I was revolted by the Congressional hearing yesterday. Revolted by the Republicans screaming insults at a man who has served his country faithfully, and who accepted an enormously difficult task and carried it out well. And revolted by the Democrats, trying to manipulate that man into saying something they could use in their petty partisan games against President Trump.

Throughout the day, Mueller gave the briefest of answers, refusing to elaborate, and constantly pointed his questioners to the report. Had he been the anti-Trump partisan many accuse him of being, Mueller could have skewered President Trump. With what he knew, he could have given soundbites which would be replayed for generations. But instead, Mueller mostly sat their stoically absorbing the blows of Republicans, not inclined to defend himself, and refusing to give Democrats what they so desperately wanted.

The day’s big loser was Robert Mueller. And I suspect he was probably okay with that.

Two years ago, nobody had anything bad to say about Robert Mueller. He was hailed by both Reps and Dems as a man of integrity with a stellar reputation–the perfect man to lead the Special Counsel investigation.

Mueller spent two years following where the evidence took him, making judgment calls which were sometimes criticized by Democrats, sometimes by Republicans, and nearly always by President Trump. There were virtually no leaks–a rare novelty in Washington. Over 30 people were indicted. It was no witchhunt, as the President and his parrots continually whined.

Throughout it all, Mueller avoided the spotlight, remained in the shadows, doing his assigned job (unlike, say, Kenneth Starr, whose investigation wandered across the horizon for five endless years and yielded practically nothing beyond regular appearances before media microphones for Starr).

For two years, right-wing media personalities–Limbaugh, Hannity, Carlson, Ingraham, Guiliani, and others–have continually assaulted Robert Mueller. Talk to someone today who imbibes conservative media, and you may well hear that Robert Mueller is a horrible person, even treasonous. It’s disgusting.

Robert Mueller volunteered to go to Vietnam, where he fought heroically as an Army Ranger. In those days, Ivy League guys from wealthy families didn’t end up in Vietnam, let alone in a frontline rifle platoon. And they certainly didn’t volunteer. Mueller, like Donald Trump and others, could have avoided service by finding a doctor to claim he had some fictional ailment. But Mueller didn’t even wait to be drafted. He enlisted. And when initially turned down–which would have prompted many young men to shout “Hallelujah!”–he came back and tried again.

One month into his tour, Lt. Mueller was ordered to lead his platoon in a dangerous relief mission. It was a full day of fighting, with 13 Marines lost, but they accomplished their mission and decimated the enemy. Recalled one of his men, “The minute the s* hit the fan, he was there. He performed remarkably. After that night, there were a lot of guys who would’ve walked through walls for him.”

There was much more intense combat after that. In April 1969, the bullets were coming so fast that he didn’t even notice when a bullet went clean through his thigh. He stayed in the fight, directing his platoon’s fire.

So maybe he had that in mind yesterday when Republican low-lifes were taking pot-shots at him. He’d seen worse.

Robert Mueller went from Vietnam to an admirable career in public service. He left a lucrative law practice to become a front-line homicide prosecutor at one-fourth his previous salary, a job one writer compared to a general deciding to become a private.

He ended up leading the FBI, where he had a reputation for avoiding the limelight (unlike his successor, James Comey). He would cross out every “I” in speeches, telling speechwriters that it wasn’t about him, but about the organization. He is described as having the same mindset as Bob Dole and George HW Bush, who seldom talked about their wartime experiences and felt an obligation to serve the country–and not boast about it.

Men with heavy responsibilities must make judgment calls, and not everyone will like them. But Mueller operated from a core of integrity, doing what he felt was best, and no doubt recognizing when he made bad decisions. Goes with the job.

Mueller has remained married to Ann, whom he married just after graduating from college. One of their two daughters has spina bifada. At one point, Mueller took a job just to be near the treatment she needed.

Yesterday was no way for such a man to end his career. It was a disgrace. Last night, the conservative media gurus were gloating and criticizing him, the late-night comedians were mocking his performance.

Rubert Mueller is a better man than any of them. Than any of his House questioners. Than any of those pundits and comedians. Certainly a far better man than the President. He deserves better. This is a man we should emulate, whom we should hold up to children as a model American.

Is this how America should treat its remarkable people?

Mueller is America at its best, a man who gave up privilege to fight for his country and pursue public service. President Trump’s life, by contrast, has followed three obsessions: money, women, and adulation. Two very, very different lives. And yet, so many conservatives–including my fellow evangelical Christians–now despise Mueller and glorify President Trump.

Yesterday did nothing to make me proud of America, except for the fact that America produces such men as Robert Mueller.

President Trump’s disdain for John McCain is well-known.

