Bob Jones and Romney

Dr. Bob Jones, III, chancellor of Bob Jones University, and Dr. Robert Taylor, Dean of the university's College of Arts and Sciences, received much criticism for their recent personal endorsement of Mitt Romney. Political conservatives criticized their endorsement because of Romney's recent (and politically expedient) conversion to conservatism. Some Fundamental Christians criticized their endorsement because of Romney's Mormon faith.

As a conservative Christian, a politically-involved pro-life activist, and a recent graduate of Bob Jones University, I understand their endorsement of Romney, but I think their trust is misplaced.

Dr. Jones and Dr. Taylor understand that nominating Rudy Giuliani would compromise the Republican Party's commitment to its core principles—especially its opposition to abortion—and would guarantee the election of Hillary Clinton. Many Republicans would feel compelled to support the Republican candidate, whoever he was, and whatever he believed. It would be the worst kind of defeat for Republicans. It would be a defeat from within, an abandonment of the reason that many of us are Republicans.

Just as some Republicans would vote for anyone to defeat Hillary, Dr. Jones and Dr. Taylor appear willing to support anyone remotely conservative who could defeat Giuliani. So these men no doubt looked at the polls, the campaign machinery, and the money of the other candidates, and decided Romney had the best chance to defeat Giuliani. They must think they can trust him, though I don't know why.

I'm sure they considered his Mormon faith. I would prefer to vote for a Christian as would they, but in an increasingly unchristian culture, we don't always have practicing Christians running (this time we do), and I would rather vote for an unbeliever who shares Christian values than an ignorant or incompetent Christian who doesn't understand how Christian values should impact government policy. In short, supporting a Mormon for a particular job, including the Presidency, is not an abandonment of Christianity, as some have claimed.

I am, however, surprised that Dr. Jones and Dr. Taylor trust Romney. His recent support of abortion as governor is well-known. His pledged support for the political goals of homosexual radicals, including the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), during his senate campaign is also well-documented. He now says he has changed his mind. Will he change his mind on these issues when the political winds blow a different way?

Say what you will about President Bush, but he has never backed down on the right to life or the war on terror. I don't always agree with him—especially on illegal immigration and American sovereignty—but when he has a firm conviction on a matter, he doesn't waver. A president must be ready to stand on principle when even his own party opposes him. Romney is not that kind of man.

Dr. Jones and Dr. Taylor have watched politics long enough that they should know to watch a politician's record more than his rhetoric. Dr. Dobson understands that. Perhaps they think it better to be lied to or betrayed than for the GOP to betray its own principles.

It is better still to support a real conservative. 51% of voters who attended the Values Voters' Summit last weekend thought Mike Huckabee was such a candidate. And for those willing to support conservative candidates with lower poll rankings who best fit their views, men like Wayne Wilson and Duncan Hunter are hard to surpass.

In the primary season, the best candidate to defeat a liberal like Giuliani (and eventually Hillary) is one that conservatives can trust, not Mitt Romney.

Wesley Wilson

Wesley Wilson is the President of Let Her Live, a nonprofit dedicated to saving babies by showing the beauty and value of life to women considering abortion. Please learn more about the Let Her Live pro-life billboard campaign. Donations are tax deductible.

Disclaimer: Let Her Live does not endorse or oppose any political candidates, and political views expressed on this blog represent only the personal views of their authors.

My Pro-Life Choice for President

• "I’ll stop the illegal immigrant invasion within a month of taking office by using the overwhelming force of our military to secure the border."
• "Liberals insult American workers saying we won’t do certain jobs. That’s odd. I’ve worked a lot of those jobs, myself, and was happy to have the work."
• "Our rules of engagement make it nearly impossible for our soldiers to fight. ... All that’s going to change. We’re going to completely win this war [on terror] within my first term in office. "
• "Even though our Declaration insures our God-given inalienable right to life, it is obvious we need a Human Life Amendment in the Constitution. I will nominate only pro-life judges and we’ll need to elect a pro-life Senate to ratify those nominees, but political power and Supreme Court
• Justices come and go. The Constitution is much harder to change. Therefore, my long-term commitment is to an amendment. "
• "In the meantime, as soon as I take office I’ll turn loose the full weight of the federal bureaucracies against all those who take innocent life. I’ll direct OSHA, the FBI, the EPA, and any other agency I can think of to inhibit, regulate, and burden the abortion industry."
• "Hard-working Americans need more than tax reform, we need a tax revolt. I will support any initiative that eliminates the IRS and repeals the 16th Amendment."
• "I will direct the EPA to back off their absurd number of gasoline formulation requirements and let us immediately drill for oil and build new refineries and nuclear and coal plants."
• "Anyone who can believe the man-made global warming hoax probably deserves to be so snookered. "
• "There is hope for homosexuals. I don’t believe God made them that way or that they have to stay that way. ... Many have already come out of their darkness and back into the mainstream; you can, too. There is hope for us all in Jesus. "

Does that sound like any Presidential candidate you ever heard? If you heard of a candidate for President who said these things, would you support him?

