Election Day arrives in less than two days and, despite urgings and warnings from so many people, I will VOTE. Unapologetically. Enthusiastically. I am familiar with the candidates running for office. I have researched their actual voting records (and have refused to believe the mendacious mailings that show up in the mailbox and the equally unbalanced ranting and raving on social media).
I have studied the two state questions on the ballot. One wins my approval. The other earns a no vote. I won’t say which is which: do your own homework.
But I am worried about our country, including Oklahoma, because of what I consider are Voting Heresies. What is a heresy? In a secular sense, it is an opinion, doctrine or practice that goes against truth, or against the public good.
One, in particular, causes me dismay. It is this idea that both political parties are so inept and/or corrupt, that there is no point in voting at all. As a Christian, I must call this out. In the gospels of Luke and Matthew, Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven was like good leaven (yeast) spread throughout the world, to effect positive change. We are the leaven this parable. A little yeast makes a huge change to bread dough. If we choose to stay in our comfy “yeast packets,” we abandon the field to potential evil forces.
Please don’t insult my intelligence by telling me that this election will not make a difference. If you have paid attention, you know that there is a coordinated worldwide effort to destabilize Western Civilization, and it includes hundreds of millions of dollars funneled to groups that are either rioting now (see France, Italy, the UK, etc.) or plan on rioting after the U.S. midterms to goad the government into taking “authoritarian” actions to preserve the peace.
No small amount of money is being funneled through so-called non-profits to push various candidates who make no secret of their desire to gut the Constitution, reorganize the government along socialist guidelines, and punish the “reactionary” forces against this type of change.
Consider what the socialists and Islamists are promoting:
If you think that our country is better off without a free market economy …
If you think that our country needs bigger government, and more controls on individuals and businesses …
If you think that our First Amendment rights of free speech, free exercise of religion and freedom of assembly are dangerous, and need to be limited …
If you think that we need wide-open borders so that anyone can enter without a background check …
If you believe that it is good to push children into gender dysphoria, and promote reassignment surgeries (without parental consent) …
If you believe that traditional families are passé, and that we should allow more government control over who teaches children morals and values …
If you think that there is nothing wrong with Sharia law competing with American jurisprudence …
If you think that certain people should be arrested and stripped of their wealth, and control granted to “the People” …
If you agree with these things (and others) then by all means, VOTE that way. Have the courage of your convictions.
But if you do not agree, then you have a responsibility to be a bulwark against this type of societal change.
We vote in this Republic because we agreed 250 years ago that “WE THE PEOPLE” are the ultimate arbiters of power. We elect our representatives and they are supposed to represent us. If you don’t like the choice, then get involved. Maybe run for office yourself. But I guarantee you that there are almost always differences between candidates.
Candidate Smith may be lazy, pompous and unintelligent. But he won’t vote for socialism or sharia law or boys playing in women’s sports. On the other hand, candidate Johnson tells you that you need to accept dramatic changes, and to trust him/her to lead you there.
Neither candidate is perfect, but one will not sell you down the river.
I am a conservative. I believe that we should preserve our Constitutional Republic and the personal freedoms it was designed to protect and defend. I do not always agree with the Republican Party on the issues, but I almost always disagree with the Democrats on the same issues. At least, lately. The party has drifted so far to the left that it cannot be trusted at either the state or national level to respect our rights which, as a Christian, you should recognize as God-given.
History will tell you – if you study it – that socialism, communism and Islam have horrible track records insofar as respecting the rights of their own citizens. Their governments tend to be despotic. Their economic systems are rigged.
America is not perfect. Far from it. But it is the least imperfect of all other nations. Have we made mistakes? Absolutely. Have we done some great things? Absolutely. Can we improve in the future? Only if We, the People, continue to determine the course of our politics. And only if God allows us to do so.
So, if you haven’t voted early, think on these things. If you have to fasten a clothespin on your nose and vote for the better of bad options, then do it.
But don’t put yourself on your high horse and lecture me about the futility of voting. If you’re that smart or enlightened, why aren’t you running for office?
