Grooming Politicians for Christ

This LA Times article is damn scary:

Nearly every Monday for six months, as many as a dozen congressional aides — many of them aspiring politicians — have gathered over takeout dinners to mine the Bible for ancient wisdom on modern policy debates about tax rates, foreign aid, education, cloning and the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

Through seminars taught by conservative college professors and devout members of Congress, the students learn that serving country means first and always serving Christ.

They learn to view every vote as a religious duty, and to consider compromise a sin.

That puts them at the vanguard of a bold effort by evangelical conservatives to mold a new generation of leaders who will answer not to voters, but to God.

"We help them understand God's purpose for society," said Bouma, who coordinates the program, known as the Statesmanship Institute, for the Rev. D. James Kennedy.

It's widely acknowledged that Bush has opened up the legislative process to K Street in a manner that would make even Reagan's corpse blush. That's bad enough, but now I have to have nightmares of people on the Hill flipping through the Bible for ideas on how to govern effectively?

(via American Samizdat)