The Political Hurricane
While some countries and US states are over their heads in water, cyberspace is over its head in politics. Red and Blue flares fly across our screens as our two most unqualified citizens declare that they are the ones that can make America great again by standing stronger together. It is a wonder, isn't it, how out of the 142,092,916 US citizens over age 35 we came up with these two...or is it?
A couple months ago we gave the impression that we knew who we were voting for and why. Since the debates started we have been scrambling and bumping into each other like ants with a newly fallen leaf in their pathway. One minute we are given reasons from prominent Christian leaders to vote for Trump, the next minute we are given reasons from those same people not to vote for trump. We swim back and forth in this storm gasping for breath all the while wondering who gave Hillary and Trump the idea that either one of them was fit to run for president....oh, that's right, we did.
The American people, yes the majority of us, we are the ones who out of the soup of 142,092,916 US citizens over age 35 have applauded Hillary and Trump to come this close to becoming president.
"How," you ask, "did this happen?" Wow! You have the same question I did! And I have had time to think about it and have come up with several reasons why we are sinking in this flood of illegitimate politicians.
- the first thirst-
Americans love having "firsts". Eight years ago the big thing was having the first black president. Many people did not look so much at Obama's credentials for becoming president as they did his color. This is not to say that Obama did not have any credentials but his credentials is not the reason why he was elected, it was his color. There is nothing wrong with having a black president just as their is nothing wrong with having a woman for president. The issue is that we have become so hungry for change and for the something new that we do not care whether our future president is a non-tax paying citizen who leaks out important e-mails to possibly our worst enemy and belongs in jail instead of the oval office. Whether Republicans or Democrats we are all looking for something new, for some of us it is our first female president who belongs in jail and for others of us it is our first male president whose hair, facial expressions, and rude comments seem to come straight out of a comic book. Nevertheless, be consoled, my dear fellow citizens, we will have a "first"(though quite frankly it also might be our "last").
- The 2 Timothy 3:1-9 prophecy
But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people!
For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions, always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth...so these also resist the truth, men who are corrupt in mind, worthless in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress, for their lack of understanding will be clear to all...
Before we say, "yes, yes, Clinton and Trump are all those things combined!" Let's look at ourselves as the American people.
Lovers of self- There are a plethora of examples for this but let's focus in on one in particular-"abortion". Abortion is no longer about a "bundle of cells", scientists, doctors, and even Planned Parenthood all acknowledge that the "bundle of cells" is indeed a baby. There argument is no longer "remove this growth from your body" rather "remove this baby, who is a burden, from your life."If it is an inconvenience to you, get rid of it! There are many people in my life who I sometimes consider an inconvenience, can I eliminate these people from my life while we're on the topic? Rumor has it, Hillary has.
This is the part where all the women get worked up and start giving excuses, "this baby came at a very inconvenient time in my life I need to finish my studies!" "this baby came while we are having an economical crisis we can't afford him!" "this baby came about due to rape, it's too painful for me!" "I only wanted two children, not three!" I, I, I, me, me, me...What would people think if someone said, "my roommate was really interrupting my studies, so I killed her", "my wife was eating too much so I killed her since we couldn't afford all her food", "I killed my husband because every time I saw him I was reminded of the time we were assaulted", "I killed my third child because she made our Christmas photo look uneven." None of these scenarios would be accepted because of human rights activists but what about our babies? We have become so in love with ourselves we are willing to murder for comfort.
lovers of money- Last night I watched "the Human Experiment", a documentary which talks about all the chemical toxins that we are exposed to in our food and environment. As a country we have become so in love with the extra money these harmful products bring in that we do not care if the products are killing us. European and Asian countries have banned many of our products because they are so unhealthy. China has even set rules on what can't be sold in it's own country for health reasons, but they can sell those items to the US. This is not a China problem, this is a US problem for being so money-driven we don't care if it's killing us. Forget ISIS or Russia, we are our own worst enemy.
Boastful, proud- Pride and boastfulness wouldn't bother me so much in these elections if either of our candidates had something note-worthy to be boastful or proud about. Sadly, neither one of them does. They boast about things they have not done and who they are not.
slanderers- I don't need to name anyone here, it's rather obvious. Not only are both Clinton and Trump slanderous towards each other, the media, celebrities, Christian leaders, and ourselves and our friends on facebook have jumped in on the action. They have not only been slanderous to each other but have also been slanderous towards the very people who have to choose between the two, calling us "lazy" and "deplorables" By the way Google's definition for slander is, "the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation." My conscience is clear, I do not believe I have slandered either presidential candidate or the US people in this article, everything I have written in this article is true according to my knowledge.
without self-control- I could mention under this point that neither candidate is good at controlling their tongue but instead lets focus on America's trouble controlling its "wing dang doodle". One of the seven wonders of Americans and their politicians is "why do Americans care about what the president does with his wing-dang-doodle when they don't care what they do with their own?" 74% of American men say they would have an affair if they knew they wouldn't get caught. 57% of American men admit to infidelity (there are probably more who won't admit to it). 77% of Americans view porn at least once a month. So there you have it! It's probably going on in your own neighborhood, under your own roof, very possibly in your very own bed. Before we blast Trump and the Clintons with disapproval over their moral sexual lives, let's fix the problem in our own home. Government is of and by the people, this means any problem we have in our own home we will have in our government. Want to fix the government? Let's start with our own homes.
brutal- we see this on both sides and in our own facebook posts.
