The Washington Times carried an Associated Press report entitled, "Bob Jones III endorses Mitt Romney." Here are excerpts:

"Bob Jones III, chancellor of the Christian fundamentalist school named for his family, is endorsing Republican Mitt Romney for president."

"Romney's campaign confirmed Jones' endorsement today."

According to the report Jones told a Greenville, South Carolina newspaper that "supporting Romney is critical to make sure former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani doesn't win the GOP nomination and that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton doesn't win the election."

"'If it turns out to be Giuliani and Hillary, we've got two pro-choice candidates, and that would be a disaster,' Jones told The Greenville News for a story on its Web site today." [Bob Jones III endorses Romney for president, By Ron Barnett, October 16, 2007]

Jones also said, "As a Christian I am completely opposed to the doctrines of Mormonism. But I'm not voting for a preacher. I'm voting for a president. It boils down to who can best represent conservative American beliefs, not religious beliefs."

Bob Jones' endorsement of the former Massachusetts governor illustrates just how low the Religious Right will go in compromising bedrock principle for the sake of political expediency.

Jones says he is supporting Romney so as to help defeat Rudy Giuliani. I very much want to see what Jones will do if and when Giuliani gets the Republican nomination. I would anticipate that he will continue to follow his current modus operandi and support Giuliani, because he would then say that Giuliani is the "lesser of two evils."

Why do I say that? Because Jones is already demonstrating that he will support one liberal over another liberal. Mitt Romney is not a conservative—not by any measure of the word. And I am confident that Bob Jones knows it.

Romney's entire political career has been built by catering to the eastern liberal establishment. That he is now attempting to remake himself into a conservative (and that Christian "leaders" are willing to assist this façade) is both laughable and detestable!

In his endorsement announcement, Jones said, "If it turns out to be a Giuliani and Hillary, we've got two pro-choice candidates, and that would be a disaster."

DUH!

Where has Bob Jones III been for the last two decades? Mitt Romney has been a consistent pro-abortion politician since entering public life. His track record is there for anyone who wants to examine it. Here are a few facts Dr. Bob should have looked at before he embarrassed himself and Bob Jones University with this stupidly naïve endorsement.

According to one well-researched account,

"Mitt Romney has a long history of supporting pro-abortion candidates and causes, and aggressively sought the support and endorsement of groups such as NARAL and Planned Parenthood. Indeed, Romney is still listed today as a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, a group supported by Billionaire leftist George Soros dedicated to shifting the GOP leftward on social issues such as abortion rights and stem cell research."

"Romney also has a history of assisting the careers of other prominent pro-abortion politicians. In the 1992 presidential race, Romney endorsed and voted for pro-abortion liberal Democrat Paul Tsongas in the Democratic primary and just three years ago endorsed and made a television ad for Democrat Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson, a former Planned Parenthood attorney."

"As Governor, he issued state proclamations honoring 'Right to Privacy Day' which until 2005, specifically referenced the Roe vs. Wade case."

"Romney repeatedly took extreme stances on abortion throughout his career and consistently made statements such as this one: 'I believe that Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years, that we should sustain and support it . . .'"

"There simply is no doubt that Romney was one of the most pro-abortion Republican office holders in the country."

See the full report here: A Report on the Pro-life Views of Governor Mitt Romney

As to the issue of "gay rights," Mitt Romney's record is equally clear. He has consistently facilitated the radical homosexual agenda.

According to a World Net Daily report, "A website paid for and authorized by the Massachusetts Democratic Party has posted a picture of a flier reportedly passed out at a 2002 'gay pride' event by then-gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney expressing support for homosexual rights."

"The flier, on red paper, claims to have been paid for by 'the Romney for Governor Committee and Kerry Murphy Healey Committee' and reads, 'Mitt and Kerry wish you a great Pride Weekend.'"

See the full report here: 2002 Romney flier promotes 'gay' rights, WND, September 21, 2007

For Mitt Romney to now say that he "took every conceivable step within the law to defend traditional marriage" is just so much hooey, according to my good friend, Harvard law school graduate and founding dean of Regent University's law school, Herb Titus.

Read the report here: Experts: Credit Romney for homosexual marriage 'What he did was exercise illegal legislative authority', WND, July 14, 2007

On the subject of gun control, Mitt Romney promised that he would not lift a finger to "chip away" at the gun laws in Massachusetts—a state that has some of the most draconian gun restrictions in the country.

As recently as 2002, Mitt Romney said, "We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them."

For the "skinny" on Mitt Romney's leftist anti-gun record, see the Gun Owners of America's report here.