On August 13, when President Trump signed the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act, he talked for 28 minutes without ever mentioning the senator’s name.

John McCain is a national hero. Say his name. He earned it.

That night at a rally, President Trump criticized McCain’s vote on the Affordable Care Act–again, not mentioning his name, but everyone knew who he was talking about. The crowd booed McCain. Think about that. As John McCain lay dying of brain cancer, the President of the United States was prompting thousands of Americans to boo an American war hero.

Trump has been doing this schtick at rallies and other events for most of a year, going back to a rally in Alabama on September 22, 2017. At his prompting, thousands upon thousands of Trump supporters have publicly jeered John McCain.

I would not dirty my shoes going to a rally where people booed a dying war hero. It stuns me. Infuriates me. And yet, I realize I have Facebook friends who will follow wherever the President leads.

At a rally three days before McCain’s death, the President didn’t say anything about the senator. When medical treatment was discontinued, numerous politicians put out statements of support for McCain and the family. President Trump said nothing.

Anticipating John McCain’s death, White House staffers drafted a statement honoring his life and legacy. President Trump nixed it. John Kelly, Sarah Sanders, and other staff reportedly urged the President to release the statement, but the President said no. Instead, he put out a tweet–that’s all John McCain merited, a tweet of 21 words–expressing condolences to the family.

Brit Hume of FoxNews quickly responded to the tweet, “Still not a kind word about McCain himself.” Nothing about his lifetime of service to the country as a soldier and senator.

How did we get to this point? What happened to the Republican Party I grew up with?

The White House will probably put out a full statement later today, and KellyAnn Conway will provide a tidy rationale for the delay. But there should have been no delay, no allowance for the President to nurse petty grievances.

I realize John McCain has been a harsh critic of Donald Trump. He was also, frequently, a thorn in the side to Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton. He put principle above party. It’s part of McCain’s greatness. And Presidents need to rise above.

Being a war hero doesn’t make politicians infallible or above criticism over day-to-day statements and policy decisions. But at the end of the man’s life, you honor him.

Sometimes people don’t have ulterior motives. Sometimes people mean what they say. Sometimes people hold good values and make decisions on that basis. Sometimes these people are politicians.

I think Paul Ryan is such a person. He says he’s leaving office to spend time with his family, to be an onsite Dad. Why can’t people just accept that? Instead, pundits are speculating that the REAL reason is based on political considerations. Often, when politicians say they are resigning “to spend more time with my family,” we all know that’s not the real reason. But sometimes it is. With Ryan, I believe it is.

The guy wants to be a Dad. He talked about that before becoming Speaker, and he’s talking about it again. That’s a good thing to want to be, and a good example to set.

Many people contend that the term “evangelical” has become so tarnished from its tight association with Donald Trump and the Republican Party that we need to abandon it and adopt a different label. I disagree. In writing my denomination’s history, I discovered we were using the term “evangelical” going back almost to our beginning in 1800. It’s got a rich history. We need to redeem it, not replace it.

I remember back around the late 1970s when Billy Graham began using the term “born from above” in place of “born again,” which society had misappropriated and watered down. Well, time moved on, and “born again” once again means what he originally intended. That’s my approach to the term “evangelical.” This is just (I desperately hope) a warped moment in time.

Thanks to political polls, people get an inaccurate picture of evangelicals. Evangelicals are not overwhelmingly white, and they are not overwhelmingly Republicans. Predominantly so, yes, but not overwhelmingly.

There’s a big difference between people who identify themselves as evangelicals, and people who hold evangelical beliefs. Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research has done enlightening work in this area. To be an evangelical by belief, you must strongly agree with all four of these bedrock evangelical beliefs.

1. The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.
2. It’s very important for me to encourage nonChristians to trust Christ as their Savior.
3. Only Christ’s death can remove the penalty for my sins.
4. Eternal life is freely given to those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior.

Stetzer found that half of the Americans who self-identify as evangelicals don’t actually believe all four statements. Those who qualify as evangelicals, theologically, are actually only 58% white, 23% black, and the rest are Hispanic, Asian, and other ethnicities. So 4 of 10 evangelicals are NOT white. That, according to my calculations, is 40%.

Pew Research, in a massive 2014 study of over 100,000 people in all 50 states, found that one-third of evangelicals are persons of color. That’s close to the LifeWay study. That study found that evangelicals are 19% black, 10% Hispanic, and 6% Asian, mixed race, or other ethnicities. Half of evangelicals under age 30 are non-white.

