A rare (for me) political rant

While I have always enjoyed listening to political discussions, never before have I let an election excite and trouble me as much as the 2012 presidential election did.  Rarely have I spoken out myself on issues, preferring to quietly voice my opinion through my ballot.  This year, however, something inside of me just snapped.


Here are some interesting voter stats I heard on the radio shortly after the election:

• 8 out of 10 of the wealthiest counties voted for the candidate who who wants to tax the rich 70% or more.

• Only 30% of Jewish voters voted for the pro-Israel candidate.

• Over 50% of Catholics voted for the candidate whose nationalized health care plan specifically violates their religious freedoms.

• Between 93-97% of African American voters voted for the candidate who worked with Planned Parenthood to draft his health care plan even though Planned Parenthood was founded by someone hoping to wipe out the African American race via eugenics.

I know how divisive politics can be.  I know that nothing I say can change someone's opinions nor can listening to others change mine.  Yet, I certainly felt better reading this political rant at a time when I felt like only a small minority felt as strongly about certain issues as I did.  I also found a talk by Bill Whittle (found here) regarding the election results to be encouraging between minutes 2:00 and 7:00.  Watch it as it is well worth your time.

I have found it helpful, however, to engage in thoughtful discussions with those who share my Christian beliefs yet somehow disagree with me politically when so many heated political issues of the day are moral in nature.  I can almost understand why thy voted as they did given their influences and circumstances, but we just have to agree to disagree when so much is at stake for America instead of becoming mockers.

"Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
rebuke the wise and they will love you." (Proverbs 8:7-8)

We've been studying Proverbs in my ladies' Bible study this year with an emphasis on pursuing wisdom, which begins with a holy fear of God.  This past week's emphasis has been on taming the tongue, the strongest muscle in the human body both physically and spiritually.  So, I prayed for wisdom and discernment regarding what I should say regarding politics, but I'm sure my mouth jumped ahead without hearing first from the Spirit of God on many occasions. When I wrote articles on political issues, some who lean in the opposite direction as I do politically and religiously, gave respectful feedback expressing appreciation for my attempts to articulate my viewpoint and even said they felt like they could understand why I hold the opinions that I do, even if they personally disagree.  I strongly respect their effort to stand in my shoes.  Others rebuked me for mentioning topics that could turn off unbelievers and thus remove any possibility of them being receptive to Christ in the future.  That rebuke struck me to the core, for it is infinitely more important to me that people fall in love with Christ than it is that they be converted to conservatism.  There is just no comparison there, for Christ is the hope of the world, not any human government system, and my heart's greatest desire is to see the lost come to faith in Christ.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. (Psalm 20:7)

Yet, as I see the secular world indoctrinating Americans of all ages, particularly our faithless youth through the media and educational system, I see hearts growing colder and more calloused toward the truth of Christ such that any belief system is tolerated except that which exalts Christ as Lord and Savior.  As I see harmful United Nations policies, like the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which have been largely rejected by American government leaders until now, working to overreach to the point of robbing parents of their right to train their children according to Biblical precepts and possibly even mandating what is taught not only in public schools, but also in both private and home schools, my heart is shouting, "Enough is enough!  Don't take it anymore! Stand up for truth!  Protect the freedoms upon which our nation was founded and countless servicemen died to protect.  Speak the truth in love but with boldness!"


There is just so much disturbing deception and misinformation in the world today that I could not sit quietly while the media distorts, hides, or denies the truth.  For example, most news agencies failed to report about the Benghazi cover-up until after the election.  The media was also late and/or negligent in reporting other cover-ups such as fast and furious, the GSA financial abuse, the Solyndra scandal, etc.  At other times, politicians, administrators, and the media have twisted the truth just a little to make it sound somewhat appealing when it is actually utterly appalling.  Take this quote for example, which sounds a lot like some of the platitudes currently being advocated by socialist leaning Americans.

"We are socialists. We are enemies of today's capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions." 

This statement was made by Adolf Hitler as quoted by John Toland in "Adolf Hitler", page 22.  Great social thinker, Alexis de Tocqueville, understood the dangers of socialism, which in my mind is only a step away from communism. 

 These two quotes by Alexis de Toqueville sum up those dangers.

"The American Republic will endure until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money." 

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years." 

Others will argue that America is much too far from such dire extremes.  I would certainly like to think that Americans are not so eager to give up the sacred freedoms upon which America was founded and has a history of defending. I have friends who grew up in various communist countries in Eastern Europe who immigrated to America as adults.  They have described what life was like in such a political environment. They would wait in long two hours lines for basic food items that were selected and allocated by the government.  Their descriptions of their educational experiences and limited career opportunities are heartbreaking to hear.  And they see the growing demand for government entitlements and the federal government's push to get more people on food stamps instead of enabling the economy to grow, supporting job growth, and empowering people to no longer need food stamps as a clear push toward socialism.  It seems far better to me that a nation prosper exceedingly with everyone enjoying ample provisions even if that means that some are wealthier than others than it is for everyone to be dirt poor with no hope of a brighter future.

