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A CALL TO ARMS FOR PASTORS

Posted by Buddy on Monday, October 23, 2006 7:28:19 PM
 

As Jay Sekulow says, many of our most influential founding fathers gave fiery political sermons from the pulpit. Without them there may not have even been a revolution. We are heading to a crossroads in this election. I believe that if the Democrats prevail, our country, along with freedom of religion, are doomed.

With Democrats in control we can expect the following:

1. Further damage to the morale of our troops and encouragement to our enemies.
2. Announced or actual withdrawal from Iraq to our great shame as a nation and complete loss of respect in the rest of the world to the extent that any remains.
3. Across-the-board tax increases and the repeal of the Bush tax cuts accompanied by resulting suppression of economic activity and in a few years recession and/our depression.
4. Increased gas prices as well as an increased price in all products manufactured by the petrochemical industry (plastics) as a result of a continued and, in fact, increased ban on the development of domestic petroleum reserves.
5. A dramatically weakened political position globally as a result of our lack of prestige for not having the moral courage or resolve to honor our commitments to our friends and our threats to our enemies and our increased dependence on oil imports from the very people who want to kill us.
6. Increased and bolder terrorist attacks within the territorial borders of the United States as a result of emboldened terrorists.
7. Greater and greater reliance on the United Nations which will subject us to even more abuse than it does presently.
8. More programs favoring the unqualified acceptance of homosexuality and other obnoxious lifestyles.
9. A more vigorous defense of abortion in all forms including partial-birth abortion, the most hideous thing that abortionists do.
10. Greater and greater acceptance of hard left professors and teachers in our educational institutions to which we will submit, on an increasing basis, the unformed impressionable minds of our children.
11. A continuance, if not an outright increase, in political correctness elevating form over substance to the point of making it more objectionable to call a terrorist a terrorist than to treat him as such and saving our own lives.
12. And increased emphasis on tolerance coupled with legal penalties imposed for acts of intolerance (this is already widespread but will increase) to the point at which it will become, over time, the only sin and we will be required on an increasing basis to accept that which we abhor as Christians.
13. Increased ridicule of Christians and the religious right in general as well as the further suppression of the freedom of religion even though such as been specifically prohibited by the First Amendment.
14. More and more entitlement programs accompanied by the redistribution of income and resulting destruction of incentive and the work ethic as we spiral into the nanny state that has impoverished other nations in the past.
15. Less and less honesty and civility in public discourse if that were possible.
16. An ever increasing exposure of the public to every manner of repulsive and reprehensible human behavior regardless of how sickening or perverted including outrageous acts of violence to children.
17. A repeal of the Patriot Act thereby making it more difficult for law enforcement to detect and apprehend terrorists before they act.
18. A prohibition of NSA wiretapping of conversations between suspected terrorists abroad and American citizens again making it more difficult, if not impossible, for law enforcement to intercept such communications and foil terrorist plots.
19. A prohibition of NSA data mining which will have the same impact.
20. The retirement of two United States Supreme Court liberal judges and their replacement with judges who are even more liberal with lifetime appointments.
21. The wholesale appointment of ultraliberal judges to the United States District and Circuit Courts with lifetime appointments.
22. More and more outrageous anti-American, anti-Christianity, anti-Judaism, and immoral activist judicial decisions by these judges of the type we've seen in recent years for the next 40 or 50 years.
23. Two years of efforts by the Democrats to impeach President Bush on contrived charges and evidence.
24. All of us who love our country, love our God, love our form of government, and love our friends and families, and believe in morality (following God's commandments) will be sick at heart.

All of the above other predictable consequences of a Democrat control of Congress. If the Democrats gain control of the House and Senate or even one of them the best we can hope for is that nothing will change. This is probably a vain hope since it would require our president to veto legislation which he seems completely unwilling to do.

It's time for pastors to speak out. I understand why they don't want to and the reasons are very good. There are three very good reasons that come immediately to mind. The first is the threat of losing their tax-exempt status. The second is the fear of losing members of the congregation who do not agree with what they hear from the pulpit. The third is that it might distract the congregation and create dissension. There may be other reason but these come immediately to mind and they are good ones.

The reasons for speaking out, however, are far more powerful. As Jay Sekulow points out the only thing that the Church may not do is support a particular candidate. The Church has the right, as does every pastor, of discussing political issues especially if if those issues involve the church, worship, free expression, and the like. The war against terrorists and the economy are certainly not off limits.

Those members of the congregation who might disagree are already in disagreement with the rest and perhaps can be convinced of the error of their ways. If not, they should not be unequally yoked with those of us who believe in God and country and morality.

I do not understand why pastors do not appreciate their obligation to their flock of giving them moral direction and instruction in political matters. The number of people in our society who do not even know the basic rudiments of our government is mind-boggling. As I've said in previous e-mails, America is at war and worse, we're facing the loss of our country and our values as we know them, and America is at the mall.

FOLLOW UP

I recently learned that at least one Seventh-day Adventist church does not even teach American history.  I spoke to the teacher and he promised that it would be included in next semester's curriculum.

