I posted the following on a former blog in the fall of 2008. For some reason, I thought of it today and decided to find it and read it. Yep, most of it still applies!
Dear friends,
I'm not normally one to purposely become involved in controversial
issues, especially politics. I enjoy harmony and have usually chosen to
allow "argumentative people" to. . . well . . .argue! But I've come to
realize that I don't have to argue or have an argumentative spirit in
order to state what is true. Some things have been on my heart for
awhile and I feel the need to express them.
Therefore, I am
writing this with the knowledge that not every person will agree with me. If you think there is any
value in it, feel free to send it on to whomever you wish.
Every American citizen has some influence in this country, if he/she
chooses to use it. We may think our circle of influence is small or
non-existent, but the truth of the matter is that the scope of our
individual influence is exactly what God deemed it to be. No matter
what God gives us (money, home, family, material possessions, authority,
intellect, etc.), He expects us to do our very best with it. That
includes our "influence."
If not even one person will listen to
your audible words, or read your written thoughts, you still have a
"voice" on November 4, 2008 [Nov. 6, 2012]! You will find it at your designated voting
station! Don't sit on the sidelines and let someone else "talk" for
you! Go, and be heard. Even if the result is not to your liking, at
least no one can point a finger at you and say, "Why didn't you do your
part?" More importantly, you won't be thumbing your nose at this
God-given privilege.
Speaking of God . . . as much as we like
to think we're all that, as individuals and as a nation, we would be
nothing without Him! He made us in His image and breathed the very life
into us. Should we not, then, consult Him about how He would like the
country He gave us to be run? There are few these days who care to
enlighten us on the truth of how our nation began but if you listen to
people who actually know what they are talking about, or look into it
yourself (hint: the older the source, the less "adulterated" the
information is likely to be), you will find that the founders of our
country loved God and wanted to run our country based on what was
pleasing to Him (they were imperfect humans who made mistakes, but in general they had THE firm foundation). Now we want to run it, not to mention our own lives,
all by ourselves, and look where that has gotten us!
Do you
like it when people lie to you? I sure don't! But what is truth
anyway? Is it whatever I want it to be? Is it what a candidate for
office says it is? Is it whatever "the majority" decides it is? The
answers are: no, no and no.
So, is there anywhere truth can be
found? Yes, indeed! I think most of us know in our heart of hearts
where to find it. But to acknowledge and search the Word of God is
life-changing and sometimes even scary. It shows us just how far we've
strayed. Believe me, I know from experience!
Some may say, "I
don't believe the Bible is any more than an interesting story book. I
don't even believe in God! Why should I read His supposed words?"
Thanks to the gentlemanly ways of God, you have the choice to think that
way! God never forces anyone to believe or live for Him.
But
not believing doesn't make Him any less real, or any less the Source of
Truth. Truth is truth. We can't change that by believing or denying
the truth. I can choose to believe that my eyes won't be damaged if I
look into the sun for an extended period of time. I can believe it with
all my heart, just because I want it to be that way. If I believe
enough, will the truth (and the consequences) change? I could choose to
believe that 2 + 2 = 5. The fact that I believe it (or don't believe
that it equals 4) doesn't change the truth of the matter.
As much as God is a gentleman, He is also a judge. He does
become angry at whole nations! These two characteristics of God do not
conflict or cancel each other out, because He is God! The older I
become, the more I realize that God's ways are so beyond me, His
thoughts are so beyond mine, His love is beyond anything I'm capable of
and His understanding is beyond the wisest of men.
I was
reading in Isaiah the other day and was struck by how much the story of
our country is similar to Israel. I don't mean they're the same, just
that there are some parallels--the new beginning in a new land, fighting
for land and freedom, God's evident hand in the starting of a nation.
Just like Israel did time and time again, we are turning our backs on
God and all that He stands for. We want to live our own way. We want
what we want. We don't want to stand up for what's right, for fear of
being labeled "intolerant." We have ceased from seeking Truth so much
that we are easily swayed by utter foolishness.
Do we want to
be a nation of fools? I urge you to read Isaiah and see the
devastation God allows on nations who choose foolishness (as well as the
redemption He offers--what great reading Isaiah is!). If you like
reading stuff online, you can go to http://www.biblegateway.com and look up Isaiah. The entire Bible is on that site.