Now you have. These statements come from the website of emerging Republican Presidential candidate Wayne Wilson.

So, who is Wayne Wilson? No, he's not a governor from a liberal state trying to convince us he was a conservative all along. He's not a mayor from a liberal city trying to convince us he's the only candidate who can beat someone even further left. He's not a multi-term senator displaying
his aptitude for blowing with the winds of politics.

He's never held political office. He's not even a lawyer.

He's a middle-class, middle-America conservative Christian who's worked several different jobs from construction to warehouse management to Christian school principal to truck driver.

You will, I'm sure, judge him by the policies he articulates and the way he handles himself in the upcoming months -- just like any other candidate. But if I had time, I could tell you much more about Wayne Wilson.

I could tell you of the time, over the years, put into pro-life organizations; Of collections of children's clothes taken to help a co-worker who had lost his job; Of jobs quit over principle; Of years of preaching in nursing homes; Of conversations with wayward young people, trying to get them to do right.

I could tell you about a life of Christian consistency that stands up to the scrutiny of those closest to him, because Wayne Wilson is my father.

If one thing about my father stands out, it is his strength. He could always afford to do right, without apparent regard for the consequences. And when the rest of us were not sure what was right, he could usually see it very clearly. I know now that is because he fears the Lord, and as he explained in Sunday School a few weeks ago, a person who truly fears the Lord will be absolutely fearless toward all others.

When choosing a President, we need a man who fears the Lord more than any other qualification. The woman seeking that office clearly does not, and neither do most of the men.

By now you've thought about the political likelihood of electing someone who doesn't already hold high public office. One of my friends already cited the proverbial "snowball's chance". But another of my friends several weeks back, when asked about a choice for 2008 said, "Can we throw the current bunch of clowns out and start over?" We can if we will step away from political calculations of probability and into the closet of prayer.

I ask you then:

1. Begin praying that God will give us a President who fears Him.
2. Read Wayne's positions on the issues and see whether this is a man you could support.
3. Go back to prayer and ask God what He would have do coming up to the primaries next year.
4. Sign up for Wayne's newsletter and, if God lays it on your heart, help out financially .
5. On your own website or blog, add a link back to the website.
   
6. Keep praying for a President who fears God. Coming into this election, this is the most important thing we can do.

Disclaimer: Let Her Live does not endorse or oppose any political candidates, and political views expressed on this blog represent only the personal views of their authors.

New Pro-Life Presidential Candidate Wayne Wilson

As a pro-life American, the first issue I look at when deciding on a candidate to support is the issue of life. Then I look at many other issues to decide between pro-life candidates. Right now, I'm very concerned about illegal immigration, the war on terror, free speech, and gun rights, to name a few. After those, I'm concerned about taxes, social security reform, and other fiscal issues.

In my last post, I listed the announced Republican presidential candidates that I believe hold a strong, consistent position on protecting life from conception to natural death. I need to add Republican candidate for President Wayne Wilson, who has just joined the race, to that list. From his issues page under the Abortion heading:

Even though our Declaration insures our God-given inalienable right to life, it is obvious we need a Human Life Amendment in the Constitution. I will nominate only pro-life judges and we’ll need to elect a pro-life Senate to ratify those nominees, but political power and Supreme Court Justices come and go. The Constitution is much harder to change. Therefore, my long-term commitment is to an amendment.

In the meantime, as soon as I take office I’ll turn loose the full weight of the federal bureaucracies against all those who take innocent life. I’ll direct OSHA, the FBI, the EPA, and any other agency I can think of to inhibit, regulate, and burden the abortion industry. If the bureaucrats there refuse, I’ll fire them and replace them with those who will. They are to serve at the pleasure of the administration.

I will sign any restriction of abortion that crosses my desk.

Wilson is not a career politician. In fact, he's never held public office, but in our climate of entrenched corruption in Washington, perhaps we are ready for an outsider with conservative Christian values that represent American values, not Washington values. Wilson isn't the only candidate counting on that.

It is easy for us to complain about many of our elected officials, and we have that right. It is harder to pick a good candidate, donate to his campaign, and support him all the way. That requires some personal sacrifice. Perhaps that's the reason many of our favorite candidates don't win--we'd rather complain about the bad ones than put good ones in their place.

No matter which of the solidly pro-life candidates you support, let me challenge you to give the largest donation you can afford before the end of the month. On October 15 we will find out how much money the candidates have raised through September 30, and that will be a measure of which candidates are viable. As pro-life people, let's make our voice heard financially.


Wesley Wilson

Wesley Wilson is the President of Let Her Live, a nonprofit dedicated to saving babies by showing the beauty and value of life to women considering abortion. Please learn more about the Let Her Live targeted pro-life billboard campaign. Donations are tax deductible.

Disclaimer: Let Her Live does not endorse or oppose any political candidates, and political views expressed on this blog represent only the personal views of their authors.