Repeatedly, God evaluates people in authority and renders an opinion about their character, behaviors, policies and the skill in which they reigned or governed. I believe we who profess to be Christians ought to do the same in regard to our governmental leaders and their particular party affiliation.
Here are two samples.
Omri: Omri became king of Israel, 1 Kings 16:25-28. The Scripture not only states that Omri, committed evil and sinned more than any other king before him but it says in1 verse 27, that “the events of Omri’s reign, what he did and the things he achieved, are they not written in the book of the annals of the Kings of Israel.” They actually kept historical records of his achievements.
Solomon: “During Solomon’s lifetime [as king], Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, each man under his own vein and fig tree.” – 1 Kings 4:25. By the way, this verse was the basis for the Founding Fathers forming a nation with the freedom to exercise self-government and the pursuit of owning property.
Did you know there is no biblical model whereby God explicitly demands His ministers, as well as His followers, to be silent or to separate themselves from civil leaders or issues?
This is a long document so THANK YOU for making the effort to read and assimilate it. Consider writing your own take on the election, but for sure pass this on to those who you think might benefit from it. This document also has my commentary and definitions of some of the pressing issues and not simply the “position of the Democrats or Republicans.”
For example, I explain dual citizenship, two visions for America, socialism, capitalism and the strength of the free markets. The appeal of Socialism, the moral justification of Capitalism, the issue of divisiveness and other subjects. You will find these explanations instructive as you interact with people long after the election. In some cases, I name names which to me is biblical and important to identify the source of the action, or policy. You will also notice that I reference the cases in my hometown of Portland, Oregon a lot. Never in all my life have I seen such massive destruction and unrest in the city that I grew up in. It is disconcerting to say the least! Also, you will discover that I lean more to the right than the left because I find the right more in line with the Bible and the righteous standard of absolutes.
In August, 2016 I wrote as a private citizen of the United States prior to the general election my evaluation of Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump’s projected policy enactments if they would be elected. If you are interested in this evaluation as well as my take on the 2018 Midterm Elections, please let me know and I will send you an email copy of them. You will find them still pertinent for the upcoming election.
As a follower of Christ, it is important for me to clarify that I believe in the concept of Dual Citizenship. After all, when giving the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus Christ was not only calling us to win individuals to Christ but people groups, or ethnicities. In other words, to bring cultures to Christ. Wow what a challenge! This is one of my goals as a follower of Christ.
Our Dual Citizenship
To clarify, when I talk about America I do not believe America is synonymous with, or as important as the Word of God, salvation through Christ, the Church or the Kingdom of God. I have always believed in dual citizenship—here on earth (Philippians 1:27) and someday citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:20). I never treat God’s principles of salvation equal to the American ideal nor do I justify America when, as a nation, we have done wrong. It is also important, however, to discover who the primary evil doers were in our history. It is not appropriate to generalize “America” when consistently particular groups are the culprits in evil doing. For example, when one lumps all Palestinians into one grouping that are either considered innocent or guilty and then label them as all Arabs is not specific enough. Arab Muslims, Arab Muslim Terrorists, Arab Christians and Arabs are specific people groups within the Arab people. When proper research is done one can determine which of the “Arabs” were responsible for a particular action.
“Only let your conversation [citizenship] be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;” – Philippians 1:27 KJV
“But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.” – Philippians 3:20 NLT
In Philippians 1:27 the word “conversation” means “citizenship” and it is being used of our conduct in the broader society while we are on earth. It is the Greek word, politeuma, where we get our word, politics. It is the same word used, except in verb form, as the phrase “For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven.” – Philippians 3:20. In other words, we have dual citizenships. We ought to be practicing righteousness in the private and public affairs of society while on earth (1:27) and we ought to have our hope in our heavenly citizenship (3:20).