Will God allow our consequences to be like other nations that have
turned against Him? I can't tell you that for sure. But we can be sure
there will continue to be consequences if we don't get our act
together!
Now I'm going to get to the nitty-gritty--the part
where I actually start naming names. If this part is still intact by
the time you receive it, you can be assured it's only because the Lord
has worked on my heart to keep it in here. I don't want to do this! I
hate politics! Even worse, I hate knowing I could cause someone to be
angry, or to alienate themselves from me. Just know that by expressing
my thoughts here, I'm not saying you have to agree with me or I'll never
speak to you again. But I can't have peace in my heart until I lay it
on the line.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: This is NOT a student council election!
The welfare of our country is at stake! It's not time to vote for the
best-looking candidate or the most eloquent speaker. We need to look
behind the eyes, behind the words.
What does the person's life reflect? It's not the time to vote for
"change" (whatever that's supposed to mean) just to see what "change"
might be like. We don't have time to waste on an experiment like that!
Barack Obama is not who he presents himself to be. The evidence is all
around us (see links below, for starters). I'm completely baffled as
to why (if the polls can be trusted, which is an entirely different issue)
approximately half the country chooses to turn a blind eye to the
obvious! Do I hate him? I will answer that with a question: Does God
hate him? No! God definitely hates most of what the guy stands for (or
doesn't stand for?), but somehow loves the man (more perfectly than
anyone else could).
And let's just get this out of the way,
since people who don't know me well but find out I'm not supporting
Obama tend to ask it: It has nothing to do with the color of his skin.
If he was purple and stood for something worthwhile,
he would have my vote. Race has absolutely nothing to do with
anything, or shouldn't anyway. Anyone who knows my family knows what I
mean by that. End of story.
And, no, John McCain is not the
perfect candidate either. Certainly not who I wanted as a
breath-of-fresh-air alternative (though Sarah Palin makes him "smell"
quite a bit better!).
But these are the two viable options we
have. God is the one who raises up rulers. He has allowed this. I
just hope and pray He has mercy on us!
John McCain, with all
his faults and mistakes, has still proven his overall integrity so much
better than Barack Obama. How can we sit back and allow a man with
proven terrorist ties be the leader of our country? Where is the wisdom
in this? What makes this okay? How can someone like this even be a
candidate? He's a great speaker, except that he doesn't say much. I
should say that he's great at making nothing appear to be something.
Is that who we want leading our country? A manipulator of words, not
to mention people? I hate to say this, I mean I really do, but the way
he speaks and people are mesmerized by him reminds me of Adolf Hitler.
It's a scary, scary thing.
Let's not let the "powers that be"
make idiots of us! Oh, how the liberal media twists and edits things to
feed into that manipulation. If that's all we watch/listen to/read,
it's easy to be deceived. Even conservative media doesn't always offer
the right answer.
Are we even supposed to be swayed by the
media? What is supposed to be our measure of what is right and wise to
vote for? Again, we come back to the Bible. Are McCain's and Obama's
names written in Scripture? Not that I'm aware of. But their stances
are.
Let's take abortion for example. According to the Bible,
it's not a "choice" that's pleasing to the Lord. I honestly have
nothing but love and compassion for every girl or woman who has been
wounded by that choice, and I know God offers the ultimate grace and
mercy to these dear ones. Many are persuaded by people they trust, or
by society, or by the abortionists themselves, to have this "procedure"
done, and they feel they have nowhere else to turn. Oh, how my heart
goes out to you, sister, whoever you may be, if your heart still hurts
or if you've suffered physically because of the lies told to you. Any
anger I have is not directed at you, but at those who fight so hard to
keep abortion legal, knowing full well the trauma and devastation it can
bring and trying to keep that aspect of it hidden, for their own
selfish gain, whether it be monetary, political, social, or just plain
foolishness.
As if that's not bad enough, Obama is for
infanticide--allowing tiny babies who "somehow" survive an abortion, to
be neglected until they die. It's criminal! It's abominable! And
many Americans don't even know about it because they aren't told! Are
we going to stand for this?!
