The last few days of this monumental election are upon us. Emotions run high. Accusations fly. Buzz words effectively polarize the public into them versus us. A bold line has been drawn between the “righteous” and the “unrighteous” like never before.

Across the nation, Sunday morning witnesses a frenzy of pulpit pep rallies aimed at tapping into people’s feelings of self-righteousness or their fear of eternal damnation if they should find themselves considering a vote for the “unrighteous.” Christians have been asked to choose between “pleasing God” or “denying the faith” with their vote. “How can you be a Christian and not be a Republican?”

The political historian looks on in utter amazement at how well Nixon’s Southern Strategy has worked. This religious polarization occurred by design, not by coincidence. Realizing that impoverished white Southerners were voting with Democrats in favor of the social programs provided by Roosevelt’s New Deal and Johnson’s Great Society, Nixon courted their vote for Republicans by appealing to their traditionally conservative religious beliefs (and their racism).

A thorough reading of Nixon’s memoirs, public addresses and self-recorded tapes of White House conversations reveals an arrogant, nearly amoral man whose staunch rationalizations, in an attempt to justify even his most blatant wrongdoings, should frighten any Christian. Yet, Nixon deliberately portrayed himself as a man of God, posing with evangelists Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell (the same Jerry Falwell who actively and vocally supported racial segregation in the 1950s and 1960s). In doing so, the Nixon administration effectively wedded the Religious Right to the Republican Party.

The Southern Strategy fueled further emotional support for this ideology by popularizing images illustrating the “unrighteous” agenda of Democrats: giving “handouts” to the “Welfare Queen,” a young, black, unmarried mother of eight who lives off the government, getting rich and refusing to work; giving “weekend prison passes” to criminals, like young, black William “Willie” Horton, whose tough-looking face constantly flooded television screens in the 1988 presidential election to illustrate that Democrats were soft on crime and defense; giving public education to poor, lower-class children who squander the opportunity on drugs and “inner-city” violence. Democrats give too much, and Christians bought it.

Now, the “unrighteous” want to give people the right to visit one another in the hospital, mutually own property and collect partner benefits through civil unions. More sermons leave the pulpit about gay marriage than about fornication and adultery, though both are sins in the Christian faith. Unless, of course, we’ve rationalized our way out of that portion of the Bible.

The sermons fall silent on the issue of divorce (another sin under the wrong circumstances), though it threatens the lives of Americans by ending more than 50 percent of marriages (yes, vows under God) and leaving a near majority of children raised without both parents.

The “unrighteous” go further to give women the right to choose. Though some 70 percent of women receiving abortions report that they are Catholic or Protestant, the sermons speak less than a whisper about the abomination of hypocrisy. The same hypocrisy that should inspire President Bush to admit that at least somebody lied (yes, another abomination) about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. This type of leadership certainly does not set the best Christian example when even children know what to do when you tell a lie.

As a faithful and determined Christian, I am fearful for a nation that would turn evangelism over to the Oval Office. People are not converted through legislation, nor will individuals be saved from judgment through the laws of a nation or the rhetoric of its politicians.

I do want to see a nation that values my children and grandchildren by ensuring their right to freely practice their faith alongside an unbeliever, to live without restrictions for being born black or female, to pursue their education publicly alongside students of diverse economic status and backgrounds and to breathe clean air and drink clean water while they do it. I value the vision that looks ahead and considers where the next four years may leave the future of these rights.

Vision should tell us that we should not ignore the Bible that asks us to look after the needs of the widow, the orphan, the poor and the needy.

That we should not ignore the Bible that commands people to leave a portion of their grain in the fields for the poor.

If we do, our nation will indeed be lost by the short-sighted leadership of self-righteous Christians. In the past, the “moral majority” made emotional appeals to justify regulating marriage, childbearing, living, working, schooling and even worship practices for the “under-classes:” women, blacks and other ethnic U.S. minorities.

If you are a Christian and truly want to see moral change in this nation, do as commanded: Live the life yourself, and help others to live it through your personal evangelism. Don’t condense Christian values into sound bytes for emotional appeal and political persuasion.