Responding to the 2008 Presidential Election: a Christian Perspective (part 4)

The next kind of ruler I want to look at is the one who fears God. David is an example of this. So is Josiah. I think it is important to note two things about public, openly Christian leaders. They are men and they are sinful. First, they are men, not God and we must keep this in the forefront of our minds so as to protect our collective spiritual well being. Secondly, they are sinful. David used a war to commit murder.. The response for us when lead by this type of leader is to remember they are fallible and that God not them is our savior and help in time of trouble.

On Political Principle

There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle. -Alexis de Tocqueville

Responding to the 2008 Presidential Election: a Christian Perspective (part 3)

I would now like to look at three types of rulers God has established and moved through in different ways. The First I would like to look are those Leaders who do not worship God whose opposition to Him He uses in the redemption of his people. I have two New Testament and one Old Testament examples. They are Pharaoh, Pilot, and Herod. Pharaoh was used by God to demonstrate his power by hardening his heart so that God might display his love for people and his Control over all things by sending the plagues and ultimately delivering the Israelites to the land He had promised them after years of slavery in Egypt. Similarly God used both Pilot and Herod in advancing his redemptive plan during the life and misty of John the Baptist and Jesus. Acts 13:27-30 says, “The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead.” God used all three men, all of whom were opposed to his puposes, used them to fulfill those puposes. The take home lesson is that, yes, while some Obama's policies are opposed to God He may use these proposed evils for our redemptive good.

Responding to the 2008 Presidential Election: a Christian Perspective (part 2)

We will first look at God’s Sovereignty over rulers and government. I would like to turn to a few texts to show that God not only selects who rules but has shown that He is more than willing to use the rulers he puts in place for his purposes. We will begin by looking at God’s control over government.
The first text I would like to look at to show that God controls government and the selection of rulers are Romans 13:1, which states, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” The Second Text for consideration is 1st peter 2:13-17, “Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.” These texts are very straight forward. We are to submit to the governing authority as far as it does not violate Christian principles, regardless if it is a democratically elected Barack Obama or an Iron fisted Caesar, which was the case during the writing of Romans. We owe Barack Obama our honor and submission simply due to his winning the election.

Responding to the 2008 Presidential Election: a Christian Perspective (part 1)

In the days leading up to and following Barack Obama’s victory I noticed that evangelicals around me and nationally were behaving like his election was a grave evil and must be opposed as such. I have heard politically minded Christians sounding the battle cry to oppose his administration’s efforts at each and every turn. While I share their concern and disdain for President Elect Obama’s proposed policies, I fear that the scope of alarm and response to him is somewhat misplaced. I have heard very little discussion of prayer in combating his policies. In the same vain the idea of fasting has not come up once. I am all for political action in all lawful forms, but it seems that if political action is all we take we miss out on so much of what God has called us to in allowing the election of Barack Obama. I would like to take this opportunity to remind evangelical America of a few things. I would like to explore over the next few days two themes:
1. God’s sovereignty over all things including government and elections.
2. The appropriate Christian response to God’s wise, perfect choice as to who rules where and when.

On Thievery

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
-Aesop

On Reading

The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them. - Mark Twain

who votes: what decides who turns out?

I wanted to look at three things that effect who votes. Social scientist call this things variables. The three variables I am going to look at the age of voter, educational level of the voter and race of the voter. By doing this I hope to help explain who votes and in turn help you all look at why Obama won. We'll begin with age. The effect of age on turn out is one of the strongest indicators of who votes and can be seen by looking at life cycles. Young people by and large do not vote like 40 year olds. The reason for this is that young people are less sedentary, more mobile. they have less invested in there communities than those who are married with families. for example a father of two elementary school age children is much more likely to vote for his school board than a 20 year old.With age turnout increases steadily and plateaus at around age 40. If you are not voting by 40 you most likely never will. The second variable is educational level. educational level is an even stronger indicator than age. for example some one with a collage degree has a 94% likelihood of voting as compared with a 58% likelihood among those lacking a high school diploma. This can be explained in three ways. First, those who have complete college have an increased sense of civic duty. Second, they are able to more easily overcome social hurdles such as being able to lose half a day's income to go and vote. Those lacking a diploma are more likely to be in lower paying jobs and cannot afford to lose money to vote. lastly, the cost of information gathering is lower. Additionally, this is all coupled with an increased interest in civic affairs that is corollary to educational level. Lastly we will address race. While hard to believe when you control for educational level and age both race fall out of the equation. They have no bearing on who votes in light of the educational level and age. The one exception to this is called the empowerment effect. the empowerment effect is when a minority candidate is running for office and his or her minority group turns out and trumps the age and eduction of the minority group in question. We saw this in the 2008 election of Obama.

After The Election

“We are people that know politics is important, but not ultimate. We know that politics has its place, an urgent and important place where, in the City of Man, decisions are made that can make the difference between life and death, injustice and justice, mercy and no mercy, commonweal or common disaster.

