The Republican Party committed idolatry last night.
The very first of the Ten Commandments is unambiguous: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). The word translated “before” can also be translated “other” or “besides,” meaning this is a blanket prohibition against acknowledging any god other than the God revealed in Scripture, the God the Founding Fathers worshipped and acknowledged as supreme.
And yet the GOP, in its misguided and mindless effort to expand its big tent, invited a Muslim, one Sajid Tarar, to offer the closing benediction last night at the Republican National Convention. The closing prayer was thus offered by a man who worships Allah, a counterfeit god whose religion is, as Churchill put it, the greatest “retrograde force” in all the world. It was offered by a man who reveres the warlord Muhammad as a prophet and does not regard Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
Was this a harmless gesture on the GOP’s part, a way of throwing a nod of inclusiveness to the Muslim community, or was it something foolish and even dangerous?
The answer to that question depends upon your view of Scripture. For those who, as I do, hold a high view of Scripture, the implication is plain that the GOP allowed a demonic power to be invited into its building last night, which is hardly an incidental thing to do.
The Bible teaches us that there is a supernatural world inhabited by the Triune God and holy angels who do his bidding. But that supernatural and unseen world is also inhabited by dark spirits who serve the god of the underworld, Satan, and do his bidding. Just as God can be invoked in prayer, so can dark spirits who serve their dark overlord.
The Scriptures warn us against participating in any religious exercise in honor of pagan gods. “What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons” (1 Corinthians 10:20).
So while the Democrats booed God out of their party in 2012, the GOP invited a demon god into its party in 2016.
Tarar heads something he calls “Muslims for Trump,” but there is scant evidence that his group has any members other than himself. Its Facebook page has only a few hundred likes and hasn’t been updated since May.
Tarar is a bit of shadowy figure himself. According to the Washington Post, he has four active cases against him for failing to pay his bills and had a series of criminal complaints filed against him in 2009. After the brouhaha over Melania’s speech, it might behoove the Trump campaign to tighten up its vetting process on all fronts.
Multiculturalism, which the GOP lamely attempted to practice last night, is simply a six syllable word for cultural suicide. This nation was built on the Judeo-Christian tradition, not on the twisted values of the Qur’an.
The Republican Party wandered dangerously off course last night. Bottom line: the GOP needs a Christian clergyman to offer an invocation today which cleans up Tarir’s mess, pulls the party back to the path from its walk in the weeds, and restores God to his rightful place as the head of the party.