Someone once said, "You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred." As parents we often tell our children, "Mind your own business instead of worrying over what your brother has or is doing." Yet, it seems that Americans are often more concerned with hating the rich instead of being personally responsible for caring for the needy themselves.  Just this evening at dinner, I had to ask my children who were bickering over who had the largest serving,  "When will you two become more concerned with charity than equity?" Then my 8-year-old replied, "You were a kid once, you tell us."  And I have to wonder how many adults ever reach that step toward individual maturity. 

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? (1 Corinthians 3: 1-3)

I'm not saying that the government should not provide any entitlements, for the needy and elderly do need provision when the faithful community fails to support them as appropriate, but I do believe that a nation will collapse when the government is seen as the answer for every ailment.  Where there is power, there will be corruption, and a secular institution devoid of love will never meet the deepest needs of those who are hurting and in need.  An entitlement mentality that fosters government dependence will destroy an economy and divide the nation.  Welfare should be a temporary entitlement with the recipient given incentives and skills to get back into a good job that enables them to provide for their own needs whenever physically possible. Welfare should never be viewed as a long-term solution. In the case of medicare and social security, it seems only reasonable that those who have retired after contributing to these programs their entire careers and after factoring these benefits into their retirement planning should receive these benefit checks. 

Conversely, when one puts their faith in God instead of the government, the result is more likely to be an honest effort to work diligently whenever possible, give generously, and offer genuine compassion to others in a way that meets needs, provides personal fulfillment, and edifies others.

The Bible foretells of the day when people will be easily deceived by pleasant sounding rhetoric, and I see that happening today.

2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

With every news source slanted in one direction or the other and deception so rampant it seems to grow on trees, it is challenging to discern the truth in the midst of all the muck.

John 8:44
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

I am especially alarmed by the waning support for Israel observed across our nation today.  The Bible is filled with imperatives to respect and protect the nation of Israel. (One list can be found here.)  When Katy Perry and Kim Kardashian tweeted that they were praying for Israel, they were attacked with a barrage of nasty remarks. One "fan" told Kardashian to just "kill herself" while others condemned Israel.  Comedian Jon Lovitz received similar backlash.  (Read more here.)  While the Bible does instruct us to love our enemies, it seems strange that Americans would show love to our nation's enemies (radical terrorists who want nothing more than to kill us all) while hating her friends.

The current POTUS is the least pro-Israel president we have had since Jimmy Carter who was openly anti-semitic.  With Israel under attack and Americans divided over what support should be given to Israel, I wonder what judgment awaits America if she turns her back on God's chosen people?

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you!" (Psalm 122:6)

Americans have been taught in our secular society that religion is the source of all the problems in the world.  They think removing all references to God from the public sector will promote peace and unity, but they forget that secularism requires as much or more faith as Christianity and also has dire consequences.  Secularism is the foundation for communism and was a precurser to the atrocities that occurred under Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Ceausescu.  God, who is rich in mercy, has withheld His judgment on America for so long, but sin has consequences, and He will not allow a nation to go unpunished.  He will not force Himself upon a people who so blatantly reject Him.  I do believe He is turning America over to her own wicked ways until her people come to repentance. 

6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” ( 1 Samuel 8: 6-18)

Uganda's government has been overrun by moral corruption for decades, but the nation's president recently issued a prayer both of personal and national repentance setting the example for Ugandans and other nations.  Read about it here.  Some missionaries we support have shared with us about the outrageous abuses occurring to street children in the poorest cities of Uganda.  Missionaries seeking to provide a safe, nurturing, and loving home to these abused, neglected children are battling in vain to get these boys out of institutions that function more like concentration camps or prisons, but the governing authorities are unwilling to release them.  Other boys on the streets are being prostituted to gay men, and while our friends serving in the slums have followed every legal path available to rescue these boys, the authorities do nothing.  Corruption is rampant in the government, so having the nation's leader repent so humbly is a breath of hope to our friends in the slums.

Hope could be poured out on America if only her people will repent.

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 

With the fiscal cliff* before us and with companies laying off workers in droves, reducing work-hours to part-time, or shutting down altogether because they cannot afford all the new tax increases or union demands, perhaps some will begin to call out to God for the first time.  Other companies, such as Hobby Lobby, may shut down or stop offering health care, because the company's owners' religious convictions will not allow them to cover certain types of mandated birth control (morning after pill, IUD, birth control pills) which may act as abortifacients for those who believe life begins at conception.

*Our current administration has added an additional trillion dollars of debt every 9 months so that our future generations will live enslaved to the consequences of your reckless spending today.  Such spending is immoral, and to raise taxes so significantly when the economy is so weak to pay for all your pet programs places us all on a fiscal cliff indeed.  Our current POTUS has also created more new government agencies during your first term than all previous U.S. presidents combined.

I'm expecting our family's financial burdens next year to increase between $15,000-$30,000 depending upon how my husband's employer responds to Obamacare and whether or not the government decides to extend the tax cuts set to expire at year end.  However, many families will face much worse as jobs are lost or hours are reduced.  Others may face medical rationing with age discrimination.  Should such trying times come, some practical steps for Christians to take as the face the fiscal cliff can be found here. 

Clearly, the world can't give us any meaningful, lasting peace, but God's peace never fails.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)