Love Thy (Unhypocritical) Neighbor

Today's "Best of the Web Today" presents some interesting words by former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean:

The Tennessean reports the Democratic National Committee chairman appeared at Vanderbilt University last night, where "he said that as the party moves forward it needs to show those who live south of the Mason-Dixon Line that it respects them and the values they hold." But he proceeded to show precisely the opposite:

The party allowed its opponents too often to define debates and control issues, such as faith and family values, Dean said.

''We need to talk about values and not be afraid of them,'' he said, going on to make two biblical references.

In the first he said Jesus' directive to ''love thy neighbor'' didn't mean one could choose which ones to love. He then remarked that Republicans never brought up the scriptural verse saying it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.

''We should never let anybody tell us we don't respect faith,'' he said.

What we have here is yet another Democrat assuming that anyone who has a moral position other than his own is somehow a hypocrite or a fool. His arrogance also forces him to miss a simple, essential truth on this topic: Republicans and "those south of the Mason-Dixon line" define debates and control issues because they CARE about those issues. The fact that Dean doesn't care is evidenced even more by his appalling use of Scripture. I'm not appalled by what he said or how he interpreted the passage he used; he was dead-on. It is appalling in how little Dean understands about the Christian faith.

One thing I've been able to discover about myself through my recent difficulties is an ability and even a willingness to understand the way others feel or think about things. Perhaps this is what Dean meant when he talked about Jesus' statement to "love thy neighbor". Let's take a moment to reflect on what love really means, and since Mr. Dean is referencing Scripture, we will do the same. No passage talks about love like 1 Corinithians 13:

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not selfseeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸Love never fails.

How well does Howard Dean meet these criteria? Is he patient with everyone, even those he disagrees with? How about kindness to all, even folks he disagrees with? Go through this entire list and see how well he holds up to this standard. Dean's angry style is what ingratiated him so well with the voters of the "Angry Left," so the "not easily angered" phrase certainly doesn't apply. Neither does the "keeps no record of wrongs;" he's one of the harshest critics of President Bush's policies (indeed, all Republican policies). He then goes on to insinuate that Republicans are hypocritical about their beliefs. He's a very loving guy, isn't he?

Perhaps he should familiarize himself with another statement Jesus made: "Let him without sin cast the first stone."