House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) told evangelical Christians last week that only Christianity offers a reasonable answer to basic questions about the purpose of life.
Speaking to about 300 people at the First Baptist Church of Pearland, Tex., on April 12, DeLay said that God is using him to promote "a biblical worldview" in American politics, and that he pursued Bill Clinton's impeachment in part because the Democratic president held "the wrong worldview."
"Ladies and gentlemen, Christianity offers the only viable, reasonable, definitive answer to the questions of 'Where did I come from?' 'Why am I here?' 'Where am I going?' 'Does life have any meaningful purpose?' " DeLay said. "Only Christianity offers a way to understand that physical and moral border. Only Christianity offers a comprehensive worldview that covers all areas of life and thought, every aspect of creation. Only Christianity offers a way to live in response to the realities that we find in this world -- only Christianity."
A recording of DeLay's speech was released by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington-based advocacy group. Its executive director, the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, said the remarks show that DeLay "lacks appreciation for the religious pluralism" of the United States.
"This is particularly disturbing because he, as a top-ranking member of Congress, represents people from the whole spectrum of religious faiths and nonbelievers, not just Christianity," Lynn said.
DeLay, the House GOP's third-ranking official, is in line to take the No. 2 spot next year.
DeLay's spokesman, Stuart Roy, said the congressman respects people of other faiths and has worked closely, for example, with Jews in support of Israel. "Obviously, he's a Christian, and he was speaking about his own testimony, his own experience and his own personal beliefs, and how they've changed his life," Roy said. "He wasn't giving a speech on the House floor as majority whip."
DeLay issued a statement yesterday saying: "Millions of Americans take comfort in their faiths. People are welcome to believe like me, or they're welcome to believe in their own religion. I respect people's right to have their own beliefs and practice their own religion."
DeLay's Texas speech came at a time when the United States is engaged in contentious, high-stakes dealings with several Islamic nations as well as with Israel. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, several Republican leaders have urged Americans to show tolerance toward people of different faiths.
In Texas, DeLay's speech drew strong protest mainly over his advice concerning higher education. He urged parents to send their children to colleges where they will get a "godly education" -- not to Texas A&M or Baylor universities, two of the state's major schools.
"Don't send your kids to Baylor. And don't send your kids to A&M," said DeLay, who was kicked out of Baylor because of his acknowledged fondness of drinking and carousing as a student. Baylor, located in Waco, bills itself as "the largest Baptist university in the world." Texas A&M has a strong military tradition, with more than 2,000 students in the school's Corps of Cadets.
"Texas A&M used to be a conservative university," DeLay said in his speech. "It's lost all of its conservatism. . . . My daughter went there. You know, she had horrible experiences with coed dorms and guys who spent the weekends in the rooms with girls, and all this kind of stuff went on there."
The speech took place at "Worldview Weekend," a gathering at which speakers emphasize the need for evangelical Christians to get involved in politics and not to segregate their religious worldview from their daily lives.
DeLay said Christians sometimes are criticized if they express their faith openly in public life. Believers "are told, 'You can go in the church . . . and stay in it, but if you stick your head out and you say anything that reflects your worldview, we're gonna knock your head off,' " he said. "And they do. And they come after me like you wouldn't believe. I'm the most investigated man in America. Especially when we impeached Bill Clinton. It was incredible. . . . If I wasn't walking with the Lord, I would have been destroyed."
He continued: "I was totally consumed with holding this man accountable. . . . He was undermining everything that I believe in and everything that I have been working for. And he was standing for the wrong worldview."