Back to politics for a second…
In most all my discussions with friends lately, there seems to be a reoccurring thread once the Republican Presidential Campaign comes up. And it goes something like this:
“To tell you the truth, I really don’t like any of the candidates.”
One wants to kick terrorism’s butt but supports abortion, one wants to secure the boarder but secretly has an addiction to spending, another wants to reduce taxes but wants to grant amnesty and supports the homosexual agenda.
If you’ll permit me to wax a tad negative, I must confess that I have a secret fear being played out in the back of my mind. (I promise I won’t dwell here for very long in this post). Again, it goes something like this:
Hillary and Obama get on the same ticket with Obama as the VP (because I don’t think Hillary could tolerate second place). Because the Republican Party can’t put together a true conservative effort which ensures mid-standing voters (because they’ve forgotten what that means), the race goes to the liberals. While our dollar is lost to the UN and socialism singlehandedly destroys our health care system (if it could get any worse), it does do something else: it calls a right-wing, conservative movement to action. But is it too late?
Now, those of you who read my blog on a semi-regular basis (as long as there is something fresh to read), you know that I’m not traditionally a doom-and-gloom person. And nor do I mean for this post to be.
But the above poses a real question: What will it take to stir the true conservative voice to action?
I really don’t believe the answer to our nation’s problems lies in the hands of the politicians; I believe it lies in the hands of the Christians. Now I’m not about to throw stones at the Church or my brothers in sisters in Christ. I hate that. But I also will not sit here and say that “we’re doing as much as we can.” I truly have to believe that if we rallied, we’d lead. And in leading we’d bring a nation back to center, to the mark our founding fathers laid long ago.
Honestly, wouldn’t you rather have conversations where people were saying, “Man, I don’t know who to pick,” because they are overwhelmed with so many good choices, rather than trying to piece together a “permissible” option? I honestly think that day is coming, my only worry is that it will take a whole lot of back stepping before we see it.
So here on my humble website today, I join my voice with others out there, endorsing a Third Party.
Now the fun part: What would a 3rd Party look like? Please leave your comments.
Thanks for spending some time with me today.
CH
A third party? Hmm. I’ve got mixed feelings, knowing the history of the early Christian church vis-a-vis the dominant world empire of the time (Rome) until 313 AD and her minimal involvement in the political arena. When the Church wed itself to the state after Constantine, compromise and mixture came in and the Church went into rather quick spiritual decline, though it definitely grew in numbers. A mixed multitude. Ultimately the hope for our nation is the Gospel and the Church being a sold-out, salty, separated and sanctified Bride, wholly devoted to Him.
But for a third party solution, I think there are larger philosophical issues to address. Here’s one for starters: We need to remember, as Christians, that the US Constitution–a great document by any measure of modern governance–must submit itself to Scripture. The Constitution permits you to do certain things that Christ and His Word do not. We need to get this nation back to an authority greater than the Constitution–though even a conservative reading of the Constitution and adherence to it would right a lot of mischief. We need to make God’s Word foundational. This would take care of valid issues on the right or the left sides of the aisle. Put more bluntly, I’d side with Sens. Clinton and Obama on some issues before President Bush because they are right and he’s just wrong. It depends on the issue. We’ve got to look after the poor, we’ve got to manage our national pocketbook with far greater prudence, we’ve got to cease lying to the American people about this war and our reasons for getting into it. There’s plenty of blame on both sides.
A third party? Check out the Constitution Party. I believe Michael Peroutka was the candidate in 2004. At this stage, looking at Democrats and Republicans, I’m most impressed with Gov. Huckabee. My conscience will not permit me to vote for Sens. Clinton or Obama. Nor will it permit me to vote for Mayor Giuliani, though he’s a proven leader. How does one vote in good conscience for those who approve of the slaughter of the unborn? Anyway, it is time to pray, ask God what He’d have us do and really, really be the people of God–having enough salt and light to preserve this nation as well as invite the kind of persecution that is promised to those who want to live godly in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:12).
Christian
A third party? Well, I think my criteria would be pretty easy: the best of Goldwater, the best of Reagan, and the best of Gingrich. One of my founding pillars would be to do whatever we could to distance ourselves from the culture of Washington D.C. That Beltway culture acts like poison to people who go there who are well-intentioned but fall prey to the liberal media and the crowd there. This new party needs to have a mentality of being in Washington, but not of Washington, acting under the principle that our freedoms come from God and not from government. Government at best can guard our rights, but at worst, it can take them away.
I do think there is a significant problem with Christians and politics. We’ve got all this talk about why such-and-such candidate isn’t good enough, or he won’t endorse this constitutional amendment, and so on. Have they looked at who they send to Congress? Take North Dakota. It has two liberal Democratic Senators and one Dem congressmen. They’re pro-abortion, vote for higher taxes, big govt, etc. ND is a strongly pro-life state. Why don’t prominent Christian leaders get involved and put up some opposition to those people? How about West Virginia? It’s rural, salt-of-the-earth, strongly Christian, and yet it sends the liberal Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller to the Senate year after year. Again, no significant challenge to these two men. The reason why we don’t get many conservative judges (or almost any effort to curtail judicial overreach) is because Christian leaders skip over the Congress and act like the President alone is supposed to enact a conservative agenda by his own whim.
