The dozen or so Republican candidates for the 2016 Presidency have all religiously made pilgrimages to Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Politicians of any consequence are skilled in "the pivot" which is a nice way of saying they know how to be two-faced lying bastards when that's required to catch voters who aren't receptive to their main spiel.
Jerry Falwell started his first church when he was only 22. Most of us at 22 hardly know enough to come in out of the rain. Jerry graduated from a college that wasn't even accredited until 2001, just six years before his death. After he died, one of those against whom he had preached said, "If they had given him an enema, they could have buried him in a matchbox."
There are a lot - and I mean a lot! - of charlatans in the Bible-punching game, and that goes all the way back to the very beginnings of The Good Book. People still debate the authenticity of some of the scrolls, as well as other key ingredients of that whole milieu. Tom Harpur, in his excellent book "The Pagan Christ" even postulates a purely spiritual Christ, as opposed to the traditionally accepted flesh-and-blood one, based, understandably, on the premise that our God is a purely spiritual entity, rather than some benevolent grandfatherly type shyly hiding from view behind yonder clouds above us.
Politics and Religion have been inexorably, interminably intertwined since the days when the first real civilizations sprung to life in the Middle East and African regions. Egyptian and Mesopotamian kings also fulfilled the role of Chief High Priest of their principal temples, acting, as it were, as both King and Pope to their subjects. And guess what? It looks like "Everything Old Is New Again".
Except that now, with better education, and much better networking among us, many reject the concept traditionally employed to persuade or intimidate us into maintaining that smelly old "status quo". God gave us a brain, and expects us to use it, for better and not for worse. And the Devil is a very tricky opponent, constantly watching for any opening or weakness. The temptations of power and wealth are very powerful motivators for those of weak character or will, so be watchful. Manipulation is an art that's been raised to almost a science, hence the term "spin-doctors". Spin doctors bend the truth until it's pointing in the opposite direction, and they get very well paid for it. But if you "buy" their line, you'll usually wish you hadn't. They operate on the theory that "bullshit baffles brains" and that often works, but only because we didn't do our homework. So do your homework, and don't swallow everything you're offered.
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