An Email From A Canadian

Most who read this know that in the United States a national election is just a few days away.  Over the past several months I have often been tempted to write about certain aspects of the political campaigns but have held off because the readers of this email reside on several continents.  What is front page news in America is not necessarily seen as so important elsewhere in the world.  Today I wish to stimulate your thinking with what may be controversial but which I believe needs to be considered.  I am seeking to be impartial as much as possible although I presume some will accuse me of seeking to advance my own political preferences.  I may be.  I believe there is no such a thing as total objectivity so my biases will be visible.  Still, I believe my underlying point is an important one and a valid one.  Let me know what you think!

Let me begin by sharing a quote from a newspaper in the Czech Republic dated April 28, 2011.

           “The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting an inexperienced man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an                 Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president… The problem is much deeper and far         more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince…         The Republic can survive a Barack Obama. It is less likely to survive a multitude of Idiots such as those who made him president.”

That is surely an attention grabber don’t you think?  It gets to the heart of my point.  I believe a person observing from a distance would not comprehend how the American race for the presidency could be so close.  50 years ago it would not have been.  America has a president who is drastically out of synch with traditional American values.  I will list a few examples:

1.  Abortion.  The true extremist here is the current president.  He favors abortion at any point in a woman’s pregnancy and has in the past endorsed infanticide.  His own ethnic group has been the most impacted by the murder of thousands upon thousands of children.  In fact,  I heard a black pastor say this past week that Planned Parenthood has done the black community much more harm than the Ku Klux Klan ever did.  Imagine such an incendiary statement!  It is factually accurate but few of us could say it where anyone could hear.  We would be tarred and feathered.

2.  Economic Stewardship.  America is now over 16 trillion dollars in debt.  The president promised he would cut the deficit in half.  He increased it by over 4 trillion dollars.  No household or business would survive long with such financial mismanagment.

3.  Dishonesty.  He is not the first president to lie and deceive the people who elected him to be sure, but rarely has a president sunk to this level.   Whenever the evidence begins to surface revealing such deceit, the president invokes executive privilege or relies on the lap dogs in the media to hush up a matter that awaits answers.   The most recent murder of an ambassador and 3 others in Benghazi is an example, as is the “Fast and Furious” gun running scandal of a few years ago.  Yet, in his campaign he promised transparency and openness.  He has done the opposite.  Many of his records have been sealed and are unavailable for perusal to this day.

4.  Anti-Christian legislation.  A fierce battle rages over religous freedom in America.   Roman Catholics are being forced to include benefits in insurance programs for services they believe to be morally wrong.  They have the First Amendment on their side.  There is a long list of additional examples particularly issues involving the military.  In the 2008 campaign the president claimed to be a Christian.  His actions have shown he is much more empathetic and supportive of Islam than he is of Christianity.

5.  Role Model.  The president has appointed men and women to his cabinet and to his many “czar” posiitions who have evaded taxes, hold to conspiracy theories about Sept. 11,  have unAmerican connections, and so on.  What sort of example is this to the public and to the young people of his nation?  Surrogates in the campaign have used the foulest of language to express themselves.   Voting we were told by the president is about revenge!  How low have we sunk?  It used to be that young people were told they could aspire to be president someday.  The aura, prestige, and respect afforded the presidency has been dramatically tarnished.

6.  Middle East policy.  The president has bowed before Arab leaders, apologized for his country’s actions in the past, and repeatedely castigated little known videos that inflame Muslims.  He has treated Israeli leadershp with contempt and scorn.  He finds it hard to use the term “terrorism” because he wants everyone to believe that because of his charm and policies, he has put the issue of terrorism behind us.  Recently someone forwarded a letter to me signed by a long list of Israeli military leaders.  It was powerful and I share just a few of the opening sentences with you here:

” To residents of the United States of America, wherever you may be,
We, a group of officers and commanders serving in the Israel Defense Forces reserves, wish to hereby express our deep concern regarding the severe decline of the status of the United States in the world, and the helplessness that has overcome your country in facing the evil presently prevailing in this world, and which is now directed against you

7.  Constitutional issues.  The president has circumvented and/or ignored hosts of issues requiring congressional input and decisions.  One report I read stated that the current president has issued over 900 executive orders in his term as president.  His predecessor allegedly issued fewer than 40  Therefore the president has simply bypassed one of the  branches of government to get his way.  In years past this would have been an impeachable offense.

Enough now!  My question is this:  Given all these matters why is the president doing reasonably well in polls and why could he win re-election?  I believe the answer is found in the Czech newspaper article.  America has an ever increasing number of citizens who believe in entitlement.  They like the government to hand them things for which they have not worked.  Why would a person not vote for someone who gave them gifts?  Who cares about morality, integrity, principle or truth?  Just keep sending that government money!  America is reaping what it has sown in terms of values also.  Removing God from culture has consequences and we are seeing some of them.

The election hinges on how large the number of voters is who belong to the entitlement world.  Their number has steadily risen and once they achieve majority status, America and what it has stood for for over two centuries will be history.  I believe as in so many other matters, the church itself has succombed to its culture.  Instead of proclaiming and demonstrating that we live by other values, we have become too much like our society.  I am horrified sometimes to discover how ill informed people are and how their voting decisions are based on superficialities, likeability of a candidate, and so on.  We need to be discerning and support men and women who hold to values of life, integrity, decency, and honor.

That is how I see it!  I invite your thoughts.  Wherever you live or whatever your earthly citizenship, I exhort you to think soberly and respectfully about your role in society.  Those reading this who live in democratic societies are greatly blessed.   But this treasure must be guarded.  As  Edmund Burke once said,

  The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing!