A Republican Politician’s Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, there was a young Republican politician. He was a well-educated lawyer with Ivy League credentials. After serving in his State Legislature, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He was seen by all as a rising star, with great potential to lead his Party into the future.

This young Republican decided to run for President. Party elders were ecstatic. He was the darling of the media, normally hostile to all politicians, especially Republicans. His appeal was strongest among women and young voters. Campaign appearances seemed more like rock concerts than political rallies.

His presidential aspirations seemed unstoppable. He won more states and was well ahead of his opponents in the primaries. He was the man of the hour to just about everyone.

Then, disaster struck. The press became more curious about his background, perhaps spurred on by stories and rumors spread by his opponents. Their attention became focused on his church and its pastor.

This Republican superstar was a member of a mega-church in a mainstream Christian denomination. The church was located in a predominantly white lower working class neighborhood. Many parishioners had been hard hit by factory closures, off shoring of jobs, N.A.F.T.A., falling housing prices, layoffs, and unemployment. Crime, drug usage, school dropout rates, and broken marriages were on the rise.

The church’s motto, imprinted on a sign in the vestibule, was “Unashamedly White and Unapologetically Christian.” On its website, the Church proclaimed, “We are white Americans and remain true to our native land, Europe, the cradle of civilization.” Bible courses at the church emphasized the Aryan roots of Christianity and claimed whites were God’s chosen people. White America was the true Holy Land. Citing Scripture, the pastor preached that Moses was an Aryan prince and his wife, a peaches-and-cream blond. Jesus had blue eyes and white skin.

To join the church, members had to pledge their allegiance to The White Value System. This was a document written by a church committee. It addressed the economic needs and struggles of the church’s white members. “These white ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools or wherever whites are gathered.”

Among the pledges required by this church’s White Value System were:
1. To make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the white community
2. To allocate regularly a portion of personal resources for strengthening and supporting white institutions, and
3. To pledge allegiance to all white leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System.
The worth and validity of all activity would be measured in terms of positive contributions to the general welfare of the white community and the advancement of white people towards economic freedom.

When news of his membership in this church was announced, there was an outpouring of outrage. Republicans and Democrats alike, along with the press, demanded the candidate abandon his presidential campaign. They called for his immediate resignation from his Senate seat. The Republican Senate leadership stripped him of all his committee appointments. Voters in his home state launched a recall effort if he did not resign. The American Bar Association vowed to disbar him.

It is a sad tale, but his membership in a Euro-centric church finished his political career. He became a social pariah. No law firm or major business would hire him, despite his Harvard credentials. His wife divorced him, his children denounced him, and his parents disinherited him. The last time anyone saw this former Republican rising star, he was pushing a grocery cart with all his earthly goods to his campsite where he lived.