Judeo-Christian view of Sen. Craig's actions

If we are committed to following the principles of Scripture, I believe we are led to think that the biblical standard for establishing truth has been met, and that the senator’s resignation is appropriate.

From "Judeo-Christian view of Sen. Craig's actions" by Brian Fisher, posted 8/31/07 at IdahoValuesAlliance.com

Cybercast News is reporting that Sen. Larry Craig is expected to resign today, under intense pressure from the national leadership of the Republican Party.

If so, it will represent the end of a long and distinguished career in public service. Sen. Craig has faithfully advocated for policies that have protected the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of marriage and the family, and in so doing has created a legacy that no one can take from him.

Idahoans will always have reason to be grateful to the senator for the leadership he has displayed on issues that are important to the pro-faith, pro-family community.

If it is regrettably necessary for the senator to step down, and I continue to believe it is, that will not lessen the value of what he has contributed to America’s public life...

ON YESTERDAY’S AUDIO TAPE

I’ve had a number of exchanges with members of the Alliance who are sympathetic to the senator, and feel that perhaps, based on the release of yesterday’s audio tape, he was railroaded into a confession.

The analogy they have frequently used is that of being intimidated into pleading guilty to a speeding violation.

But I remind them we are talking about something far more significant than a traffic violation. When I ask them -- men of proven character all - if they would plead guilty to a false charge of cruising for anonymous gay sex, a charge which would ruin their reputations forever, and destroy their careers and possibly their families, they are uniformly horrified at the thought. Without exception, they affirm that there is no possible set of circumstances under which they could imagine doing that.

Although the audio tape has the senator defending his actions, his guilty plea came after the conversation released yesterday. In other words, the senator’s last word of legal substance on the subject is an admission of guilt, which takes the matter out of the “he said/he said” category.

If the senator had, from the first moment, steadfastly insisted on his innocence, refused to enter a guilty plea, and fought the charge, I would defend the senator and ask everyone to wait for more information, because the biblical standard requires two witnesses to establish the truth of a matter.

If the senator had refused to enter a guilty plea, we would have just one witness to what happened, the testimony of the arresting officer, and we would biblically be required to suspend judgment until a second witness stepped forward...

If we are committed to following the principles of Scripture, I believe we are led to think that the biblical standard for establishing truth has been met, and that the senator’s resignation is appropriate.

Read the whole commentary.