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2004 election editorial |
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complete list of editorials: 2004 election * "Sanctity of Life" is a "false doctrine" * Abortion Divorce God's Purpose for Hurricane Katrina * Why Do Muslims Hate Jews? * Masturbation The Meaning of Life * Why Churches Don't Have Unity * Who Can Be Saved? It seems good, in my mind, to organize and express some of the thoughts and opinions that I have concerning the 2004 presidential election. In particular, this discussion will focus on the Evangelical Christian-Republican coalition – the good, the bad, and the ugly. The purpose, of this discussion, is to provide Democrats with some new insight into the Evangelical Christian-Republican coalition and to suggest ways that the Democrats could neutralize the effects of this Evangelical Christian voting block. As background, let me explain that I am a Viet Nam veteran and an Evangelical Christian. Because the churches that I attended either taught, or inferred, that the Republican Party is the “party of God” and because the Republican candidates supported the agenda of the Evangelical Christians, I have been a member of the Republican Party – and voted Republican - for some 25 years. I voted for George W. Bush in the 2000 election. In 2004, however, I supported John Kerry by sending money, by doing some volunteer work for his election, and by my vote.
Let me list the reasons for my disenchantment with the Republican Party: 1) I am sick of mean people. Although politics is, by its nature, a confrontational arena, I concluded that the Republicans, and in particular the Bush people, have taken “mean” to a whole new level. There seems to be a calculated effort to destroy the reputation of anyone who gets in their way and to “brute force” their agenda onto the American landscape. 2) My conclusion, after watching the political process for many years, is that the god of the Republican Party is named “Greed”. Republicans are using Evangelical Christians in order to maintain control of the US government. The “hot button” issues, such as abortion and homosexual marriage, will not be resolved by the Republican Party. These issues will be resolved when control is taken away from the far-right and the far-left and reasonable people can meet in the middle. 3) I, like John Kerry, came back from Viet Nam disillusioned about the war and about our government. Veterans were poorly treated, but, the effort to change the direction of the country was necessary. Some say “my country right or wrong.” I say “my country – and if it’s wrong it must be fixed.” I see Iraq as another war where our leadership lied to us and then grossly mismanaged the war effort. It will be another “Viet Nam experience” if changes don’t come quickly. 4) I consider the atrocities at Abu Ghraib be a direct result of the “do whatever it takes” attitude of the Bush administration. Some years ago, I say a PBS documentary wherein South Vietnamese civilians reported that they had been tortured by the South Vietnamese government and that American Soldiers were in the interrogation room listening to the conversations. We have now cut out the middle man. Our soldiers are personally involved, either because of direct or implied orders, in the torture, humiliation and murder of civilians. These are clear violations of the Geneva Convention. A cover-up is under way. Only low ranking soldiers are taking the blame for a systemic problem whose origin is in the Oval Office. 5) I watched in astonishment as G. W. Bush looted our treasuries and distributed our saving among his rich friends. It says in Proverbs 22:16 “He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself, or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. It says in Proverbs 22:22, 23; “Do not rob the poor because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate; for the LORD will plead their case and take the life of those who rob them.” There is nothing Christ-like about robbing the poor to give to the rich. 6) Out nation is divided down the middle. I see Republican and I see Democrats but I wonder “where are the Americans?” Where are the people that decide issues on “right” and “wrong” instead of the party line? G. W. Bush would have been impeached in his first term if he were a Democrat - either for lying or for gross mismanagement. 7) “No Child Left Behind” has been a disaster for millions of children. These children have been failed because G.W. Bush raised the education standards and then required them to jump over the bar or fail. There was no preparation for the higher standards and there has not been any help for the ones who failed. Many of these “failures” will drop out of our school systems and will be diminished throughout life because of the academic failures. As usual, with the G.W Bush presidency, the problem is not in the idea but in the implementation. It is a good idea to standardize the schools systems and to improve the academic performance of our children. The Bible gives us an example for the proper way to move children from one place to another: In Genesis chapter 31, Jacob was returning to his father’s home after many years in exile. He was taking with him all of his possessions including wives, children and sheep. Jacob’s brother, Esau, welcomed Jacob and invited Jacob’s entourage to accompany his group of armed servants to their father’s home. Jacob declined the invitation and replied that there were young children, young sheep and young cattle in the group and the he must “travel according to the pace of the children.” That is what G.W. Bush did wrong. He didn’t travel “according to the pace of the children.” He has shown a careless disregard for the well being of our children. The failure of those children is G.W. Bush’s failure.
