Jimmy Carter, pioneer of the religious right

Almost every one tribute to Jimmy Carter it is necessarily loaded with fences about Carter, the president. While it is true that the “Reagan Revolution” gave America the jolts of patriotic and economic strength it needed, Carter, our 39th president, consistently displayed qualities that public figures of our time would do well to model.

Much about the infamous “Carter years” is rightly remembered with disdain. Those who lived through the late 1970s will remember mortgage rates in the teens, the Iran hostage crisis, and long lines at gas stations. As has been well documented, many of Carter’s policies and his handling of many issues during his presidency failed to improve the country’s economy or the zeitgeist of its people. State the issue (energy, economy, welfare, international relations, terrorism, bipartisanship, etc. al) and President Carter struggled with it.

But many – myself included – deeply admired him as a human being, respected him as our president and fondly remember his genuine smile and friendly wave. I believe that he was a genuinely good human being and because of his generally virtuous nature, Carter was a politician who did not like to be involved in politics. Washington insiders did not like working with him, and international leaders did not seem to respect him.

JIMMY CARTER, 39TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DEAD AT 100.

Today, our nation suffers from another “naive leader” (although President 39 was, I believe, a man of much superior character than 46). The late-night comics got a few easy laughs at how thrilled Jimmy Carter must have been about a Biden presidency. But unlike Biden, President Carter was, I believe, a benign presence.

He could have been the man next door from any neighborhood in America’s heartland – the one who showed the neighborhood kids how to fix bicycles. His personality was pretty much identical to that of my father’s friends from that era, an approachable adult who you knew you could trust and who would help you when she could. Like Teddy Roosevelt, who spent time serving Christian endeavors after the White House, Mr. Carter went from meeting with world leaders to … teaching Sunday school.

When Carter took office in January 1977, America was in the post-Watergate era, the end of the Vietnam War, and the sexual and social upheavals of the 1960s were creating a “new normal.” The 1970s were a time when guilt over sin would be scorned in prime time (thanks, Norman Lear) and the legal bonds that bound America to the moral foundations of Western civilization would begin to be severed (thanks, ACLU).

As for the years of change that shaped the nation Carter was to inherit, a 1964 Times article made the following observations about the new mindset of many Americans:

“Pleasure is regarded as an almost constitutional right rather than a privilege, in which self-denial is increasingly seen as a folly rather than a virtue. While science has reduced the fear of long-term earthly dangers, skepticism has reduced the fear of divine punishment. In short, Puritan ethics, so long the dominant moral force in the US, is generally regarded as dying, if not dead, and there are few mourners.”

In this milieu, candidate Jimmy Carter announced that he was a “born-again Christian” (a term that many American contemporaries were learning, no doubt, for the first time). Kind and honest, Carter injected into the public discourse something that would change American politics forever: the evangelical Christian witness.

Using words from the Gospel of John, chapter three, candidate Carter spoke of being “born again,” and suddenly the term became part of American parlance. General Motors advertised “Oldsmobile Reborn.” Updated editions of the books and TV show were advertised as “born again”. Pundits scoffed and commentators opined, but the conversation was irrevocably underway: politics and religion were mixed, and Jimmy Carter was the catalyst.

A number of other conservative Christian leaders will join the fight to preserve America’s Judeo-Christian foundations. And while Jimmy Carter’s party now associates with everything except the “religious right,” let the record show that Carter affirmed what no Democrat would dare say today: God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible were the cornerstones of his life and shaped his beliefs and behaviors.

Jimmy Carter exhibited the “fruit of the Spirit” (cf. Galatians 5:22-23). Carter seemed to be exemplifying Christ’s words in Mark chapter 10:44: “Whoever is the greatest among you will be the servant of all.” Carter acted like a gentleman. While campaigning for the 1980 election, both Carter and Reagan embodied characteristics quite unknown in American politics today: they were respectful and dignified, and even their debate sparring was instructive and watchable.

The 1970s were the time when many negativities were set in motion that would have tragic consequences for decades to come (the rise of modern Islamic fundamentalism, the rebirth of Marxism in Europe, postmodernism in classrooms on both sides of the Atlantic, and the accelerating breakdown of families throughout the West).

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But it cannot be denied that from that same era came someone who exemplified some of the best things about America and American leaders: a peanut farmer in Georgia, tilling the soil on his family farm, could become governor of his state, then leader of his nation. Faithful to his wife, Carter raised four children and would later raise roofs over the heads of poor people. For many years, Carter’s standard public appearance was to wear a carpenter’s apron while swinging a hammer to help others.

Jimmy Carter served his countryhis church and his Savior and quietly left an example. Mr. President, I was just a kid then, but I watched and took notes. Bless you sir, and thank you for serving our country.

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