I would love there to be a candidate who is pro-life, yet supports peace and helping the environment and bringing upon more gun control, and of course more money in helping the poor. I know this is a stretch but I think we also should work to put some more money into the cities. Surburban sprawl is a huge problem to me. We depend too much on cars, and the oil supply is low. I hope we work to make more concentrated communities instead of tearing down woods and stuff to make Walmarts and more Mcdonalds and all that other “stuff” that we depend on too much and we just do not need.
I would love there to be a candidate who is pro-life, yet supports peace and helping the environment and bringing upon more gun control, and of course more money in helping the poor. I know this is a stretch but I think we also should work to put some more money into the cities. Surburban sprawl is a huge problem to me. We depend too much on cars, and the oil supply is low. I hope we work to make more concentrated communities instead of tearing down woods and stuff to make Walmarts and more Mcdonalds and all that other “stuff” that we depend on too much and we just do not need.
Another thing we need to aid countries in need, we can not just be naive and living our lives out when there are people who are being killed for being Christians and some can barely make it through a day without eating.
Man my internet always slows down and then my posts gets posted multiple times.
Eh… Sorry about that!
Honestly, I don’t even like to think about a 3rd party candidate, especially if it’s one on the right. Such a candidate would really just assure that the worst possible candidate gets elected. What would happen is a percentage of conservative voters would vote for Joe 3rd Party, carving away votes from a republican candidate. Meanwhile, ultra liberal Dem candidate enjoys huge margin of victory.
I do however think that Christians absolutely MUST be more involved in politics–at the very least, get out and vote. You don’t vote, don’t dare to complain.
If more Christians study, practice, and seek office, we’ll end up with more Christians in office.
Shoot, we’ve got to STOP backing down from loudmouths who scream tolerance in our faces when, all the while, they don’t tolerate Jesus very well.
Remember what happened after 911, the US woke up? Churches were packed, and people remembered that there is such a thing as good versus evil. But now, it feels like too many have gone back to sleep. WAKE UP, all of us. PRAY, SPEAK, and DO.
Yeah, third party candidacies never work. The political graveyard is filled with them, from Strom Thurmond and Henry Wallace (1948), George Wallace (1968), John Anderson (1980), Ross Perot (1992-1996) and Ralph Nader (anytime he runs). Even Teddy Roosevelt in 1912 couldn’t win on a third party ticket, and he was an extremely popular president! Our political system has almost always been a contest between two polar opposites. The Republican Party started out as a third party, but didn’t win in 1856 against the Whigs and the Democrats; it took the permanent collapse of the Whig Party for Abraham Lincoln to win in 1860. A conservative party as a third party might have worked in the late seventies following the Watergate debacle that crippled the GOP; Reagan was even asked to head up the ticket. But he stuck with the Republicans, and the rest is history. In order for a third party on the right to be truly successful, it has to almost supplant the Republicans entirely. We’re nowhere near there yet.
Thanks for the great posts and thoughtful content everyone. Really appreciate the feedback. Great to hear what’s on your hearts; covet your voice.
CH
mmm, politics. Two words, Ollie North!
THAT would be interesting. My third party would be someone who will enforce state’s rights and actually talk about the falling dollar and why the heck we aren’t more oil independent. Honestly, most of this other garbage goes down the tubes if our economy collapses. I’m talking about fiscal responsibility. If we ran our homes like they ran the government budget, we’d all be on welfare with no one paying into the system. A million dollars a MINUTE! (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/ap_on_go_ot/nation_in_debt) That’s $1.4Bil a day! I don’t hear anyone talking about that, or the fact that most of our energy companies in the US are foreign owned as are many of the banks.
I’ll end the rant. So far, it’s Huckabee for me.
From the above mentioned article,”"The first day the Chinese or the Japanese or the Saudis say, `we’ve bought enough of your paper,’ then the debt — whatever level it is at that point — becomes unmanageable,” said Collender.
A recent comment by a Chinese lawmaker suggesting the country should buy more euros instead of dollars helped send the Dow Jones plunging more than 300 points.
The dollar is down about 35 percent since the end of 2001 against a basket of major currencies.
Foreign governments and investors now hold some $2.23 trillion — or about 44 percent — of all publicly held U.S. debt. That’s up 9.5 percent from a year earlier.
Japan is first with $586 billion, followed by China ($400 billion) and Britain ($244 billion). Saudi Arabia and other oil-exporting countries account for $123 billion, according to the Treasury.
“Borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars from China and OPEC puts not only our future economy, but also our national security, at risk. It is critical that we ensure that countries that control our debt do not control our future,” said Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, a Republican budget hawk.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/ap_on_go_ot/nation_in_debt