Now let me give an Evangelical Christian’s Perspective on the “hot button” issues:
Abortion This is the most important Evangelical Christian demand. Let me try to explain why. In the Old Testament, the Bible repeatedly states that God will punish and destroy a nation that allows the shedding of innocent blood. Certainly, you can’t get more innocent that an unborn baby. (You can call it a “fetus” all you want. It is still an unborn baby.) God will forgive the individual and the nation that sheds innocent blood, if they repent. God is holding the blood of the aborted babies against the United States of America. Our country is being punished, and will continue to be punished. For example, we currently have a lot of trouble with Social Security system because there are not enough young workers to pay for the retirement of the “baby boomers.” There aren’t enough workers because we have killed millions of them in abortion clinics. The United States will be destroyed, by God, when the sin of our nation “has reached its full measure.” (Genesis 15:16)
Homosexuality This is another issue where the Evangelical Christians will not be moved. The Bible is very clear: Homosexuality is an abomination in God’s eye, as are many other types of sexual misconduct (see Leviticus 18 for a complete list). The sexually immoral are only one category of individual that will be excluded from the “kingdom of God” (see Galatians 5:19 for a more complete list.) The sin of homosexuality is viewed as being especially bad because it is a double sin. It is fornication (sexual immorality) as well as being perverse, unnatural, and indecent” (Romans 1:26). The far-right extreme of Evangelical Christians is absolutely intolerant of any kind of homosexual behavior, as is the Bible. Mainstream Evangelical Christians are more inclined to tolerate homosexual behavior if it is between consenting adults behind closed doors – not because it is acceptable behavior, but rather for the pragmatic reason that it is so rampant that it cannot be stopped at this time. It is the job of the Church to clearly warn these individuals that their eternal destiny is sealed unless they change their minds and their behavior. Evangelical Christians are generally willing to give the homosexuals equal rights in society but consider them to be partaking in evil and bound for destruction.
Stem Cell Research There are valid moral concerns about using parts from fetuses. The extreme-right of the Evangelical Christian group warns that any compromise will lead to fetus-farming for profit.
The Ten Commandments The attack on the display of the Ten Commandments, in public areas, is an attack on the Christian culture that founded and established this nation. There are people of other religions and beliefs who do not accept the existence of the God of the Christians and don’t want the culture to be based on the Bible. The culture is, in fact, based on the Judeo-Christian moral and value code. The Ten Commandments are not only the cornerstone of law for the Jews and the Christians, they are also the cornerstone for the law in the United States. Evangelical Christians rightly see the attack on the display of the Ten Commandments as an attack on Christianity and an attempt to remove God from our culture.
Education: “School prayer’ and “Evolution vs. Creationism” are the two issues that have torn our education system apart.
School Prayer Democrats uphold the Supreme Court decisions, concerning school prayer, because they don’t want their children to be inflicted with the Christian doctrine or any other doctrine in the public schools. Evangelical Christians are commanded in the Bible to bring up their children in “the nurture and admonition of the Lord”. Christians can’t, in good conscience, send their children to a godless school that teaches secular doctrines to their children. Democrats won’t let Christians pray in public schools and they won’t let Christians take their tax dollars for use in private Christian schools.
Creationism The secular community considers itself to be more highly evolved, than Christians, in the area of the supernatural. Christians are demeaned by the elitist Democrats and are considered to be simpletons who believe old fables. As a young person, I used to believe in the “theory of evolution.” After all, that is what they taught in school – it must be true. Now, I consider the “theory of evolution” to be ludicrous. Let me take just a minute to offer scientific proof that: 1) evolution is a lie 2) God is real
Evolution is a lie: The second law of thermodynamics: According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, the second law of thermodynamics says that the amount of random movement, i.e. the entropy, can only increase in a closed system, i.e. that we cannot put this randomness in order without some external influence. As humans, we know this as “Murphy’s law” and its various corollaries. Everyone knows that things tend toward disorder. Everything falls apart. This is a universal law that is intuitively obvious. The “theory of evolution” depends on things going right, and going continuously right, for billions of years. The probability of that happening is zero. The “theory of evolution” is a false religious doctrine. The name for the religion is “secular humanism”. That religion is currently being forced on Christian children in our public school system.
