OPINION: The Christian presumption of moral superiority

I am not ruled by your God. That goes for Doug Wilson in Moscow, it goes for sleazy televangelists like Jim Bakker, and it goes for utterly despicable pastors like Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church. For those who came late to this column, here’s a quick recap: I am not ruled by your God.

Just as the character of a vintner affects the quality of his wine, so does the agenda of a preacher color the ethos of his flock. Preachers born beneath an angry star deliver angry sermons, attributed to a loving God. Frankly, it’s appalling when His word is bent to the will of those who invoke His name.

Though I tune most preachers out, I do listen to thoughtful and cultivated members of the flock. I always have time for David French, a deeply religious, staunchly conservative columnist for The New York Times. In a piece published last month, French wrote, “Here’s a question I hear everywhere I go, including from fellow Christians: Why are so many Christians so cruel?

“I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard someone say something like: I’ve experienced blowback in the secular world, but nothing prepared me for church hate. Christian believers can be especially angry and even sometimes vicious.

“It’s a simple question with a complicated answer, but that answer often begins with a particularly seductive temptation, one common to people of all faiths: that the faithful, those who possess eternal truth, are entitled to rule. Under this construct, might makes right, and right deserves might.

“Most of us have sound enough moral instincts to reject the notion that might makes right. Power alone is not a sufficient marker of righteousness. We may watch people bow to power out of fear or awe, but yielding to power isn’t the same thing as acknowledging that it is legitimate or that it is just.

“The idea that right deserves might is different and may even be more destructive. It appeals to our ambition through our virtue, which is what makes it especially treacherous. It masks its darkness. It begins with the idea that if you believe your ideas are just and right, then it’s a problem for everyone if you’re not in charge.

“In that context, your own will to power is sanctified. It’s evidence not so much of your own ambition, but of your love for the community. You want what’s best for your neighbors, and what’s best for your neighbors is, well, you.

“The practical objections to this mindset are legion. How can we be so certain of our own righteousness? Even if we are right or have a superior vision of justice compared with our opponents, the quest for power can override the quest for justice.

“The historical examples are too numerous to list. Give a man a sword and tell him he’s defending the cross, and there’s no end to the damage he can do.”

I’m not plagiarizing David French. I’m quoting him for two reasons: 1) As a devout Christian, his perspective is from the inside looking out; and 2) His analysis is as clear as an unmuddied lake.

Before you dismiss French as a phony conservative and turncoat Christian, consider his origins. He spent years as a staff writer for National Review, which was founded by the godfather of America’s intellectually honest conservatives, William F. Buckley. French also toiled as a senior editor at The Dispatch, the mission of which is to publish "... serious, factually grounded journalism for a conservative audience." Like him or not, French is a genuine conservative and unapologetic Christian.

His questions are trenchant. Are the faithful, those who believe they have a monopoly on moral rectitude, the only people qualified to rule? And if you believe you are divinely inspired, is it an injustice for all if you’re not in charge? If your answers are “yes,” you have an undeservedly high opinion of your value to society.

Now let us bow our heads and close with a homily from Brother French.

“It’s remarkable how often ambition becomes cruelty. In our self-delusion, we convince ourselves that we’re not just right but that we’re so clearly right that opposition has to be rooted in arrogance and evil. We lash out. We seek to silence and destroy our enemies.

“But it is all for the public good. So we sleep well at night. We become one of the most dangerous kinds of people — a cruel person with a clean conscience.”

Brock has been a Daily News columnist for more than 22 years. He has lived on the Palouse even longer.