Do we DARE elect into office any
more people who spit in the face of God and His creation by supporting
and fighting for this atrocity? How much longer will God be patient
with us? Can we see that maybe His patient phase is gradually coming to
an end? He tells us He is slow to anger but not that He will never
become angry!
We need to care about what is near and dear to
God's heart! He is not nearly as concerned about money and our economy
as He is about lives and how they are protected and lived. The economy
stinks right now and He knows that. But the economy cycles every
several years and, though it's not fun right now, it doesn't HAVE to end
on a bad note. God tells us in His Word that if we seek HIM first, He
will provide. Wouldn't you love to be provided for by the God of the
universe, rather than babysat by the government? We CANNOT base our
votes on our wallets! It's wrong! It's dangerous!
Do we
really want socialized medicine? We ought to to ask the people from
countries who do that now, who come HERE when they need something
serious done, so it will be done well and safely. Hmmm. . . .
I'm also VERY concerned about Obama's stance on the war. As far as
going into Iraq, there were valid reasons for doing this. By everyone's
admission, including former President Clinton, Saddam Hussein had
weapons of mass destruction. He had used chemical warfare within the
borders of his own country and there was no reason to suspect that he
wouldn't use them outside of his borders. Within the last year, they
uncovered a cache of yellow cake uranium which is some of the raw
material used for a nuclear bomb. Bet you didn't hear about that in the
mainstream media! There's no arguing that mistakes have been made in
how we have fought the war in Iraq but the Surge has worked to bring
increased stability. We as Americans have extremely short historical
attention spans. Not so in the Middle East. Some of their rivalries go
back millennia, so they can be extremely patient in plotting revenge.
To publish an arbitrary date for withdrawal in their eyes would be a
sign of weakness which would embolden them to plot an assault as soon as
we were gone. Only by announcing that we will stay until the job is
done will they understand that we are serious.
And meeting with
these leaders without pre-conditions is just plain foolish. It does
nothing but give them "street cred," and is a slap in the face to
Israel, one of our strongest allies in the region. There needs to be
dialog with these terrorist organizations and nations, but it needs to
be with the goal of helping them understand that we will not stand idly
by while they commit atrocities. In any case, if anyone meets with
anyone, the guidelines should fall within the already established
protocol. For the president himself to meet with terrorists is
completely inappropriate, as he rarely has time to meet personally even
with leaders of peaceful countries. He has his "underlings" do it.
It's naive and ridiculous on Obama's part! The fact that he actually
thinks these things should be cause for people not to see him as a
credible candidate. The guy refused to even salute the flag or wear a
flag pin on his lapel, at least for awhile! Sorry, but I'm not
convinced he's completely loyal to our country at all. I know it's
difficult having our loved ones in harm's way on our account. But God
has been asking people to take a stand in this way for millennia, and
most feel honored to do it. I myself dread the day my son enlists--and
he's the type of guy that will likely do it--but we can't let our
emotions get in the way of what's right. God isn't asking us to do
anything He didn't do--He sent His Son to earth, knowing without a doubt
that His innocent Son was going to die on behalf of others.
Wake up, America! We have GOT to wake up! I am not an alarmist--it's
completely against my usual personality. Writing this, and actually
sending it, is something I consider bold, for me anyway. If I've made
anyone out there angry, that was not my intention. My hope is only that
it will stir your heart. Truth is truth. At this time next year, or
two or three years from now, let's not look back and WISH we had voted
to please God and trusted Him to protect and provide for us, rather than
trying to take matters into our own hands by voting in someone who will
not fight for the things God cares about!
I urge you to do
your research about the issues at stake. Find out what you haven't been
told, and ask yourself why that would be. I can't make up your mind
for you. You have the right and the privilege to do that yourself. But
please make sure you have all the facts first! And we need to pray
that God would see fit to raise up the man who will best lead our country!
Here are a few links to websites that will tell us the whole story:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com
http://www.michaelmedved.com/
http://www.onenewsnow.com/
And some individual articles, for starters:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=221300
http://onenewsnow.com/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=283050
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77998
If you've made it to the end of this, thank you for taking the time to read.
Most sincerely,
Laurie
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I would love to know what is on your mind and heart. Respectfully-written differences of opinion are definitely respected here! :)