God is real: As an engineering student, I learned that inductive logic is a valid scientific tool for proving a theory. The Encyclopedia Britannica online defines induction in logic as a “method of reasoning from a part to a whole, from particulars to generals, or from the individual to the universal….” If you say: “The sun will rise tomorrow” you are not giving the result of a deductive process, but of an inductive process that depends on a calculation of general probability based on many specific past experiences. Another example of inductive logic would be the conclusion, by an old Greek philosopher (I believe that it was Aristotle), that the whale gave live birth and was a mammal based on the fact that the whale’s tail was horizontal rather than vertical. The Bible says that the proof that God is real is in the universe that He made. That is exactly the truth. By inductive logic, we can conclude that since there is order in the universe, contrary to the natural forces of disorder, there must be a source for that order. The Bible says, and Christians believe, that the source of this order is “God”.
Advice to Christians My purpose in writing this letter is not to hurt the Christian cause, but rather, to move the Democratic Party away from their commitment to the far left. Christians, within the Evangelical Christian-Republican coalition need to move the Republican Party away from the far-right positions that are expressed by many Christian leaders. We need to get to the position where we will have a mixture of justice and mercy that God wants for us. That is also when we can expect to enact legislation that will, in large part, resolve the important issues – especially abortion – so that this nation can get the wrath of God off of our nation. The word “compromise” has an evil connotation in Christian circles but do you really think that God wants a Christian society to be harsh like a legalistic Islamic society? Doesn’t God look on the motives of the heart? Doesn’t God desire mercy? For example, do you really think that there are no circumstances that would justify an abortion? Not even if the birth was going to cause the mother to die? Furthermore, I would like to say to the Evangelical Christian Church that, since you have connected the name of Jesus to the Republican Party, you are responsible for controlling the behavior of the Republican candidates. It brings shame on the name of Jesus when people, under the banner of righteousness, are mean, greedy, and selfish. Jesus would not approve of the “do whatever it takes to win” attitude. If Christians are involved, there must be a higher standard of integrity. Consider, also, that it would not be in the best political interests of the Republican Party to resolve “hot button” Christian issues, such as abortion. If those issues were resolved, the Republican Party would have no hold on the Evangelical Christians and they would begin to vote based on other issues, such as the economy. There will be resistance, from within the Republican Party, for any solution that would diminish their control over the Evangelical Christian vote.
Advice to Democrats Democrats must stop being in denial about the power of the Evangelical Christian-Republican coalition. Understand that Christian groups are “special interest” groups with all of the rights of other “special interest” groups. From the Christian perspective, it is not only their right but also their responsibility to exert control over moral issues such as prostitution, gambling, drugs, homosexuality and abortion. Christians have a right to vote their conscience and control the direction of society, just like everyone else. You can talk all you want about how John Kerry didn’t campaign on your pet issues. The truth is that he was not able to break the Evangelical Christian-Republican coalition. That voting block, full of religious zeal, is what caused you to loose the 2004 election. The fact that you couldn’t beat G.W. Bush, after he has made a mess of everything that he touched, should be a wake up call. Now that the Republicans have learned how to energize this voting block, you can expect to see the same problem in every election. The only hope you have of winning an election will be in economic hard times when you have a candidate of the quality of Bill Clinton. (A rare happening) At the present time, the Evangelical Christian group is being driven by the extreme right and the Democratic Party is being driven by the extreme left. There is no conservative section in the Democratic Party. If the Democrats are to succeed, they must move their platform toward the center and make it acceptable to Evangelical Christians. For what it’s worth, I will give my opinion about the platform position changes that would put the Democrats into a winning position.
