{"id":14135,"date":"2013-05-08T17:55:32","date_gmt":"2013-05-08T21:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/?p=14135"},"modified":"2013-05-08T17:55:32","modified_gmt":"2013-05-08T21:55:32","slug":"sanfords-win-a-loss-for-conservatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/2013\/05\/sanfords-win-a-loss-for-conservatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanford\u2019s Win, a Loss for Conservatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hilary Towers writing at NRO<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Once upon a time in this country, moral integrity, emotional (and even spiritual) maturity, and a servant\u2019s heart were considered important characteristics of public leaders. In Mark Sanford we find a case study in how far removed we\u2019re becoming from that standard. When did abandoning one\u2019s spouse and children for an extramarital affair become compatible with conservativism? [sic<\/em>] Apologies are meaningless when they are followed by more of the same. Sanford describes himself as \u201cone imperfect man saved by God\u2019s grace.\u201d But the problem with this win (and here is who South Carolina voters could have elected if they had put values first) isn\u2019t that Sanford isn\u2019t perfect. Marriage is hard, and every spouse has virtues and vices \u2014 defects of character with which they will struggle throughout their married lives. But marriages don\u2019t \u201cfall apart\u201d as a result of falling in love with another person; they are all too often destroyed from within by a self-love that transcends marital bonds and spills over into every aspect of one\u2019s existence. It is time for conservatives to publicly recognize the widespread phenomenon of spousal abandonment, and the system of \u201cfamily law\u201d that supports it, for what they both are \u2014 a national scandal.<\/p>\n

Among other things, this election result is a searing reminder that we have, as a nation, lost touch with what \u201credemption\u201d really means \u2014 with the true power of God\u2019s grace, which is the power to transform behavior. And behavior, after all, is a reflection of the heart. How much longer can conservative stewards of family values turn a blind eye to the very narcissistic lifestyle choices of our leaders that we are fighting so hard to weaken (and ultimately transform) in society at large?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If repentance means marrying the women you committed adultery with, you\u2019re doing it wrong.<\/p>\n

If only this was contained to the \u201cnarcissistic lifestyle choices of our leaders.\u201d The reason this pasts muster in the first place is that divorce and \u201cremarriage\u201d has become so accepted. Hard to hold politicians to a standard when the standard behavior of so many is exactly the same thing.<\/p>\n

I heard callers on the Laura Ingraham show who were not concerned at all about his behavior because he votes the right way. The same as for the defense of President Clinton on the other side. The excuse always is that the other candidate will be worse for the country. Yet this never explains how seriously morally compromised candidates get nominated in the first place instead as if they were the only option.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hilary Towers writing at NRO: Once upon a time in this country, moral integrity, emotional (and even spiritual) maturity, and a servant\u2019s heart were considered important characteristics of public leaders.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-punditry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14135"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14137,"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14135\/revisions\/14137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}