Some Election Day Thoughts

"Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belongs wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him." --Daniel 2:21-23

"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgement." --Romans 13:1-2

        Elections always conjure up the best in people and countries and the worst in both people and countries. I will not attempt to add to this year's election doublespeak, but simply want to say what appears in the Bible over 100 times and that is: DO NOT FEAR. I think we as Christians can take great comfort that each of the above verses where written by men who lived under governments (the Babylonians and the Roman Empire) that make anything that the American government has done look like we have a Theocracy in comparison. I have felt for a very long time that whether you are a conservative or a liberal, you deal heavily in fear. We quickly forget the history that has preceded us or the fact that our country has endured much harder times or much more trying issues than now or at least as tough as now. We must not speak, think, or live in a constant state of historical snobbery. We are not the first to feel the weight of trying to do good in a world that is evil. We are not the first to wish for truth to triumph over lies. We are not the first to wish for freedom over tyranny. We must not fear. We must not coware. We must not shy away. We must not attempt to defend what is right or attempt to define what is right. God needs no defender. God needs no counselor. He is not scared of or unprepared for the future. He will not be surprised about the election results. He is simply not surprised. I would say this is a great comfort and an even greater peace. 

    I would also caution against thinking that this election is the, "most important election in your lifetime", or "that all politics is about hate and fear mongering nowadays". We must not forget that the campaigns of the early 1800's used much of the rhetoric that is used today and called divisive. Politics are competitions and in every competitions there are winners, losers, and sides to be taken, opinions to be had, and lines drawn in proverbial sands. We must also not forget that we are not too far removed from senators beating each other to death inside the hallowed, ruling chambers or challenging each other to duels where one of the members actually died. So...a few lies being aired on nightly television may not be right or may be a little or very unsettling for either side, but it is nothing new. And the topics are always the same. We have been griping or fighting taxes since before the country began. There has always been a country trying to knock us over or squash our power or make us frightful. Are we so removed from our fear of the USSR, or Vietnam, or from Germany, or from Japan, or from England chasing our soldiers down and burning our capital? I don't feel like we are. There will always be a country that is gunning for us. Isn't that how all of life works? You acquire a target on your back the minute you become a leader. Have we not been trying to define terms like marriage and family since the 1950's or really before? Have we not been holding onto and fighting for the values, rights, and laws contained in the Bill of Rights, since they were signed in 1792? Haven't we been arguing on being in debt since we borrowed the money from France to begin this great experiment called America? Do we not remember that the it was just 50 years ago that many in this country were trying to say that one color was more important or their lives where more or less valuable than others? Is that so different from our fight for all life? I would feel very comfortable in saying that there isn't one topic that is being argued during the current election that has not been, in its most basic sense, argued and fought over in every election we've ever had. 

    I would say every election is important. We are a relatively young country and to me, it seems we are still trying to say what we are. We are a country like no other one in the world. We are not a monarchy, an oligarchy, a theocracy, or an aristocracy. We are a representative republic that is represented by our own people. If you really think about it. That is the most crazy idea of all. We let our own everyday people rule us and that is decided by our own everyday people. We are the great experiment and what we are studying is being tried everyday. Some days it works like nothing has ever worked or will ever work again. Some days it doesn't work and fails us and the world around us, but there is nothing better. Yes, today's election is very important, but it is no more important than the last 43 presidential elections. And the outcome should not make us wonder either. Are we not voting for someone who is a mirror image of what our country is into office? Is it really surprising to anyone that the same people who have chosen to be blind and irresponsible consumers and users of almost every thing else in their lives have also become blind and irresponsible consumers of politics and their own freedoms? 

“I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign foe . . . Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the instruments of their own undoing. Make them intelligent, and they will be vigilant; give them the means of detecting the wrong, and they will apply the remedy.” ― Daniel Webster

“Democracy... while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.” 
― John Adams

“The proper function of a government is to make it easy for the people to do good, and difficult for them to do evil. ” 
― Daniel Webster

Do not fear and do not give up the ship,

  David