OPINION:
Mike Pompeo, whose name was just submitted to the Senate for confirmation for the lead role at the Department of State, is sparking some worry among the high-brow crowd because — well, because he believes in Jesus and thinks Christianity is the way to go, even for Muslims, and wants the world to recognize that Christ is the salve for all that ails.
Let the nail-biters gnash and gnaw. This is what makes America great, and what will continue to keep America great — the fight of the faithful to bring biblical principles out of the pews and into public life.
CAIR disapproves — the Council on American-Islamic Relations finds Pompeo a most unsuitable candidate for the job and calls him an Islamophobe. Waah.
Fact is, Pompeo’s a refreshing light in the deep state mud. Of course, in a world of darkness, it’s the light that bothers.
“Mike Pompeo’s evangelical zeal could complicate his new diplomatic life,” blasted one Economist headline.
And the story went on this way: “Pompeo, who has hitherto been serving the president as head of the CIA, is a zealous, evangelical Christian accused of Islamophobia. Even among broadly conservative watchers of American foreign policy, there is worry that Mr. Pompeo’s apparent sectarian sentiment might be a problem. … Several things have earned Mr. Pompeo the reputation of being a kind of latter-day Crusader.”
Some examples?
At a church event in Wichita, Kansas, in 2014, he spoke of the Koran as an igniter of terror among some Islam believers and said some followers of the Muslim faith “abhor Christians” and want to see them dead.
“They will continue to press against us until we make sure that we pray and stand and fight and make sure that we know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, is truly the only solution for our world,” he said then, the Christian Post reported.
A year later, Pompeo spoke at another church event in Wichita and spoke of the need for Christians to worship God and fight for America’s freedoms — that doing so is “not only our right” but “our duty,” and that evil is “all around us.” He also mentioned the Rapture and called on believers to “be part of it, be in the fight” and rally behind the church’s call to act, the Christian Post reported.
The list goes on. He’s made other public pronouncements about his faith in Jesus; heck, he’s even served as deacon at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Wichita.
But Pompeo’s faith is not a weakness. Nor is it a hindrance. When CAIR cries, the proper response should be: Who’s doing the beheadings here, anyway?
When atheists and elitists moan, the suitable reply ought go: Remember your history.
America’s strength as a nation has historically rested on its biblically based principles — on the Christian-tied moral compasses of the men and women who both lead in politics and live in this culture. Founding Fathers may not all have been as enamored with Jesus as Pompeo. But they pretty much all held high regard for the heavenly creator — and not the heavenly creator worshipped by Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists or any other faith outside of Christianity, either.
It was the morals and values contained within the Christian Bible that forged this nation; it’s only by adherence to these same Christian-based morals and values that we as a nation continue to prosper.
Pompeo’s faith is not what will tear this country apart. No, it’s the absence of faith like Pompeo’s that’s to blame for that — that’s to blame for all the scandals, the corruption, the lies, deceits, thefts and arrogance that’s led to these dark times.
The light Pompeo carries, the light of Jesus Christ, is what will chase away the dark.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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