I want to offer some thoughts for my friends who believe that Pete Buttigieg’s politics are fresh and new.

The only thing more annoying than spending four years with a President whose name we can’t pronounce…

…is having you elect a President because you think, “this guy is really different!”

USA Today describes Pete as, “…a devoted Christian who is speaking against the dominance of the religious right in the public square. “

Catch that?

The devoted CHRISTIAN speaking against the RELIGIOUS RIGHT – as if they are two completely separate sides.

The RELIGIOUS RIGHT is not a bunch of Buddhists, Muslims, Atheists, Werewolves, and Extra-Terrestrials.

The RELIGIOUS RIGHT is Christians.

Buttigieg is at war with his brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pete’s been especially critical of Mike Pence (a Christian).

Pete went on television and described Pence to Stephen Colbert:

“He’s nice. If he were here you would think he’s a nice guy to your face, but he’s also just fanatical … he seems to think the universe was created a few thousand years ago and that people like me get up in the morning and decide to be gay. And the thing about it is, if that was a choice, it was a choice that was made way above my pay grade.”

Pete Buttigieg to Stephen Colbert (Mike Pence not present to respond)

There’s a word for what he’s doing – “strawman”.

It’s not cool to express Mike Pence’s beliefs while Mike Pence isn’t in the room to agree or disagree.

Jesus said, “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

Jesus wants Buttigieg to talk to Pence, not Stephen Colbert…and millions of television viewers.

A Christian should care what Jesus wants.

The thing about Christianity is – it makes it HARDER to appear righteous, not easier.

Adopting the “devout Christian” moniker forces you to address a little thing called “sin” at some point in your campaign.

That’s why many politicians shut-up about their faith.

I give Pete credit for his honesty regarding homosexuality:

“If you had offered me a pill to make me straight, I would’ve swallowed it before you had time to give me a sip of water,” he said. “It’s hard to face the truth that there were times in my life when, if you had shown me exactly what it was inside me that made me gay, I would have cut it out with a knife.”

Pete Buttigieg

This is a very Christian thing to say.

We all have parts of our character that should be cut out with a knife.

But knives don’t work on sin.

That’s why there’s Jesus.

The Buttigieg hypocrisy is on display when he says:

“That’s the thing that I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand. That if you have a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”

If Mike Pence has ‘a problem’ with who Pete is – it’s the same problem that Pete himself wishes he could cut out.

In other words, Pete Buttigieg agrees with ‘the Mike Pences of the world’ that homosexuality is a problem.

Blaming God for the problem is not something that Christians are supposed to do.

Homosexuality is the only sin that Pete justifies.

He is less forgiving toward the sins of his political opponents.

“I can’t believe that somebody that was caught writing hush money checks to adult film actresses is somebody they should be lifting up as the kind of person they want to be leading this nation.”

Pete Buttigieg – Appalled by Donald Trump’s sin.

Imagine Donald Trump saying:

“If you had offered me a pill to make me a feminist, I would’ve swallowed it before you had time to give me a sip of water. It’s hard to face the truth that there were times in my life when, if you had shown me exactly what it was inside me that made me mistreat women, I would have cut it out with a knife.”

Pete Buttigieg is nothing new.

It’s the same-old selfish conceit that humans have been practicing since the Garden of Eden.

Sin can’t be cut out with a politician’s knife.

It can only be washed away with the blood of Christ.