Ok, so this is my one and only political based blog entry.
At least it is all I plan to say about it for now!
First, I believe our true hope for our nation and the world
does not reside in any government, but in people being restored to a right
relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, His Son. So whoever sits
in the chair is really there as an appointee of God even if they don’t think
they are. The Bible makes it clear how we should honor those who govern in the
following verses:
13Submit to every human authority because of the
Lord, whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority 14or to governors as those sent out by him to
punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. 15For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16As God’s slaves, ⌊live⌋ as free people, but don’t use your freedom as a
way to conceal evil.17Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor. 1 Peter
2:13:17.
So whoever
wins this election must be given the honor due the offices to which they are
elected. And whoever wins the elections will not be the ultimate authority for
Christians. For the Believer, the order should always be to fear God and honor
the government.
With that
being written, as an American citizen, albeit a temporary one since my ultimate
citizenship is in heaven, I believe I have both a right and obligation to vote.
I also believe God gave me a brain and reason to use to attempt to find out
what is the best decision to make after prayer and study of the scriptures for
every situation. So after prayer and consideration of the scriptures here is my
take on the whole election issue facing Americans for the next week.
I am voting
for Mitt Romney and not for President Obama for several reasons. I know some
well-meaning and sincere believers who will disagree and who are or have voted
for the President to continue for four more years. The first reason is that the
Democratic Party of which my father was a member of for years made it clear in
their convention that the most important thing I believe in is not welcome in
their party. I am not sure why they felt they needed to address that God was
not welcome in their platform, but if He is not welcome then neither are His
children and therefore I could not vote for a candidate of that Party. I am
sure they backtracked on it, but to even bring it up means those in charge of
the platform and ultimately its execution believes that God is not welcome in
Governmental matters. I cannot support that position so I can’t vote for their
candidates.
Second, they
made it clear that the right to choose trumps the right to life. At the moment
this applies to only un-born babies but is it that far of a stretch under the
guidelines of Obama Care to see this being applied to those in long-term care
in government hospitals or those under long term care who cannot make decisions
for themselves? I cannot vote for a candidate whose Party will use all its
political force to work against a position that I hold, so therefore I cannot
vote for those members even if their own personal convictions differ.
Third, on a
purely practical basis, my life is not better now than it was four years ago.
The President Obama has not kept the promises made by Candidate Obama. So
please tell me why I should believe that the promises made by
President-Candidate Obama will be delivered upon during his last possible term
in office? Once elected, he will do what he wants and that my friends is what I
am truly afraid of. I don’t know all he plans to do, but given his track record
for the last four years of skirting the constitution at best, I doubt seriously
that he would play by the rules in his last four years. I am afraid that if
re-elected he will move us more toward a socialist government. My income is not
up, my expenses are definitely up, job creation is not up, the government
stimulus that was pushed through and signed by the President did nothing but
help those who got him elected. Let’s be honest enough to say that if you
promise to do something or not run for re-election and then fail to deliver but
run anyway, at best you have a problem understanding the job at hand or at
worst a serious integrity issue.
Fourth, I am
voting for Mitt Romney as the choice of two not favorite choices. I did not
support him during the primaries. I don’t think he will be a great president. I
don’t know if he is fully qualified to lead our nation. But I do know that he
is just as qualified as or more so than the guy we elected four years ago. And
he is the only viable option running in opposition. I like his choice for VP. I
like the party platform. I think we are better off with less government and by
working to balance the budget and get people back to work. I think when rich
people and corporations believe the government will stay out of their way, they
tend to invest more, do more, and expand creating new jobs and more
opportunities. I don’t like the fact that there are only two parties capable of
winning the major elections either but that is a story for a different day.
Finally, I
wish that both sides would just start running ads telling us why to vote for
them rather than telling me why I shouldn’t vote for the other person. Why not win
me over by telling me what you want to do and spend less time trying to scare
me with what the other person will do if they win. You are wasting millions of
dollars on ads that do nothing not to mention all the money spent to call me
twenty times a day it seems with your recorded messages from rock stars and
political icons to try and sway my vote. None of them are listened to and none
have convinced me to change my position. I would rather you commit that money
to help reduce the national deficit or help with disaster relief. If you ran
one ad saying the …… party will be donating 4 million dollars to help with …. Rather
than spend it on stupid ads and phone trees, you have a better chance of
getting my vote! And please stop attacking one candidate for how little they
paid in taxes. I just wonder how much the Kennedy’s have paid in taxes over the
years and where exactly did Obama get his fortune? If you are a plumber in the
white house then you can portray yourself as one of us, otherwise stop trying
to identify with the middle class. When is the last time a true member of the
middle class sat in the white house?
I find it
difficult to believe any of the political rhetoric anymore. Why would you spend
so much of your own money or give so much money to a campaign where the salary
is not that significant? Oh wait, the perks are enormous. But so are the
responsibilities. Do you really think either party truly has the welfare of the
middle class first in their agenda? In 51 years of life, I’ve never been
invited to a state dinner at the white house or the state house for that
matter. I’ve never been given a government contract because I voted for one
person or denied one because I voted for their opponent. I pay my taxes. I
enjoy the benefits of roads, protection, etc. I work for what I have and don’t
want anyone to take it away or claim that I didn’t earn it. I wish it was more
about me, but in the end it will always be about unions, big business, and
personal investors. It only appears to me that those entities do better when
the government is smaller and leaves them alone more and that does trickle down
to a better live for me and my family who live squarely in the middle class.
Whether you
agree or disagree, I hope we can still be friends on Wednesday of next week. I
am thankful that we can vote and disagree without having to fear for our safety
when we do. So become informed, vote your convictions, and if you are a
believer, vote your values from your study of the Word of God.
