I Beg You: Vote Informed

For exaltation comes neither from the east Nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another.  

 Psalms 75:6-7 NKJV

So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.  

Ezekiel 22:30 NKJV

Forgive me ahead of time. This is going to be way too long. I got started and couldn’t stop.  But your country needs you; we need you.  Do something!

This election season, we are faced with huge dilemmas.  The nation is in a mess, and the choices seem bleak to some.  Many don’t like President Trump, perceiving him to be boorish and uncouth.  Some don’t care for Mr. Biden, a career politician with a spotty record and the perception of mental frailty.  I have to agree with both sides: Neither of these guys would be my first choice.  However, they are our only choices. 

On the local level, we have choices as well.  We need to send representatives to Washington who will represent the Christian values we treasure.  Again, look at what they believe and how they have behaved in the past.  Don’t listen to commercials.  They all lie.  Don’t be moved by negative ads.  It’s a scam.  Look at the party platform and any voting records or previous office performance.  If you can find someone who is not mealy-mouthed, ask them what they believe about the issues below.

As a Christian, I am obligated to pray, to inform myself, and to vote my faith, not my personal convenience or personality preference.  I need to know what they propose to stand for and what their history tells me about what they might actually do in office.  Politicians lie.  It’s who they are.  Let’s get the To Do list clear.  You, as a Christian, have the opportunity and obligation to:

• Pray for our nation and the election.
• Become informed on the issues and the candidates.
• Register (now!) and vote, preferably in person, November 3^rd.

If the Lord tarries, I believe our current situation is an existential crisis for our nation, at least as we have come to know it.  I lived through the Vietnam era, Watergate, the oil crisis, and the Iranian hostage kerfuffle.  It was a joy to see President Reagan elected and feel that the adults were back in charge. Unfortunately, we fell back into complacency and allowed our schools and our media to be overtaken by Marxists and their useful idiot fellow-travelers.  As a result, our culture is badly broken.  This election will either steer us onto the rocks or back into open water.  Here are the big issues as I see them:

Issue #1:  Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Our Declaration of Independence says that these rights, among others, are given to us by our Creator.  Also that the purpose of government is to insure these rights.  For us, we need to hold our politicians accountable to be sure these enumerated rights are extended to all.  The so-called progressive movement explicitly believes that “rights” are bestowed by government and can be altered according to the elite’s perception of “the greater good.”  That is not a Christian concept.  Vote for someone who believes your rights come from God.

Speaking specifically of the right to life, the pre-born child deserves our protection.  Those who speak of abortion as a “reproductive right” are missing the point.  When you’re pregnant you have already reproduced.  Vote for someone who will appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court. 

Issue #2:  God loves Israel.  I am of the opinion that the United States has enjoyed unparalleled prosperity since 1948 because of its support for Israel.  Our current administration has been the most pro-Israel in our history.  God help us if we turn our back on them.  Vote for someone who supports Israel and condemns anti-Semitism.

Issue #3: Human trafficking is alive and well. I won’t bore you with statistics, but the practice of compelling people into various forms of servitude is a world-wide disgrace.  In particular, trafficking in minors to provide sexual services is rampant and often ignored because wealthy and powerful people enjoy the fruits thereof.  The party of Weinstein, Epstein, Menendez, and Clinton may be less than passionate in their prosecution of these atrocities.  Vote for someone who will defend the defenseless.

Issue #4: I love America.  It’s not perfect, but we are constantly, in jerks and starts, moving toward a more perfect union.  Unfortunately, our educational system has to a large extent, been taken over by those who would undermine the founding principles of our nation.  History is taught inaccurately, if at all.  (Find out what your kids are learning.  If you can’t find out, take them out.)  The rights of parents are routinely squelched.  Moral values are being undermined.  This has to stop if we are to survive as a nation.  Vote for someone who has the backbone to stand up to the unions and fight for school choice.

The first ten amendments to our constitution are called “The Bill of Rights.”  They enumerate specific rights that are vital to liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Many of these are in serious danger.  Please take time to think on these things.  Consult the platforms of the parties.  Call the offices of local campaigns and ask specific questions about specific issues.  Don’t be bashful.  They are applying for a job to work for you.  Interview them!

Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

• The free exercise of religion means that I have the tight to practice my faith, not just claim to believe it.  That includes calling things “sin” that the Bible disapproves of.  You have a right not to listen, but you can’t stop me saying it because it hurts your feelings.  That includes on taxpayer-funded college campuses.  You use my tax money; you allow my opinion.  Vote for someone who will defend your right to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• The free speech department includes the fact that gender is not fluid, sex outside of marriage is sin, and marriage before God can only be between a man and a woman.  Society can gin up all kinds of interesting sophistries to supplant this, but it doesn’t change the facts.  In that same vein, when a guy wears a dress, he’s still a guy.  He can’t run the girls track meet.  That’s insane.  Be compassionate to the feeble-minded, but don’t join in their delusions.  Vote for someone who knows the difference between boys and girls.
• If I choose to voice my opinion on some social media outlet, they have the right to prohibit that only if they receive no special considerations from government to shield them from the liability consequences of their bias.  If they are benefitting from legislative exemption of any kind, they need to extend speech rights on the same basis as the government.  Vote for someone who is willing to take on the big tech companies, someone who is not financially beholden to them.
• I have the right to congregate with other believers.  It’s part of “exercising” my religion.  If, in an emergency, I decide to cancel public meetings for a short period of time at the request of public officials, that is my choice.  If the government exercises “emergency” executive powers to close us down, then they have to close down everyone who presents the same kind of threat.  That means street protests.  If the “emergency” goes on past a few days, the legislature must step up to define “emergency.”  The Bill of Rights can not be indefinitely suspended by a government official without due process of some sort. Vote for someone who thinks you should decide how and when to worship.
• If some group chooses to “protest,” they have that right.  The only caveat is that it must be peaceful.  Blocking my access to the public roads is not peaceful.  Defacing private or public property is not peaceful.  Making threats of violence is not peaceful.  Burning stuff, stealing stuff, and throwing things is not peaceful. Standing by and watching, or even cheering, while acts of vandalism of property and violence against people are taking place is not peaceful protest.  Call the police, try to stop the violence, or at least photograph the perpetrators and send the photos to the authorities.  Anything less is either cowardice or complicity.  Vote for someone who has enough sense and backbone to enforce the difference between a riot and a protest.

Amendment II A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

• If you are a gun owner, these are dangerous times.  Several candidates have already expressed their intention to come to your house and confiscate your weapons.  Indeed, some of these same individuals are also in favor of downsizing our police departments.  Our founders knew that to have security in a free society, we need to be able to protect ourselves. If you trust government to take care of you, you are deluded.  This has never been more obvious than it is today.  Vote for someone who will fight to the death for your 2^nd amendment rights.

Amendment IV The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

• The FISA court is a travesty.  Someone can make up a story, tell an FBI agent, and your house will be raided with no requirement of proof or opportunity to contest the warrant.  That’s nuts.  Vote for someone who will push FISA reform.

Amendment V No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

• With our law enforcement agencies now prone to be led by political hacks with an agenda we are all unsafe.  How coercive can our government be in obtaining testimony, self-incriminating or not?  In the administrative state where the whims of bureaucrats have the force of law, can they simply decide to torment your family until you agree to say what they want?  Doesn’t that violate the spirit of the 5^th Amendment? 
• Is it double jeopardy if I am acquitted by the state court, then tried again for the same crime by the feds and found guilty?  Right now it is not.  That is obscene.
• Eminent domain is the taking of private property for government use.  It was intended for roads and school and such.  Municipalities and states are using Eminent Domain to confiscate private property under the pretext of the public good.  Under this notion, they use it to transfer One person’s property to another private individual for development that they believe will increase property values and therefore increase government revenue.  The government can take your house, give it to your neighbor to build a parking lot, and then profit from the revenue generated.  That, dear friends, is theft and tyranny (And fertile ground for corruption).
• Vote for someone who expresses a knowledge of these things and the inclination to seek reform.

Amendments VI -IX.  Please read these Amendments.  There is so much here that is unjust in its current application.  Criminal justice reform has begun under the current administration.  It must continue:  Due process, decent legal representation, probable cause, cruel and unusual punishments, bail requirements, etc.  Our system has become so ponderous, the number and complexity of agencies in the jotted and tittled regulatory state so great, and the unrighteous reign of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats so pervasive, that something needs to be done before the system devours itself and us with it. Equal justice under the law means everybody gets the same treatment.  The issue is not just racial, but primarily economic.  The rich are untouchable, the poor are up for grabs, and those of us in the middle may fight, but the expense can ruin us.  Vote for someone who will actually do something about criminal justice.

Amendment X The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

• Like it or not, this is a republic.  The movement of power toward Washington is out of hand.  Most federal bureaucrats and their politician cronies have no clue that they are actually less important than my local sheriff.  The power of the feds is supposed to be extremely limited.  Don’t listen to what politicians say about the Constitution.  Read it, then vote for those who follow it.  Vote for those who recognize the sovereignty of the states and the supremacy of the Constitution.  Vote for the appointment of Supreme Court Justices who will follow the law, not the culture.

Our current mess is not due to a virus.  It’s a character problem.  Right now, it’s a problem in the character of many of our so-called leaders.  If we leave them in office, then it’s a problem in our character.  We are complicit. The virus will pass.  New problems will arise, but none of that will matter if we allow ourselves to give away the greatest nation in the history of the world.  Register.  Inform yourself.  Vote!