But we also know that there is in this world at its very best only a hint of the kingdom that is to come, where God’s reign is supreme.

No government will ever be able to say, ‘Every tear has been wiped away.’ No government will ever be able to say, ‘The blind have received sight and the deaf have received hearing and the lame now walk.’…That power is God’s alone.”

—Albert Mohler, “After the Election”

On communism

Communism is the corruption of a dream of justice. - Adlai Stevenson

whats on tap the next few weeks

In the next few weeks I'll be covering:

1. A few models as to why the electorate voted the way it did. This hopefully will be helpful in explaining to that annoying guy at work why things ended upthe way they did in under two minutes, so as to free you up to go back to trying to avoid him/her.

2. Looking at what the future holds for Obama and the country. More specifically, looking at his proposed economic polices effects short term and long. Additionally, looking at and evaluating his choices of who he puts in his cabinet and on his staff.

3. Looking at where conservatism as a movement should head next and where the republicans as a party will most likely head instead.

4. More collections of quotations.

on voting.

"Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual--or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country. "
-Samuel Adams

"A share in the sovereignty of the state, which is exercised by the citizens at large, in voting at elections is one of the most important rights of the subject, and in a republic ought to stand foremost in the estimation of the law. "
-Alexander Hamilton

"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation , to select and prefer Christians for their rulers. "
-John Jay

"Should things go wrong at any time, the people will set them to rights by the peaceable exercise of their elective rights. "
-Thomas Jefferson

I will be voting for...

I will be voting to keep my commitment to the Iraqi people because we owe them that and their lives depend on the U.S. giving them a country.
I will be voting to support future generations of Americans having protection under the 14th amendment who now do not because of Roe vs. Wade.
I will be voting to keep the government out of my life and trusting me enough to do the right thing.
I will be voting begrudgingly for McCain. I don't like him but I fear the alterative.

Why I can not for...Obama.

He is the most pro choice candidate in history. He is a proponent of partial birth abortion. “He opposed the ban on partial-birth abortion -- a practice a fellow Democrat, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, once called "too close to infanticide." Obama strongly criticized the Supreme Court decision upholding the partial-birth ban. In the Illinois state Senate, he opposed a bill similar to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which prevents the killing of infants mistakenly left alive by abortion. And now Obama has oddly claimed that he would not want his daughters to be "punished with a baby" because of a crisis pregnancy -- hardly a welcoming attitude toward new life…. These trends reached their logical culmination during a congressional debate on partial-birth abortion in 1999. When Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer was pressed to affirm that she opposed the medical killing of children after birth, she refused to commit, saying that children deserve legal protection only "when you bring your baby home." It was unclear whether this included the car trip.” – the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/01/AR2008040102197.html

His plan for Iraq is short sighted.

His declared plan to intervene in the case of genocide in places like Darfur while commendable for its humanity is also shortsighted. I would love to see how he would answer the following question “Mr. Obama do you plan on reinserting troops into Iraq after you pull them out when the death squads and militias start ethnic cleansing again to stop the insuring genocide.(NOTE: to all of you who tuned out the last four years, before the surge Iraq was an inch away for all out ethnic civil war. It would have made Rwanda or the Balkan wars of the 1990’s look tame. This could and most likely WILL happen if we pull troops out prematurely.)

Biden is only helpful to America when his party is in the minority. In this role he is an annoying and effective counterbalance to corruption and rubber stamp policies.

He has used language in a criminal manner, pumping slogans and lacking substance. (yes we can, I believe in hope, Hope we can believe in. I can go on. What do these saying tell me about what he will do? Nothing.)

He has prayed on the idealism of youth. I have so many friends who love him for no reason other than he is young and black and a good public speaker and supporting him makes them feel good and cultured and like they are part of something bigger than them. None of these feelings and warm fuzzies will set national policies that will effect them.

He has painted himself as an outside when in fact he is a Chicago insider.

I don't want to be tucked in by the government every nite.

Government is not the solution it is the problem.

why I can not for...McCain.

He is an opportunist not a maverick.
He moved closer to the bush position on issues where the wise thing to do was move away.(torture, rights for enemy combatants, Guantanamo Bay, Iran.)
His most noteworthy policy is to not bring pork home to AZ.
There is some truth to Obama's claim that he will be more of the same, in some ways this will be fine but in others it will prove painful.
Sarah Palin is a poor choice.
He is not the same kind of conservative as me.
Huckabee was my man.

On being right

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong. – Voltaire

why I will not vote for...Bob Bar

I need more market regulation.

Because he says stuff like this on energy and the environment, "The free market, driven by consumer choice and reflecting the real cost of resources, should be the foundation of America’s energy policy."

Has a fundamental misunderstanding of foreign policy issues. Is a classic isolationist. this will not work in a unipolar world run by the U.S.

Wants to cut and run in Iraq.