Legend has it that George Washington had a prophetic vision at Valley Forge, promising him victory and a new nation. His soldiers seemingly survived that winter by a miracle.
Someone call the ladies at ABC’s “The View,” because they must have something snarky to say about this just in time for Lent. Joy Behar’s views on faith and prayer hold that our first president might have suffered from mental illness. When discussing Vice President Mike Pence, she declared last week on the show that “it’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you.” That was just before she proclaimed such faith in action to be a “mental illness.”
Washington wasn’t alone. Ben Franklin, John and Abigail Adams, Susan B. Anthony, Fredrick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and countless other American leaders were and are guided each day by their relationship with Jesus Christ. Pence is the current target of the liberal press only because he dares to openly profess his vibrant Christian faith.
Pence and our early American leaders are in good company. According to the Pew Forum, over 70 percent of Americans identify as Christian. Also according to Pew, more than half, 55 percent, of Americans say they pray daily, and another 21 percent say they pray weekly or monthly.
Christians are imperfect, but they struggle to follow Christ’s teachings through a life that honors God. Sometimes they are misunderstood in that pursuit, as Christ himself predicted. Pence was torn to pieces by the liberal press when he said he does not dine alone with other women besides his wife. Imagine the families that could have been saved if other husbands, and wives, had set firm boundaries that helped them avoid a trajectory that eventually led to family dissolution. Am I naive to believe that most unfaithful spouses fall into error spontaneously rather than carefully planning their infidelity in advance?
In the last year, scandal involving sexual misconduct on the part of powerful men has rightfully rocked this nation. Every major industry and institution from Congress to the media has had their #MeToo moments, leaving the American people to shake their heads in disgust. One would think that, politics aside, a man who strives to live a life above reproach and to please God would earn our respect. Apparently, not so much in some circles.
As I wrote in my book, Feisty and Feminine, I dislike using the words “God told me,” because I normally only know what God’s thinking through the Bible. But I do believe I once experienced God’s miraculous direction. In the moment just before a strange man attacked and attempted to rape me years ago on a running path in Virginia, “God told me” (not audibly, but clearly in my thoughts) to pause and allow the man to pass instead of heading down an obstructed embankment. That split-second hesitation meant that a passing motorist saw the attack that subsequently occurred, and was able to save me from being raped or worse. Skeptics are free to think it was my gut or intuition — I know it was the Holy Spirit.
Christians’ imperfections are not a license for others the right to mock and ridicule our faith — especially in our honest efforts to do right. Pence said it best in his response: “It’s an insult not to me, but to the vast majority of American people who, like me, cherish their faith. … It’s simply wrong.” It’s fine for us to disagree, but it is nothing short of pure anti-Christian bigotry to suggest that either my experience or the experience of millions of other Christians is mental illness. Shame on Joy Behar, shame on her co-hosts for not defending Pence, and shame on ABC.
Penny Nance is president and CEO of Concerned Women for America.
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