WaPo's Milbank: Rick Perry's a Theocrat for Believing Jesus is Lord

August 31st, 2011 3:51 PM

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is no libertarian, he's a theocrat, at least according to Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank.

His evidence? In his 2008 book "On My Honor," Perry is unapologetic in his firm grasp of orthodox Christianity.

"Perry's politics are religious in a way not seen before in modern-day mainstream presidential candidates," an alarmed Milbank insisted:

"Either faith in Christ can cleanse all people of their sin, or none, but not some," he writes. "The truth of Christ's death, resurrection, and power over sin is absolute.... What we believe about it does not determine its truthfulness."

Perry has no use for those who “want to recognize Jesus as a good teacher, but nothing more.” Of those non-Christians, Perry asks, “why call him good if he has lied about his claims of deity and misled two millennia of followers?”

The governor forecasts divine punishment for those who hold different political views. “Shall they stand before God and brag that they fought to scrub His glorious name from the nation’s pledge?” he asks. “Shall they seek His approval for attacking private organizations merely because these organizations proclaim His existence?”

Of course these quotes are reflective of historic, orthodox Christian belief and they were written in a book, not in Perry's executive orders or a state of the state address.

Indeed, right after talking about Christ's death and resurrection, Perry cited 20th century Christian apologist and novelist C.S. Lewis who famously argued that Christ was either Lord, a lunatic, or a liar, and can't have been anything but those three option.

Surely Milbank doesn't think C.S. Lewis was a theocrat.

But why let facts get in the way of a good attack line?