I am a patriot, perhaps because I am a first generation American. I witnessed my parents live frugally and not take for granted their freedoms. In fact, my mother’s relatives starved in Communist Russia. In the last letter she received from her family they talked about eating straw to survive. My Grandfather, whom I knew well, fled Russia because he saw the Bolshevik Revolution — where the Russians would force Germans to fight in the coming war — mounting on the horizon. He left for a country where freedom truly reigned. He remembers the day he saw, “the Lady”—the statue of liberty.
It makes a big difference when one knows the history of America and how she was founded, by-in-large, by Christians rooted in the Hebrew Bible. It is not surprising, then, to learn that the only verse inscribed on the most iconic symbol of the American Revolution, the Liberty Bell, is from the Torah: “You shall proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants” – Leviticus 25:10. America became the one truly Judeo-Christian country.
In 2016 I compared both presidential candidates according to their planned policies and highlighted which of them came closest to the Bible. This election year I am evaluating portions of the platforms of each party—Democrat and Republican. I always first measure a person’s actions, and in the case of the platforms, I scrutinize results of policies which are are practiced and implemented. Like the Apostle Paul said in his letter to Titus, “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him” – Titus 1:16. Rhetoric, especially moral verbiage, is cheap. Facts, actions, and results ought to be our measuring stick.
No party or person will bat a 1,000 but we must vote for the person and/or party that enacts polices that are closest to what the Bible teaches.
Two Visions for America
Contrary to what we hear, the great American divide is not a clash between conservatives who advocate liberty verses progressives who oppose liberty. Rather, the two sides each affirm a certain type of liberty. One side, for example, cherishes economic liberty while the other champions liberty in the sexual and social domain. Nor is it a clash between patriots and anti-patriots. Both sides love America (Although obviously not all love America on either side). They each love a different type of America. One side loves the America of Columbus and the Fourth of July, of innovation and work, and the individual spirit of capitalism, free enterprise, parochial schools, the military, law-enforcement, traditional families and flag-saluting veterans. The other side love the America of tolerance and social entitlements, of income and wealth redistribution, affirmative action and abortion, feminism, gay and lesbian marriage and transgender blending even identifying oneself as a “mermaid.” (For the mermaid reference search for the mermaid, king/queen during the 2020 Democratic National Convention). After all, if one’s identity is a “social construct,” why is not a species a social construct. Clearly the Democratic ideology is psychology trumps biology. This side loves the notion of social policing, not actual police policing, of unchecked immigration, indiscriminate social justice, supporting the Marxist organization, Black Lives Matter, and practices identity socialism.
In November 2020 there is a clear delineation between the two party’s platforms. The great form of Government our Founding Father’s left us was a Constitutional Republic built on, “We The People.” Please exercise your right to vote and I am calling all people who profess an allegiance to Jesus Christ to vote according to their biblical conscience. I attempt to look at as many party policies as possible and then cast my vote. For those of you who do not profess a faith in Christ, I would ask you to vote according to your moral conscience. The following comparisons are not the exhaustive positions of each party, but you will get the general idea as you read.
Remember Christians— you are not selecting
the next pastor of your church☺.
The Democratic & Republican Platforms Contrasted
The courts:
Democrats wish to appoint judges to the courts of the land who believe that the Constitution is a living document that ought to adjust to the cultural changes of a given time and society. The Democrats are proposing to stack the courts if
Biden will be elected to attempt to gain a larger majority.
Republicans purpose to appoint judges to the courts across the nation that support the Constitution as it was written by our Founding Fathers or Constitutionalists. Just this week, President Trump put forth his nomination to the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett who is a constitutionalist.
Immigration:
It is important to clarify a couple of definitions—immigrants and illegals. Immigrants are people who have lawfully moved to this country. Illegals are not immigrants. Illegals are not even “undocumented immigrants,” any more than someone who forcefully seizes my house is an “undocumented owner.” Illegals are, in a precise sense, “aliens” which by definition means, someone who belongs to a foreign country. As an aside, my Dad grew up for part of his life in Canada where he and his father homesteaded land that they owned in Canada for years. They were always called “aliens” because they did not become citizens of Canada. In fact, the Canadian Government always taxed land they owned with what they called an Alien Tax. They were citizens of America and yes, they were legal immigrants.