I am appalled.  When I was in school we had American history or civics every single semester every single year.  In addition, the University of California required six units of American history for any degree of any kind.

I don't know when the educational geniuses decided that American history was not important.  However, the result is frightening.  We have a great mob of high school and college graduates wandering around like a lost heard of sheep with no grounding in history or politics.  Sadly, they have very little in religion as well. They have no matrix into which they can fit current events.  Someone very brilliant said to be ignorant of history is to repeat its mistakes.

As result of this we have very few people who are even qualified to vote.  Do we want people to vote who can't even tell you who the president of the Senate is or the Speaker of the House or identify their pictures or tell us who the Secretary of State our Defense is, who the combatants were in the Civil War and the War of 1812 and, for that matter, the first or second world war?

We have a small number of people on the right who are pro-American, pro-capitalism, pro-Christianity, and pro-Judaism most of whom are well informed. On the hard left we find anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity and anti-Semitism.  Sadly, many of the people in this category are also well informed but are motivated by ambition or their emotions.  The battle rages for the votes of the ignorant herd of sheep in the middle.

Who are the shepherds?  Whose job is it to sound the alarm?  Whose job is it to stand with our soldiers in the field and defend America?  Whose job is it to defend our way of life?  Whose job is it to defend our right to worship as we please? If it is our job. The next questions is, What can we do to give the masses enough information so that they can make a reasonably intelligent choice when they vote?

I firmly believe that one of the reasons that negative advertising works and why we see the left lying about anything and everything on a wholesale basis with no compunction whatsoever is because the audience to which they are directing their lies does not know the difference.  It works.  People who are ignorant of the true facts have no way of knowing that they're being lied to.  How do we combat this?

How do we convince the uninformed and unengaged that:

1.  Cutting taxes increases the revenue to the federal government because all taxpayers' income is increased, economic activity is increased as a result of the additional money that is in the economy creating a larger tax paying base? As Jack Kemp said, a rising tide lifts all boats.  The rich and the poor and the government all benefit from lowering taxes.  President Kennedy knew it and said so and did so.  Ron Reagan knew it and said so and did so.  George Bush knows it said it and did so. It worked every single time.

2.  If we don't fight the terrorists abroad we will have to fight them here.

3.  If we don't give our law enforcement and intelligence agencies the tools they need to catch terrorists they will blow us up.

4.  The United Nations is a bad joke.  It's a forum for bashing America and is of negative value.

5.  You cannot negotiate peace with someone whose prime motivation is to kill you.

6.  You cannot negotiate peace with someone who wants to start a global conflict to usher in the 12th Imam (the Muslim messiah).

7.  It is the utmost folly to believe that being nice to terrorists is going to keep them from sawing our heads off.

8.  That this is a Christian nation with Christian moral values.

9.  That without moral values we are lost.

10.  That political correctness is immoral because it elevates form over substance and actually encourages lying and obfuscating evil.

11.  That homosexuality is a sin.

12.  That adultery is a sin.

13.  That the 10 Commandments represent the underlying foundation for the law in all Christian nations.

14.  That lying is a sin.  Perhaps, it is the biggest sin of all.

15.  That American is the greatest, most just, and most charitable nation that has ever existed with the most noble aspirations.

I pose again the question, "What should the shepherds do about this?" Is there an obligation on the part of the church to be a part of the fabric of society?  I think so.  Our very country was founded by Christians who believed that Christianity was vital to our existence.  Almost all of our educational institutions were created by the church.  When did we allow the ungodly to exclude us from participation in the affairs of this nation?  Should we accept our shrinking role in society?  Should we allow ourselves to be shoved into a closet somewhere and forced to worship behind closed doors? Should we allow the very nation we love to be profaned by ungodly secularists who celebrate all manner of deviant and perverted behavior but eschew Christian values?

Does this remind you a little bit of the Old Testament and the repeated failure of the Hebrew nation to remain true to God?  The prophets cried out in anguish trying to stop their people from following after foreign gods; in many cases warning them that God's patience was wearing thin and that retribution was coming.  Should not pastors today be prophets and at least warn people of the danger?

We are like the herd of swine into which Christ allowed the demons to enter running headlong over the cliff to our destruction.  

I ask myself why everyone does not see what's happening as clearly as I do and why our pastors (shepherds) stand by idly. My spirit agonizes over the thought that the destruction of my country that I love so dearly will occur during my lifetime.  I have only recently realized that this is a very real possibility.

I see what's going on as very clearly a struggle between good and evil.  It easy to see that we do not, in fact, wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places.  I wonder if the battle rages in heaven as it does here.  There's a temple in heaven as there was here.  There was and probably is warfare in heaven as there is here.  I pray at least daily for our nation, for Christians, for Americans around the world, for Israel and the Jews, for our president and his administration, and even for our enemies that they become enlightened.  I am trying to speak up and not be a bystander watching this terrible tragedy, while, like "Sweeney Erect," deprecating the lack of taste.

I'm sure I have written more than anybody wanted to read if they manage to read this far.  If they have, I'm deeply grateful and I hope that this caused them to at least think and hopefully, act.
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