Mark Sanford hides behind his “Christianity”

Enter Mark Sanford, "public" Christian, the latest arch-conservative sleaze-bag to crack open the Bible in an attempt to stem the tsunami of criticism being hurled at him for a litany of highly un-Christian conduct. 

We could be mistaken, but it seems to us that the Christian Bible is pretty cut-and-dried about lying and adultery.

Recently, Mr. Sanford lied to his wife Jenny and his staff and his constituents about his attempt to solo hike the Appalachian Trail. He failed to realize that the Appalachian trail doesn't extend to Argentina. This heart-wrenching story of true love has provided comedians around the world with endless material, including a new euphemism for seriously hot sex, "hiking the Appalachian Trail."

Sanford has also taken to hiding behind his Christianity to explain his outrageous use of taxpayer funds to pay for his sexploits and extravagant travel needs. Never mind that he racked up $468,000.00 in travel expenses, all the while extolling the virtue of penny-pinching to his state employees and gloating about his refusal to accept government funds to pay for, among other things South Carolina desperately needed, education.

In a delicious convergence of incredible hypocrisy, he billed the state of South Carolina $8,687 for a South American trade junket where he slipped away from meetings to get frisky with his Argentine mistress and to murder unsuspecting doves on a day-hunting trip to Cordoba, Argentina.

Whatever meaning believers may derive from the Good Book (and all similar books from religions around the world), the Bible is to those in power nothing more than a tool they can utilize to control the behavior of those people who choose to abide by its' archaic rules. It is endlessly ironic then that so many people also use the Bible to justify bad behavior.

Public perception will never be Mark Sanford's savior, no matter how many times he quotes Jesus nor how many crocodile tears he sheds on national television. Good riddance.

Given that our elected leaders routinely revise existing laws to feed their greed and lust for power, we have little doubt they would amend the constitution to provide for mistresses if they could sneak it into an omnibus spending package. Heck, why not simply amend the Bible to suite their narcissistic desires? That way, all believers who hide behind their faith when they seek forgiveness for their sins wouldn't have to make the trip to confession to cleanse their soul. Everyone wins, except, maybe, priests.