THOUGHTS ON ELECTIONS

It is our privilege to be involved in the political process. Over the last two presidential elections, the number of voters has increased. It was reported by the Census Bureau about the 2004 election, 64% of voting age citizens voted. This represents 89% of registered voters. This means that the majority of American citizens exercised their right to vote. It will be interesting to see what the numbers for the election of 2008. The numbers will probably increase.

One of these days the electorate are going to realize that they hold the power when it comes to whom gets elected to office. Therefore, it is more important to reach the electorate than trying to take over a political party. If the majority of the electorate are reflecting truth, then the political party itself will follow suit. Elections are therefore won at the grass root level, not at the top. Most people think that the candidates control the election. They do not.

If Christians want their views expressed in the political process, then they are going to have to work within the present system. This means that Christians have to have a theory of civil law. Most Christians lack any theory of civil law because the predominate eschatology within Christianity is one that rejects any civil law theory. Therefore, by default, Christians find themselves under the law of man which is the law of idolatry.

Once the eschatology of the church changes, there will be a decided change in election results. It is more important to change the eschatology of the church than the present platform of a political party. Once the eschatology changes, the political platforms will change automatically. This process is a long term proposition, but one that is effective because it will be broad based. It is only a matter of time for this to take place because the truth will prevail over error.

Post-millennial eschatology will one day be the dominant eschatology of the church. It is only a matter of time. This eschatology has a long term view of history. This means that we have time on our side to see things change election by election. This eschatology is an eschatology of earthly hope. This eschatology will see the re-implementation of God’s law as the law of the land. There is nothing that can prevent this. This will take place through spiritual means.

Christians need to be faithful to vote and to inform themselves about issues and where the candidates stand on issues. No politician should be elected unless their positions are clearly stated. Away with this balderdash of just saying one word, "change." What is to be changed and how the does the candidate seek to effect the change? A candidate must give substance, not political slogans like "people not politics." An informed electorate will demand substance, not fluff.

NOT TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

In our day and age, people say that they take responsibility for their actions when in fact, they have done nothing of the sort. This is the norm, not the exception. Listen to what people say. It tells you exactly what they were thinking and why they did what they did. People seek to mask their motives, but their words will betray them every time. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 12:34, "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Whatever is in someone’s heart, it will eventually be expressed out of his mouth. This is an immutable principle.

From the high government offices to the man in the street, we hear the same refrain, I made a mistake. Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines mistake as, "To take wrong; to conceive or understand erroneously; to misunderstand or misapprehend." To be mistaken on an issue means that one has misunderstood some point that leads to an erroneous conclusion. A mistake lacks a necessary element of culpability, namely wilfulness. Someone who makes a mistake is not doing so willfully. The results may be tragic from making a mistake, such as someone dying in a car accident, but there was no intention to do wrong.

When someone knows what they are doing is wrong and they do so wilfully, then it is not a mistake. It is sin. Webster renders sin as, "The voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule of rectitude or duty, prescribed by God; any voluntary transgression of the divine law, or violation of divine command; a wicked act; iniquity..." Voluntary signifies wilfulness. Sin is a willful violation of law. It is the opposite of a mistake.

An example is provided by Henry Reid, formerly the chief of UCLA’s cadaver program. He sold donated body parts to medical, drug and research companies for financial gain. He pled guilty in Los Angles County Superior Court for conspiracy to commit grand theft. Reid pled guilty in a plea bargain. Reid knew that these donated body parts did not belong to him, but were donated to the university. They were not his property, but the school’s. Therefore, he profited from these sales of university property. This is a clear case of theft.

Reid’s attorney, Melvyn Sacks, tells you that his client claims to take responsibility for his action without actually taking responsibility. The newspaper article quotes Sacks as saying, "My client accepted responsibility for the mistake he made concerning his activities as director of the Willed Body Program at UCLA and is extremely remorseful about the situation. He deeply regrets the outcome of his actions."

If Reid made a mistake, this means that he did not know that what he had done was wrong, he just had some bad information for which he made a bad decision. He did not know what he was doing was wrong. There was no wilful intent on his part to commit grand theft and yet he pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit grand theft. Reid’s actions were wilful and intentional. His scheme gained about one million dollars. He was selling body parts that did not belong to him. He knew it was wrong and his actions demonstrate his wilfulness and therefore, he did not make a mistake, but committed sin.

