an ‘act of God’ that Washington should heed.”
That is one interpretation of those words–one that serves a liberal agenda, certainly not that of Mrs. Bachmann’s candidacy.
If, by chance, she truly believes she can interpret meteorological events as acts of God, then we are mistaken. Our recommendation to Mrs. Bachmann, in that case, would be that she remove prophesying from her political repertoire.
Granted, conservative, evangelical Christians like us believe that God can, in fact, work through human events and earthly changes to communicate with His people or bring about His will. Both of us, however, believe that it is foolish and borderline insane to attempt to proclaim with prophetic voice about specific events. The American people generally want their political leaders to believe in God, rely on Him, and base their philosophy on Biblical principles. They generally do not want them to walk about and speak as if they were a modern Jeremiah.
But, given that her comments don’t represent a dogmatic statement about God’s using earthquakes and hurricanes to wake up the federal government of the United States, we advise Representative Bachmann–and all GOP candidates–to refrain from comments that could possibly be misinterpreted in this way.
It is imperative to remember the mainstream media’s Prime Directive: marginalize conservatives and Christians, while boosting the image of progressives and secularists. Getting them both in one stroke is ideal. One of the primary methods of marginalizing involves misinterpreting (or malinterpreting, rather) public statements. Presuming that a silly statement about Hurricane Irene represents a radical–and goofy–theological viewpoint clearly serves the Prime Directive.
Perhaps it was unconscious; perhaps not. Regardless, conservatives must be wary; the media will take every opportunity to twist their words to make them look like Fred Phelps or other lunatics.
In general, it is not a good idea for candidates to speak with prophetic assurance about events. Leave that–and the criticism that will inevitably come–to clergy and political talking heads.
To clarify, we are not suggesting that conservative candidates speak timidly about their beliefs or about those issues that confront our nation. That is quite different than claiming a spiritual gift that is generally not considered an asset for a presidential contender. Conservative views may inevitably marginalize or anger some; let us not allow idiosyncratic spiritual views to make that marginalization any easier.