For a look at Romney's record on illegal immigration, read this: A Progressive Indictment: Romney And Immigration Reform: What The Record Says, By Randall Burns, VDARE.com, August 9, 2007.

Obviously, Mitt Romney is a chameleon who will say anything to anybody in order to get elected. He has flipped and flopped more than John Kerry ever dreamed about. Only an idiot would believe anything this man says.

Thankfully, not everyone within the Religious Right has been duped by Mitt Romney. Janet Folger recently wrote the following about the chameleon.

"And then there's Mitt Romney, making a convenient flip from his ardent pro-abortion stance just in time to run for president. It just seems to me that if you really come to the realization that dismembering children is not good public policy, you'd remember not to FUND it with taxpayer dollars in your state health-care plan . . . after such a conversion. Oh yeah, suddenly he's pro-marriage, too. So why did Romney publicly beat up on pro-marriage activist Brian Camenker last month? It that's how he treats people on our side of the issue, that doesn't bode well for future White House relations. And finally, mandating that homosexual 'marriage licenses' be issued without any change in the law requiring it (in direct violation of the Massachusetts State Constitution) isn't very convincing, either."

Romney has not fooled World Net Daily editor Joseph Farah, either. Here is what Farah said about Mitt Romney:

"Don't be fooled by this political chameleon, this charlatan, this pretender to the throne. He's as phony as a three-dollar campaign promise."

See Farah's complete column here.

Folks, here is the problem: Christian leaders such as Bob Jones III have succumbed to the temptation to become glorified politicians. They surrendered their convictions thirty years ago when the old Moral Majority married the Republican Party. Ever since then, Republican politicians have made a living by making dupes out of the so-called Religious Right.

There is another problem: our so-called Christian "leaders" crave attention. They desire notoriety. They are obsessed with having access to power. They want a seat at the king's table. As a result, they are willing to believe the lies being told them by shrewd and cunning frauds—as long as they are Republicans, of course.

As Doc Holliday said in the movie Tombstone, "My hypocrisy only goes so far."

Accordingly, our Christian "leaders" will never promote a man's candidacy on principle alone. They want to pick a "winner." They want to be on the good side of the last guy standing—even if that guy is a no-good, compromising louse.

In addition, there is yet another problem: for the most part, our illustrious Christian "leaders" are willfully ignorant of the importance of constitutional government. They either don't understand it, or don't want to understand it. Whatever the reason, issues such as national independence and sovereignty and globalism do not even show up on their radar. I'm not sure they have even read the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. If they have, they sure don't act like it.

Dr. Bob apparently does not realize that when our President takes his oath of office, he does not promise to "represent conservative American beliefs." Instead, he promises to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

I wonder, too, if Dr. Bob has ever heard of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). Has he ever heard of the NAFTA superhighway? Does he have a clue about the globalist agenda of the Council on Foreign Relations? Does he even realize that there is a burgeoning North American Union developing?

I doubt it. I further doubt that he has read Dr. Jerry Corsi's book The Late Great USA.

Find it here.

In his endorsement of Mitt Romney, Dr. Bob Jones III also said, "This all about beating Hillary."

Oh, really? Since when does a preacher of the Gospel and Christian educator put electing charlatans (of any political party) ahead of standing for truth and doing right?

And this leads to another problem.

Our Christian "leaders" have forgotten what it means to stand on principle. They have gotten so bogged down in politics that they have forsaken the divine call to be watchmen on the wall. If Bob Jones III would be as concerned about standing for truth and principle as he is about "beating Hillary," many others might be encouraged to do the same—and we preachers might actually be able to have a positive impact upon the direction of our country. As it is, our Christian "leaders" are not only not helping to lead our nation out of its current mess, they are actually contributing to the problem, as Dr. Jones' endorsement of Mitt Romney illustrates.

Furthermore, what is Dr. Bob going to say to the students and graduates of Bob Jones University? How can he justify all the years of "separation" preaching that BJU is known for? Where is his consistency? How can he now turn around and convince his students that all those Christian "standards" regarding the fellowship of light with darkness, reproving evil, contending for the faith, etc., apply only to areas outside politics? Obviously, BJU students now know that when it comes to politics, we can cast all those principles aside.

It makes one wonder what other areas of the Christian life are exempt from Biblical principles. Maybe our business life? But that's a subject for another day.

I believe Dr. Bob's grandfather must be turning over in his grave. I don't know how many times I have heard the "big" fundamentalist preachers quote Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. as saying, "Do right if the stars fall!"

Instead of doing right, however, Bob Jones III would rather dance with the devil.

Dr. Chuck Baldwin is the pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. He hosts a weekly radio show. His website is here.