Only if Reid had said that he committed sin would he be able to claim that he takes responsibility for his actions. It is obvious that Reid is a liar and is seeking to shirk his guiltiness. He is not alone in this regard, merely representative. He deeply regrets the outcome of his actions? No. He deeply regrets that he got caught and that he has to be sentenced for his actions. He has no remorse. He feels sorry, not for what he has done, but for himself. This is typical of our day and age.

JUDICIAL STUPIDITY

The whole American justice system is out of control. The wrong people are being punished. Doing good is being penalized while being a criminal is being subsidized. Most criminals are by nature lazy and foolish. The way that they support themselves is by being put in prison where they do not have to work for living, but are provided with food, shelter, and medical care. While many people cannot afford health insurance, a criminal has access to medical care which he does not have to pay a dime for. All that he has to do is get in trouble with the law and all of his needs are supplied.

Law enforcement is the only function of civil government. Taxes are to be paid to support law enforcement activities. However, the prison system is not a legitimate function of law enforcement and should be abandoned as a for of punishment. Biblical punishments are the only legitimate punishments and none of those require a prison system. When man decides to establish his own forms of punishment of criminal behavior, it will always lead to a dilemma that rewards bad behavior at the expense of law abiding citizens.

A case in point is the recent decision that federal judge Thelton Henderson made against the State of California. This judge ruled that the State of California must spend $8 billion to build seven new medical facilities for inmates. The judge was appalled by the average of an inmate a week dying from a lack of adequate medical care (as if these inmates would not have died anyway). California has a $15.2 billion budget deficit to deal with and this judge is seeking to add to that deficit for medical care for law breakers.

This is foolishness and the epitome of insanity on the part of this federal judge. He just wants to push his weight around because he thinks that he can. He wants to ensure that those who have broken the law get what many normal citizens cannot get, medical care. There is no consideration of how these facilities are going to be paid for. The State of California has two options increase taxes or borrow the money which is in effect raising taxes.

Inmates are considered slaves. They are state property and since they are wards of the state, the state must take care of their physical needs. The state has become these inmate’s parents. When the people of California go to work, they will be going to work to provide for these inmates needs. Those law abiding citizens situation, concerning their ability to provide for their own families, does not enter into the equation. Only the needs of the criminal is being considered by this federal judge.

Something is awfully wrong with this situation in California. Those in California are getting what they deserve. They have rejected God’s law and His punishments and they are therefore left with the prison system and providing medical care for lawbreakers. This is the system that the people wanted and are getting because they will not have God to reign over them. It would be nice to see the people of California protest this judge’s ruling. Their silence is nothing more than consent.

HUMOROUS SITUATION

We all laughed at the Keystone Cops. They seemed to be quite humorous because of their ineptness. All that we can do is sit back and watch the ineptness of the world’s governments as they seek to contain the widespread financial panic that they themselves caused. They are scrambling with all kinds of gimmickry hoping that the people do not panic and there is a huge bank run.

To say that the government is clueless when it comes to the way an economy works is a huge understatement. They think that they can regulate an economy by manipulating the interest rates and increasing the money supply without consequences. When it blows up on them and it will, then they seek to overcome this situation by more inflation and more easy credit. Governments never learn from their own mistakes because they are never held responsible for their gaffes.

The government always blames someone else for the mess that they caused. Most people are not bright enough to know that it is the government who causes these financial fiascos. The government is never reined in because they control the money supply and interest rates through a central bank. The central bank is used a tool of manipulation by the government. This leads to financial disaster every time.

European governments are guaranteeing depositors that their money is safe. They tell these depositors that the government will step in if necessary and insure the bank accounts. Question, where are these governments going to get the money? The options are inflate the money supply, increase taxes, or borrow the money. Any of these options only exacerbate the problem rather than solve it. Europeans are suffering from their own financial crisis caused by their own governments.

When government gets involved in areas that it should not, the bungling becomes humorous and predictable. The government causes the problem and then is called on to solve the problem that they caused. It makes sense to me. Here comes the calvary to the rescue. The government is viewed as a savior rather than a manipulator and swindler. The result of government intervention in the economy means further government controls. The government causes a crisis and then takes away more freedom from its own citizens.

The government has declared war on its own citizens. Special interest groups are pitted against each other when the government has control of the purse. The only way to get your way is to petition the government. When a government controls the economy of a nation, then freedom becomes just a word that has no meaning. What needs to be done is that the world must be put on a gold standard and money be issued privately. The government’s role in the economy should be for the enforcement of contracts. As long as the government has control of the purse, financial crisis after crisis is ensured.