Proposed position for the issues in the Democratic Party Platform:
Abortion Abortions will be permitted if the woman declares that it is because: 1) the pregnancy is a threat to the mental or physical good health of the mother 2) the pregnancy is the result of rape of rape or incest 3) there is reason to believe that the fetus has significant mental or physical defects It is important that there is no burden of proof put on the woman. If she lies, the sin is between her and God. This is similar in nature to the “don’t ask – don’t tell” policy concerning homosexuals in the military. This would avoid any kind of judging by the legal system.
Homosexuality The Bible is clear – Homosexuality is perverse and an abomination in God’s eyes. There is nothing that can change that for Evangelical Christians. Let me say a few words about the claim that “homosexuals are born that way”: In Exodus 20:5, it says; “…for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of their fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me…” This scripture means, for example, that the children of an alcoholic father will be predisposed to become alcoholics. This predisposition, to the sins of the father, doesn’t mean that the child has to fall into the same sin as the father. It does means that, in order for the children to avoid their father’s sins, there will need to be an extra measure of vigilance and resistance to that sin. Homosexuals may indeed be predisposed to the sin of homosexuality, but, that doesn’t mean that they are predestined to be homosexuals. It is an evil desire that they must resist, just as the child of the alcoholic must avoid drinking alcohol. Most Evangelical Christians are willing to accept that homosexuals have secular rights to exist and prosper in the world. It would be better to eliminate homosexuality, but, that option is not within reach, at this time. In the final judgment, God will do the judging and homosexuality will be eliminated. Evangelical Christians will not accept marriage between homosexuals. This issue will be as divisive as abortion because it attacks the very fabric of the Christian family and society. The institution of marriage is given by God for the spiritual and physical bonding of a male and female with the end result producing healthy family relationships and healthy children. Nothing else is acceptable in the institution of marriage. The Democratic Party needs to move quickly to resolve this issue. Most Evangelical Christians would be willing to tolerate “civil contracts” that are clearly distinct from marriage.
Stem Cell Research Stem cell research will be acceptable to most Evangelical Christians if the source of the stem cell is not aborted babies and if there are strict guarantees in place that prohibit research or harvesting from aborted babies.
The Ten Commandments If you want to deny the truth or to change the cultural heritage, then you will have a fight on your hands. You may win in the Supreme Court but your victory will cause new levels of outrage from the Evangelical Christians. Their religious zeal will eventually overcome your best efforts. I would suggest that you leave history and the culture alone.
Education: School Prayer This problem cannot be blamed on the Supreme Court. It can, and should, be resolved in the Congress. Christians would not be so offended by the secularization of the public schools if they were allowed to take their tax dollars and fund Christian based schools. Why should Christians have to fund a school system that is morally unacceptable to them, according to the Christian scripture? Democrats are now free to send their children to godless schools. Christians are forced to fund those godless schools and, because of the economics, are generally forced to send their children to these godless schools. If Democrats were to be fair and reasonable on this issue, they would either allow Christian prayer in schools that are predominately Christian or they would let the Christians use their school tax dollars to fund Christian schools. Anything else, from the “fair-minded” Democratic Party, is hypocrisy.
Creationism The elitism, about Creationism, that exudes from the Democrats is repulsive and offensive to Evangelical Christians. The “theory of evolution” is clearly wrong. Creationism is obviously and intuitively right. The evidence is in front of your eyes. If it wasn’t fair for Christians to force their faith on other people then how is it fair for Democrats and others to force their faith on Christians? The “fair-minded” Democratic Party has two choices: 1) Allow Creationism, to be taught in schools alongside Evolution, or 2) Allow the Evangelical Christians to pull their tax dollars and their children out of the godless secular school system and fund faith based schools.
©Terry Lefler, 11/2004, All rights reserved complete list of editorials: 2004 election * "Sanctity of Life" is a "false doctrine" * Abortion Divorce God's Purpose for Hurricane Katrina * Why Do Muslims Hate Jews? * Masturbation The Meaning of Life * Why Churches Don't Have Unity * Who Can Be Saved?
Questions or comments? Contact me at: or web site links Copyright Terry Lefler, 7/2004, 3/2005 All rights reserved
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