Over the last few weeks it has become apparent that faith will be a major issue in the 2008 campaign for president.  Mitt Romney gave his Mormon speech.  Mike Huckabee touted himself as a Christian leader and seems to have had a cross image in the backdrop of one of his recent commercials.  These two candidates even got into a very public theological argument about Mormon doctrine a few weeks back.

Although it has not been quite as front and center, the Christian faith is also a vital component of the presidential candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul, congressman from Texas.  The purpose of this piece is to expound upon the spiritual beliefs of this fine candidate.

I’ve found there are plenty of resources on the internet that explain the general themes of the Ron Paul campaign: restoring Constitutional government, individual and economic freedom, sound money, downsizing federal taxes and spending, getting the U.S. out of the UN, and no more nation building.  I will therefore not rehash his issues more except to add that Ron Paul is also solidly pro-life and a big advocate of home schooling.

After doing a little research on the topic of the congressman’s Christian faith, I found that Ron Paul probably is not a huge expert on theology like some candidates.  Although in his younger years he did consider going into the ministry briefly.  But regarding the issue of his own personal faith and the relationship of faith to public life in America, Ron Paul is quite strong from a Christian perspective. 

To start off, I’d like to read an excerpt from Ron Paul’s Statement of Faith: “I have never been one who is comfortable talking about my faith in the political arena. In fact, the pandering that typically occurs in the election season I find to be distasteful. But for those who have asked, I freely confess that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior, and that I seek His guidance in all that I do. I know, as you do, that our freedoms come not from man, but from God.

Ron Paul is a strong family man.  He has been the husband of but one wife and he has been married to Carol Paul for 50 years.  The two have five children and 17 grandchildren. 

In a very strongly worded statement, Ron Paul explains how his message of individual liberty and responsibility coalesce with the role of the Church in American life.  These are some more excerpts: 

“Through perverse court decisions and years of cultural indoctrination, the elitist, secular Left has managed to convince many in our nation that religion must be driven from public view….

The ultimate goal of the anti-religious elites is to transform America into a completely secular nation, a nation that is legally and culturally biased against Christianity….

The Founding Fathers envisioned a robustly Christian yet religiously tolerant America, with churches serving as vital institutions that would eclipse the state in importance….

Moral and civil individuals are largely governed by their own sense of right and wrong, and hence have little need for external government. This is the real reason the collectivist Left hates religion: Churches as institutions compete with the state for the people’s allegiance, and many devout people put their faith in God before their faith in the state. Knowing this, the secularists wage an ongoing war against religion, chipping away bit by bit at our nation’s Christian heritage. Christmas itself may soon be a casualty of that war.”  See www.christiansforronpaul.com for the full text.

In another speech Ron Paul says:

”Rights that are given to individuals come from our Creator.  You have responsibility for what’s going to happen for eternity’s sake; you should have responsibility for what you’re going to do here on earth as well.”

In yet another faith oriented statement, “I am running for president to restore the rule of law and to stand up for our divinely inspired Constitution.”

In an interview on The American View with conservative commentator John Lofton, Ron Paul is asked,

“Lofton: What kind of church do you attend ?
Paul: We attend a Baptist Church here  in Lake Jackson,Texas.
L:Is that Southern Baptist?
P: Yes.

L: May I assume you believe scripture is God's word, that it's inerrant and infallible P:That is correct.

L: ...Well I'm also assuming you also believe that disobedience to God's word can bring, or does bring judgment upon nations and people?

P:(Hesitates) That is true, and, uh, sometimes the judgments aren't directly correlated, people have trouble figuring that out, but I think defiance of God's law will eventually bring havoc to a society.”

In a separate interchange with Lofton, Ron Paul is asked point blank, “Do you believe it (homosexuality) is a sin?”  And Ron Paul refuses to answer in the affirmative.  It’s a nuanced answer, so I’d encourage you to listen to the full interview available on www.theamericanview.com.  That being said, I believe that the general tenor of his comments in this one situation do not line up well with Scripture.  However, I do recall a similar interview back in the 90’s when former Vice President Dan Quayle also refused to call homosexuality a sin.  And he was still considered a leader in evangelical Christian politics.  I’d hope anyone concerned about this would look at the totality of Ron Paul’s issues, statements, and commitment to the Christian faith.

Looking at that broader picture, the pewforum.org documented aspects of Ron Paul’s journey of faith throughout his life.  He began life as a Lutheran.  Ron and his wife were also Episcopalian for a long period.  But Ron Paul and his wife "became less comfortable with the Episcopal Church as time went on."  That would seem to coincide with a period in which the Episcopalian hierarchy in the U.S. moved toward a more liberal interpretation of the Bible and practice of faith. Paul and his wife now attend services at First Baptist Church of Lake Jackson, Texas, a church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.  A quick glance at the church’s website, www.fbclj.org seems to indicate that the church lines up very well with the Scriptures and an evangelical, orthodox interpretation of Christianity (little “e” little “o”). 

Sometimes in politics, where a person stands can be at least partially known by what their detractors are saying about them.  In fact some of the information I’ve gone over here today was found in a piece published in the liberal blog, The Daily Kos just a few days ago.  The title of the article is “Ron Paul : The Stealth Theocon.”  One line in the story reads: “The point of this diary is to prove that Paul is just as much of a fundamentalist as Huckabee, he just is a little more clever about keeping it under wraps.”  Well this statement brings to mind something else Dan Quayle said back in the early 90’s.  When he was attacked for standing up for the traditional family, he replied “I wear their scorn as a badge of honor.”  Well if I were Ron Paul, I would wear this attack piece as a badge of honor.

I believe that Ron Paul is the best candidate for President from a limited government, conservative, Constitutional perspective.  He is also a fine man of Christian faith.  I would furthermore like to add that Ron Paul has been endorsed by Pastor Chuck Baldwin, no stranger to conservative politics (see www.newswithviews.com for more info).  I hope this piece has been helpful to those that are vetting the candidates as we move toward the Iowa Caucuses, then New Hampshire Primary, and many more state contests in just a couple of weeks.  The text of these comments is available at 8thcommandmentconservative.townhall.com.  And it is an honor for me to serve as just one small cog in the Ron Paul Revolution that is changing the face of America.