Interlock PrayerNet

In 1980, I was assigned by the US Air Force to recruiting duty in Norristown, Pennsylvania.  Since we did not know a soul, and partially out of curiosity and desire to meet new friends, I answered an ad that appeared in National Review to attend a conservative discussion group in the Philadelphia area.  About twenty people attended that first meeting from every walk of life; university professors, businessmen, teachers, and in my case, the military.  We all took turns sharing our ‘testimony’ on how we became politically conservative, and the remarkable similarity we discovered was that virtually all of us had changed our political persuasion under the administration of Jimmy Carter.  I reflected in later years that the conservative movement probably owes as much to Jimmy Carter as it does to Ronald Reagan. 

Carter’s road to the presidency was paved by his one distinguishing feature – he seemed to be a honest man (“I will never lie to you”) during a time of tremendous cynicism in government leaders brought on by the years of Vietnam and Watergate.  What gave credibility to this claim of integrity was his very public demonstration of Christian faith.  Many of us felt that, finally, a true believer in Jesus Christ would be in the Oval Office. 

But the reality that set upon many of us during the Carter presidency was that being a Christian and being wise were too different things.  Almost all historians admit that his handling of both domestic and international affairs was dreadful.  The US economy had its highest inflation rate since the Civil War, combined with an unemployment rate not seen since the Depression.  His naiveté toward Communism was so obvious that the USSR felt no restraints whatsoever in invading Afghanistan.  America answered back with the thunderous clout of not participating in the Moscow Olympics.  (You can just imagine the trembling among the leaders in the Kremlin from such a bold action!)  The Iranian hostage crisis was only a symptom of a much larger ‘malaise’ (Carter’s own word) for the years of 1976-1980. 

My own personal struggle was that I felt betrayed.  I expected more from such a committed Christian, especially one that was supposedly such an intelligent man.  It would seem that Carter himself felt the same way, for in the decades since that time has been on a holy crusade that has even been christened his “unfinished presidency.”  He has been an active advocate for Habitat for Humanity (a very worthwhile endeavor) and an observer of elections in developing nations (also quite noble), but these are not what has caused him to be recognized by the Nobel Peace Prize committee.  They have awarded him their prestigious award for his efforts at ‘peace.’ 

The general argument among the media is that Jimmy Carter has ‘grown’ since his time as President and has become a profound statesman (“our greatest ex-president”).  It has been argued by those much wiser than I that Carter’s ‘peace’ efforts are shallow at best and in fact, could actually be seen as counter productive to peace (check out http://www.nationalreview.com/flashback/flashback-nordlinger101102.asp).  What aggravates me even more was the leak from the Nobel Committee that the primary reason Carter was being awarded the prize now was due to his public opposition to President Bush’s stance against Iraq and intended to make a ‘statement’ against him.  (reference: http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/10/11/112033).   The Leftist Scandinavians who award the prestigious Nobel agree with Carter the Peacemaker that negotiation will eventually bring Saddam to heal.  But Neville Chamberlain and his “peace in our time” negotiation with Hitler is a sobering reminder that fanatical dictators with dreams of world conquest are not subjects for negotiation.   

I believe that Jimmy Carter’s view of the world is flawed because his theology is flawed. (I am not just picking on Baptists here).  He is a Christian, I have no doubt, but his political philosophy revolves around the false belief that man is inherently good, rather than evil.  If we just treat everyone with love, they will love us in return.  But if the Bible and history itself teaches us anything, it demonstrates that the Kingdom of Darkness is relentless in its animosity toward anything that is good.  Though the great theologians have wrestled with the “just war” argument, they have always recognized that evil exists in the heart of man. 

Honest Christians can debate the wisdom of the present methodology of dealing with the Iraqi regime, but there should not be any argument that there must ultimately be a confrontation with Iraq’s dictator whose heart is so evil he even loathes his own countrymen.  It is horrible to even imagine what this man would do if there were no restraints placed upon him.  Saddam’s desire to cooperate with weapon inspectors now has nothing to do with his desire for negotiation – it has to do with the fact that George W. Bush is pressing a cold, steel gun barrel on his temple and telling him he is ready to pull the trigger. 

Though it is prestigious in the world’s eyes to receive a great humanitarian award like the Nobel Peace Prize, I believe that a Christian should seriously question if they should even want to be associated with a blatant liar as Rigoberta Menchu and those whose hands are stained with blood like Yassar Arafat and Le Duc Tho.  I have no doubt that Jimmy Carter will beam with his trademark smile when he receives his award in Oslo in December, and will undoubtedly speak of his unshakeable faith in mankind – but as a Christian, he should know better.