Thoughts About The Election

Forward (?), four more years. I have to admit it, maybe my glasses were too rose colored, but the candidate I favored lost the presidential election. Americans have been slogging through the weakest economy since the Great Depression. In fact annual GDP growth is actually slower than between 1934 to 1940 and the election indicates we should look forward (?) to more of the same. Laws will go into effect that will bring about higher and more taxes and regulations that will, according to many business experts, cripple small businesses and drive large companies out of the country. And yet Obama was re-elected.

So why did President Barak Obama win re-election? There are a number of reasons and lessons to be learned. First, voting among younger Americans, Hispanics, African-Americans and other Democratic/liberal groups remained as strong as in 2008. No political party can win if it is seen as heartless. Secondly, in this regard, the news media and comedians have done a good job of labeling Republicans as cold and mean hearted. The main stream media tipped the scales in favor of the president and the Democratic agenda. I don’t think I need to put up statistics. Just Google the media slant and you will find ample evidence from late night comedy shows to morning and evening news programs.

Thirdly, and forgive me for being so blunt, but Americans are ignorant. We are ignorant of the economy and how it works.  We are ignorant of our constitution and how it should work.  And we are ignorant of current events. This past September 11^th, the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya was attacked by Al Qaeda militants. Our ambassador was killed along with security and other personnel. The administration falsely blamed the attack on an anti-Muslim movie, but embassy documents prove that our ambassador had made it known that militants intended to attack. More security was requested but denied. Then during that attack aid was requested three times (to the highest levels of government) and three times denied, even as government officials watched the event live. Who knew what and when and who denied aid has been covered up. This is a cover-up so much bigger than Watergate and the mainstream media ignored it.  Thus most Americans were ignorant of the tragedy.

This election has also made it clear that we are a country divided over fundamental issues. We are divided into camps with divergent world views. And the election has not caused this division it has only revealed it. This deep division of world views will make governing a great challenge, but it brings an even greater challenge to the Christian church.

America is more ethnically, culturally and philosophically diverse than ever before. And it is more secular than ever before. Recent studies have shown that the single biggest predictor concerning how someone votes is his or her frequency of church attendance. Fewer Americans attend church than ever before. And almost a quarter of the nation has no religious affiliation at all. The fundamentals of morality have changed at the deepest levels. Two states, Main and Maryland have legalized same-sex marriage. And when the votes are fully counted it looks like Washington State will join in. On other state ballots there were also issues on the legalization of marijuana use and assisted suicide. We are a nation that is afraid to denounce abortion but we are willing to restrict the sale of “Big Gulps.”

We are a nation morally adrift. We drift with the tides of human emotions which change with every new social breeze. In every society there must be a moral anchor that holds the country securely in times of adversity. Our founding fathers established a Judeo-Christian morality based upon Sacred Scripture. That foundation has been swept away.

The first victim in moral decay is truth. The break down begins quietly in the heart but then eventually seeps into the fabric of life. I believe our political situation is but a reflection of this decay of truth. Politicians get up on their soap boxes and lie through their teeth and the people re-elect them. And the main stream media lies continuously and people continue to tune in. As a nation we are blind spiritually.

So what are we to do as Christians? First, pray for the president and all government officials (1Timothy 2:1-2). We should pray for the president’s health and his family. We should pray that God gives our leaders the wisdom to govern rightly. And we must never see politics as an end, but only as a means to an end. Salvation does not come through a voting booth—it comes through Jesus Christ.

We, Christians, must become more devoted to learning, living and sharing the truth of Scripture. We must do so boldly and in a winsome manner (1 Peter 3:15). And we must set our hope fully upon the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming worldwide kingdom, for then and only then will there be peace and justice (Isaiah 2:4; 11:2-4). Being in the world but not of it has never been easy (John 17:16). We must keep our eyes upon Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-3).