John McCain's Conversion of Convenience?
Politicians change their core beliefs to suit the electoral moment all the time. Mitt Romney, for example, went from pro-life to pro-choice to pro-life again -- every time, as luck would have it, at an opportune political moment. And we all remember how John Kerry voted to fund the war before voting against it. Or was that the other way around?
But has a candidate ever changed his religion to eke out a few more votes? Some suspect Sen. John McCain of doing just that.
While campaigning in Baptist Country -- South Carolina -- the GOP candidate corrected a reporter who said he was an Episcopalian. No, McCain insisted, he's been a practicing Baptist for 15 years.
And that could very well be true, but this is the first time anyone had heard of it. Plus, as the Washington Times reports, there are a few discrepancies:
McCain has never had a full-immersion baptism, which, Baptists insist, is the only way to do it. He has never bothered to correct various authoritative almanacs that have, for the last 15 years, identified him as an Episcopalian. Even as recently as June, he identified himself to a reporter as an Episcopalian.
If this is a politically motivated conversion, it's easy to see why. Among the conservative Christians who tend to dominate GOP primaries, the Episcopal Church has about as much credibility these days as does Scientology. Being a Baptist is definitely a more politically useful affiliation.
That said, it could be McCain has shunned the Episcopal Church for the same reason Christian conservatives have -- its liberal approach to Scripture -- in which case his change of heart could be sincere. Still, critics are right to wonder why we're only hearing about it now, and in South Carolina.
But maybe McCain is on to something, namely, winning over skeptical members of the base through religious conversion. This could be the new trend in politics! If so, may expect to see the following soon:
Hillary Clinton will become a Wiccan. Mitt Romney will become an Evangelical. And Rudy Giuliani will become a Catholic.
Hey, stranger things have happened!
Chris,
You think Rudy might become a Catholic, that is a practicing Catholic? No way dude.
The way this race is going, they'll all be Baptists by the end. I mean the END.
Jonathan
No, Jonathan, tongue was planted firmly in cheek on that comment. But still, hope springs eternal. If St. Augustine could do it ...
If liberal thinkers take over running our country like they've taken over running our college system religion won't be a part of politics in the future.