Political pollsters typically separate out “white evangelicals” and “black Protestants,” even though a quarter of all evangelicals are black. In fact, according to LifeWay, blacks are the group most likely to hold evangelical beliefs—30%, compared to just 13% for whites. When pollsters try to tell you what evangelicals believe, they are ignoring the views of the 40% of evangelicals who are not white. Some might call that racist. Smells like it.

Significantly, only 14% of blacks self-identify as evangelicals. That, Stetzer says, indicates that the term “evangelical” has become a turn-off to blacks, preventing many blacks from describing themselves as evangelicals, even though they are evangelical by belief. Perhaps they see it as applying only to white Christians and/or Republicans, who don’t tend to represent their concerns.

As for political affiliation: LifeWay found that only two-thirds of evangelicals self-identify as Republicans, and one-third self-identify as Democrats. That holds true whether it’s people who self-identify as evangelicals, or who qualify as evangelicals because of their beliefs. A Pew study, based on denominational affiliation, yielded similar results: 56% Republican, 39% Democrat, and 16% neither.

My point? The evangelicals you hear about on political talk shows are not the evangelicals we go to church with.

A couple weeks ago I began musing about things that would be true, regardless of who became president.

Steve Predicts #1: No Matter Who Wins on Nov 8:

A majority of Americans will be disgusted, saying stuff like this: “What’s wrong with America? How could we have elected a person like this?” And it’ll be, at most, a one-term presidency.

Steve Predicts #2: No Matter Who Wins on Nov 8:

Evangelicals will do some soul-searching about their decades-long allegiance to the Republican Party. It’s already happening. In consecutive elections, evangelicals supported a Mormon (who has worked to direct people away from an eternity with God), and then a man who values almost nothing that Jesus values.

A lot of evangelical voices are raising concerns about how the quest for worldly power harms the Gospel of Christ, Christian witness, people’s perceptions of the church, and our credibility as Christ-bearers within society. There will be much hand-wringing–articles, books, forums, and more. However, as 2020 approaches, the Republican candidate will shout “Abortion! Supreme Court!”, and once again evangelicals will flock around him. Little will have changed.

Steve Predicts #3: No Matter Who Wins on Nov 8:

Christians will say, “God is still in control,” without really knowing what that means, theologically. It’s kind of become the spiritual thing to say, a righteous cliche. But in what way, exactly, is God in control of the government? How does that apply to the governments of Russia and China and North Korea? Is it merely a statement about God’s sovereignty? Regardless, people will say this without thinking about it, and it will sound very spiritual.

Steve Predicts #4: No Matter Who Wins on Nov 8:

There will be several years of investigations, either by official government inquiries or by the press (which could lead to official inquiries).

If Hillary wins, there will be four years of re-investigations into emails and Benghazi, and new (and justified) investigations into the Clinton Foundation and perhaps other matters.

If Trump wins, the press will continue investigating many issues which haven’t been explored in any depth–business ties to Russia, fraudulent use of the Trump Foundation, Trump University (the jury trial starts Nov 28), continued allegations of sexual assault, illegal campaign contributions, and as-yet-unknown business dealings. Plus, he has promised to sue his sexual accusers and to have Hillary Clinton jailed, so we’ll have those investigations.

It’ll be a messy four years. We could easily see a president be forced out for the first time since Nixon.

Steve Predicts #5: No Matter Who Wins on Nov 8:

Young evangelicals will increasingly drift away from the Republican Party as they are drawn to issues more likely to be supported by Democrats and Independents–the poor, social justice, prison reform, immigration reform, economic disparity, gender equality, climate change, and peace. They have little tolerance for any kind of racism and discrimination.
Their numbers will continue to increase, while older evangelicals–my generation and older–will continue to decrease. In will take another, say, 12 years to make a deep difference in elections, but the shift will eventually become apparent. The alarming growth of atheism and agnosticism will further diminish the ranks of Bible-waving Republicans.

Steve Predicts #6: No Matter Who Wins on Nov 8:

The person elected will be MY president, duly elected by We the People. I will no doubt criticize many of that person’s policies, actions, and judgments, and may even come to favor the person being ousted from office. But I will not seek to delegitimize that person, as so many people shamelessly did to President Bush (because of the Supreme Court ruling) and President Obama (birtherism). Nor will I claim the system is rigged. Whoever emerges on top will be MY president.

Steve Predicts #7: No Matter Who Wins on Nov 8:

Barack Obama will have a stellar post-presidency. And as people become disgusted with the chaos of either a Clinton or Trump presidency, Obama will be viewed much more favorably–not as the evil caricature popularized 24/7 by FoxNews, Rush, and others, but as a president who, as a general statement, was measured, thoughtful, articulate, gracious, funny, personable, and faithful to his role as a husband and father. His popularity will only increase (as usually happens with ex-presidents).