The Anatomy of “Seduction”

David Kuo's memoir, Tempting Faith, reads like a

Harlequin Romance novel. The reader need only replace "Jessica," the
proverbial seductress, with "the Republican Party" and Kuo's tale
comes to life.

David Kuo's memoir, Tempting Faith: The Inside Story of
Political Seduction, reads like a Harlequin Romance novel. The reader need
only replace "Jessica," the proverbial seductress, with "the
Republican Party" and Kuo's tale comes to life.

It has all the component parts: the steamy stolen glance held for moments
too long, the mid-night back rub leading to the stolen kiss, and finally the
adulterous abandon on the rain-soaked beach.

But Kuo's seduction is a political one: His gaze is held by the allure of
money, power and famous "anonymity." He massages relationships and
worldviews that nullify his own sense of social right and wrong. Finally, he
two-times God by becoming the architect of a false reality. Rather than
embracing and proclaiming truth (and Jesus says "I am the truth."),
he becomes the Religious Right master of spin and framing – and all this by the
end of chapter 6!

I was fascinated by Kuo's journey – fascinated and shocked all in the same
breath: It was mesmerizing to see how close to power an ordinary guy can get,
how human these political giants are, and how easy it is for a man of deep
convictions to be bought by power. But it was shocking too; shocking to witness
the consequences of a dulled conscience – chipped away over time by tunnel
vision and small compromises here and there till finally there was none.

The most profound turn in Kuo's fall was his descent from one tempted to one
tempting. He was at the center of the "bastardization of God's
words" for the sake of the republican political agenda. Consider Kuo's
revelation of his party's use of code language to tempt the faithful.
Recounting a Baptist pastor's conference where Jack Kemp spoke, Kuo the speech
writer says:

Our only hope was to convince the pastors that Kemp's faith was so strong
and so clearly central to his life he didn't need to talk about it. Just as a
pastor could get up and talk without mentioning his own walk with Jesus, we
needed to figure out how Jack could do the speech in evangelical shorthand. We
inserted snippets of old hymns in economic sections-such as ‘the solid rock of
economic principles.' We threw in a few obscure turns of phrase known clearly
to any evangelical, yet unlikely to be noticed by anyone else, even Kemp.
Phrases like "narrow is the path of wealth." It was code…. It was a
method of talking about faith that would be used and reused in the years ahead
by our future bosses and clients-John Ashcroft, Ralph Reed, Bob Dole, and
George W. Bush." (pages 59-60)

In the end, Kuo calls conservative Christians to fast for the next 24
months. After all, what does one do when they've been enmeshed in an adulterous
relationship? The physical and spiritual ties must be cut. Fasting, a cleansing
process that opens the soul and helps us to hear God's voice more clearly, is
Kuo's strategy for getting clean again.

All cards on the table, as I read Kuo's book, I was struck by how easy it is
to be seduced. We are all vulnerable – regardless of party affiliation. We're
as vulnerable to political seduction as we are to sexual temptation. We like to
think we're bigger than that. We have stronger faith than that. But, truth be
told, none of us is immune.

We "Faithful Democrats" and other progressive faith-based
activists must heed Kuo's warning, lest we walk the same path.

We must take note of the anatomy of his seduction; take inventory of our own
decisions, worldviews, and relationships; and vigilantly heed the quiet
warnings of our conscience.

We must be willing to walk away from power, money and fame at the drop of a
hat when it comes at the expense of our faith.

When we feel the allure of political seduction, we must learn to think,
"Joseph." Then run.