Newt Gingrich Devotional: Nauseous words

Editor’s Note: Newt Gingrich is our guest devotional writer.

Focal Passage: Isaiah 29:21– “…That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate…”

Rick Santorum’s reaction to John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech about separation of church and state– he said it made him want to “throw up”— has received ample media coverage.

Poor decision on his part– nobody wants to turn on the news and have to think about vomit as they sit down to dinner. And I’ve already said I disagree with him.

But more importantly, I disagree with those liberal commentators who insist on describing his response with the word “nauseous.”  Rick Santorum was not “nauseous.” (Although, for many like myself, listening to him can be a nauseating experience). Rick Santorum was “nauseated” by the concept of church-state separation. These are two very different words. Separation of church and state is “nauseous” to Rick Santorum, resulting in a “nauseated” condition in his delicate tummy. See the difference?

In a similar way, liberals say “bailout” when they mean “communism,”  “politically correct” when they mean “cowardly”  and “poverty programs” when they mean “government tyranny.”

The scripture says we should not accuse anyone “for a word.” Perhaps the Lord is that gracious, but the political world is a cold and unforgiving place, so I must object.  Without distinct and sharply delineated speech, my own thinking might ooze out around the edges into a puddle and leave me floundering in a suffocating pink pillow fight instead of engaging in powerful political debate, hurling well aimed thunderbolts of logic and REASON from my own personal MT. OLYMPUS!!

Next week:  The importance of humility.