Christians ought to be open to the idea of conversion experiences.  After all, Paul went from killing Christians to becoming the greatest evangelist after his conversion along the road to Damascus.  The Holy Spirit, God's own breathe, still speaks and even today we should accept that sometimes those who do great damage can repent and become faithful in the pursuit of justice and reconciliation. 

But you'll have to excuse me if I take today's conversion of Oregon Senator Gordon Smith from a Bush hawk into a Mark Hatfield-like dove over the war in Iraq with a grain of salt. 

The AP reports:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, who voted in favor of the Iraq war and has supported it ever since, now says the current U.S. war effort is "absurd" and "may even be criminal."

In a major speech on the Senate floor, the Oregon senator called for changes in U.S. policy that could include rapid pullouts of U.S. troops from Iraq. He said he would have never voted for the conflict if he had known the intelligence that President Bush gave the American people was inaccurate.

Citing the hundreds of billions of dollars spent and the nearly 3,000 American deaths, Smith said: "I for one am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal. I cannot support that anymore."

Smith added: "So either we clear and hold and build, or let's go home."

Maybe it is just a coincidence that weeks after the Republicans lose control of Congress that Smith - a Red senator in a very blue state - changes course and offers critical remarks about a war he has backed. 

Is the frozen pea farmer from Pendleton serious about his new views on Iraq or is he running to the middle for political cover concerned that an anti-war candidate could take him down in 2008?

Flashback:  Smith waged a negative campaign against U.S. Congressman Ron Wyden for the seat vacated by Bob Packwood.  Wyden won the race in part because voters saw Smith as too conservative.

When Mark Hatfield's seat opened up two years later a more moderate Smith decided to run.  This new Smith endorsed an increase in the minimum wage and went down to Old Town to have lunch with me at Sisters of the Road Café to talk about poverty and homelessness.  In fact, Smith spent the better part of that day letting me tour him around agencies and housing facilities that benefited from federal partnerships with local communities and private foundations.

Oregonians liked the new moderate Smith and elected him to the Senate where he joined Wyden in representing the state.  But he has spent the last six years of the Bush Administration following the president's lead in Iraq and even supported economic policies advanced by the president that have increased poverty and hunger in America. 

The problem with conversions is how to know when they're real.  Don't be surprised if Smith once again flees to the middle - maybe even a little to the left - but then swings back hard to the right if reelected.  It is fair not to trust him.

If, on the other hand, he uses the next two years to fight the war (if he is somehow channeling the Hatfield we all loved that took Nixon to task over Vietnam) I'll trust that God has spoken and the Holy Spirit has moved this man into the role of a peacemaker.  We need all the peacemakers we can get.