without love for what is good- We see this in how we have strayed from the Bible and good morals in all areas of our life, starting in our schools. We take prayer, Bible reading, discussion of morals from our schools and we expect to be a better country? really??? We teach our kids that whatever they want goes, whatever gender, whatever gender preference, there is no absolute truth. No wonder there are shootings and rapes happening in our schools! It's like the book of Judges all over again, "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever he wanted." (21:25) The thing that most coincides with judges at this time is that Christ is coming back soon to judge the earth.
reckless- Have you ever done anything without thinking or caring about the consequences of your actions? That's what reckless means. I have done reckless things in the past and have had to pay for it. Sometimes it has caused me to lose someone's trust for a period of time. Sometimes it has brought me shame and hurt. Sometimes it has brought others hurt. As a society we have become more reckless. We do first and think later. Both of our candidates are like this as well. There are many words trump has spoken which I am sure he wishes he could take back. There are e-mails Clinton has sent which I am sure she wishes she had covered up better.
conceited- meaning vain. We all know trump is vain, he has his picture and name posted everywhere, he's even been used in an anti-Trump "You're so vain" music video. Though Clinton clearly doesn't have the same hair-stylist as Trump she is in no way less-vain. I noticed this especially during the first debate. She had clearly been to visit the Magic Mirror while taking time off to prepare for the debate. How do I know? I am an actor at heart, I love theater. What actors often do is they practice their smile, their dialogue, and their responses to things in the mirror. Once one has practiced an uncountable amount of times in front of the mirror you can start doing it without a mirror. I had a hard time controlling my laughter during the debate because Trump's facial expressions were horribly ugly, on the other hand, Clinton's facial expressions were exaggeratedly fake. I read a couple quotes on pinterest which reminded me of this:
Mean people don't bother me a bit. Mean people who disguise themselves as nice people bother me a whole lot.
If you put as much effort into being a good person as you do pretending to be a good person, you could actually be a good person. (sadly I do not know who the geniuses of these quotes are)
Let's take a step back from Clinton and Trump though, in a country consumed with Kardashians is it any wonder that our candidates are vain?
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- we need to look no further than our pinterest boards. How many boards do we have on the comforts of home versus the number of boards we have on verses and our relationship with God. Even in our doctrine we have swayed to believe that God's greatest desire for us is wealth and comfort. The Christian lgbtq community is all about God wanting us to be "happy" and have "pleasure" in our sexual sin...err I mean "preferences". Will either candidate if they become president be willing to leave the white house at the end of their term?
What are we as Christians in America to do? Is there hope for America?
If we read on in 2 Timothy it says, "Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being decieved. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed." Is there hope for America? Quite possibly not. As the verse says evil people will become worse. The majority of American people will continue deceiving and becoming deceived. However, there is hope for the Christian if we continue in what we have learned and firmly believed. Not hope in this world as we are promised that persecution will continue and even increase, but hope in what is to come. For Christ is coming soon and He will establish His kingdom on this earth and He will establish justice on this earth.
So then, my dear brothers and sisters:
Do not be agitaged by Trump or Clinton,
do not envy them for doing wrong.
For they wither quickly like grass
and wilt like tender green plants.
Trust in the LORD and do what is good;
dwell in the land and live securely.
Commit your votes to the LORD;
Trust in Him, and He will act.
Be silent before the LORD and wait expectantly for Him,
do not be agitated if Trump prospers in his way,
if Clinton carries out her evil plans.
For evildoers will be destroyed,
but those who put their hope in the LORD
will inherit the land.
A little while, and Trump will be no more;
though you look for her, Clinton will not be there.
But the humble will inherit the land
and will enjoy abundant prosperity.
Clinton schemes against the righteous
and gnashes her teeth at him.
The Lord laughs at her
because He sees that her days is coming.
Trump has drawn the sword and strung the bow
to bring down the afflicted and needy
and Clinton slaughters those whose way is upright.
Their swords will enter their own hearts, a
and their bows will be broken.
The little that the righteous man has is better
than the abundance of many politicians.
For the arms of the wicked politicians will be broken,
but the LORD supports the righteous.
The LORD watches over the blamesless all their days,
and their inheritance will last forever.
They will not be disgraced in times of adversity;
they will be satisfied in days of hunger.
But the wicked will perish;
the presidential candidates, like the glory of the pastures,
will fade away--
they will fade away like smoke.
The United States borrows and does not repay,
but the righteous one is gracious and giving.
Those who are blessed by Him will inherit the land,
but those cursed by Him will be destroyed.
I have been young and now I am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned
or his children begging for bread.
Turn away from evil and do what is good,
and dwell there forever.
For the LORD loves justice
and will not abandon His faithful ones.
They are kept safe forever,
but the children of the wicked will be destroyed.
The wicked politician lies in wait for the righteous
and seeks to kill him,
the LORD will not leave him
in the power of the politicians
or allow him to be condenmed when he is judged.
Wait for the LORD and keep His way,
and He will exalt you to interit the land.
You will watch when the wicked politicians are destroyed.
I have seen a wicked, political woman
well-rooted like a fluorishing native tree.
Then I passed by and noticed she was gone,
I searched for her, but she could not be found.
Transgressors will all be eliminated;
the future of the wicked politicians will be destroyed.
The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD,
their refuge in a time of distress.
The Lord helps and delivers them;
He will deliver them from the wicked politicians
and save them because they take refuge in Him.
(Ideas taken from Psalm 37)