Be careful how you joke about Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore], and the way he wears his faith on his sleeve. At least two prominent conservative-leaning columnists have been burned in the last several days.
Example 1: On PBS Newshour, New York Times columnist David Brooks engaged in a bit of playful hyperbole, suggesting that [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore] was “adopting some of the dark and satanic tones that Cruz has…” This spawned some pushback here, here, and here.
Brooks was clearly joking, and anyone who suggests otherwise is looking for controversy. (In fairness to those who were outraged, liberal commentator David Corn’s comments that followed stuck me as more serious.)
Example 2: Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Kathleen Parker faced backlash after her comments on CNN about Cruz’s penchant for playing the Christian card. In case you missed them, she observed:
Ted Cruz said something that I found rather astonishing. He said, you know, “It’s time for the body of Christ to rise up and support me.” I don’t know anyone who takes their religion seriously who would think that Jesus should rise from the grave and resurrect himself to serve Ted Cruz. I know so many people who were offended by that comment. And you know if you want to talk about grandiosity and messianic self-imagery I think he makes Ted Cruz makes Donald Trump look rather sort of like a gentle little lamb.
This is inherently a controversial thing to say, but I think there was also some confusion.
The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway took this as a sign that Parker did not understand that the “body” of Christ means “Christians” or the “Church” (and not literally Christ’s body). Although I agree with Hemingway’s argument that we need more people of faith in newsrooms, I’m pretty sure Parker is familiar with this distinction.
I think it’s safe to say that Parker isn’t ignorant of Christian theology. She understands what Catholics might call the Mystical Body of Christ. She wasn’t trying to offend Christians, she was merely being facetious.
Putting aside the fact that it’s dangerous to be flippant about faith (especially in a medium like television where your words are much less precise than they are in an edited column), it’s pretty clear that Brooks and Parker are offended by how (they perceive) Cruz is attempting to manipulate Christians to serve his own political purposes (Brooks’s recent column lays out the case pretty well).
And interestingly, even Hemingway agrees with this fundamental premise: “As it turns out,” she writes, “some people actually don’t like the way Cruz and other politicians across the spectrum conflate politics and Christianity. I am one of them.”
To everything there is a season, and we are now entering a season where operatives and activists are reflexively circling the wagons. Political types tend to be defensive, but that’s especially true the farther along we get on the road to Des Moines.
So gird your loins, columnists, and strap on the full armor of God. The outrage machine is in full gear.
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Note: The author’s wife previously consulted for Ted Cruz’s campaign for U.S. Senate.
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