Most countries that take immigrants do so on the basis of national self-interest. If Canada or Australia need more doctors and nurses, they open their doors to more doctors and nurses. They understand that, even under the liberal theory of social contract, there is no “right to immigrate.” Immigration is a pact between those who want to move to another country and the governing authorities who want to have them.
Democrats believe in open borders in which America ought to accommodate all people without thorough evaluation. Immigrants (aliens) are welcome no matter their background without legal scrutiny and desire to enter America according to our laws of entry. They also believe that any immigrant (alien), legal or not legal, is entitled to our government’s care, and subsidies. Generally, they do not expect people entering to “assimilate” but encourage them to remain with their same cultural, religious values and practices.
Republicans primary desire is to keep our borders safe and secure by only allowing legal immigration for those who wish to become citizens and those who desire to assimilate into America’s way of life by abiding by our laws. Many in the republican party wish to have merit-based immigration like other countries do.
Trump is building the border wall. Walls are built to protect a country from the outside or to keep people in a country. Everywhere this has been done around the globe it has prove to be effective. Without borders, and laws protecting those borders, a country cannot exist. The introduction of drugs, criminals, terrorists, and human trafficking has been reduced since the walls have been built. In Israel, for example, every place a wall has been built, terrorism has been reduced dramatically.
Law-Enforcement:
The Democratic party, made up of progressives, hold an ever-increasing negative view of the police and that they are categorically prejudiced against blacks. They promote the media’s agenda without investigating the actual facts and not communicating the accurate facts to the broader public. Here are some facts: 19 unarmed black people were killed by police in 2019, while there has been a 28% increase in police deaths in recent months. Democratic politicians immediately believe the false narrative that police are prejudice against black people without substantiating these comments with facts. They will believe and promote the cultural and media dogma that police have a genocidal mentality towards blacks in particular. Genocide, by definition, implies the intention to wipe out a people. This is clearly volatile language that is untrue and cannot be substantiated by the actual facts. Therefore, more and more democratic leaders are calling for the defunding of the police. For many Democrats, social justice in the court of public opinion overrules judicial justice where verdicts are handed down from a court of law.
The Republican party is generally pro Police realizing that the vast majority of officers are on duty to protect and serve the public. They realize that without official police, ICE, Border Patrols, etc. it will bring eventual anarchy and the rise of vigilantism. If the police are not present, the people will take matters into their own hands. Without proper governmental authority in place, paid semi-terrorist groups like Antifa will arise and began to control the populations with fear and intimation. This is already taking place in cities like my hometown, Portland, Oregon. Sub terrorist organizations like Antifa, and Black Lives Matter, are rooted in Marxism and their stated purposes are to create anarchy, overthrow our Constitutional Republic ,and defund the Police.
How Each Party Will Govern.
The Democratic Party is becoming more socialistic and in the last four to six years espousing identity socialism. Identity Socialism is defined as: a form of government in which the economic affairs of society belong to the public and not to the private sphere. The wealth generated under Socialism is controlled and distributed by the State. Socialism, the type that Venezuela practices today, is the socialism dogma of the Democratic Party. Eventually the wealth and earnings of the citizens are considered a “common pool” to be harnessed by the state, or the public sphere, and then dispensed according to the government’s objectives and priorities.
Identity Socialism was implemented years ago by presidents like Woodrow Wilson, FDR, and more recently, Barack Obama. Socialism, by its own proponents and policies, creates economic distinctions like rich vs. poor. But for Identity Socialism there is not just two opposing categories—the rich and the poor—but several: whites against blacks, the white majority against people of color minorities, men against women, heterosexuals against homosexuals, transsexuals against straight people, and natives against aliens (not to be called immigrants by me). Identity politics increases under socialism.
It is becoming popular for Democrats to say they do not favor Venezuela socialism, but a Scandinavian socialism. Yet all the proponents of Democratic Socialism from the US have only visited or lavished praises on Hugo Chavez and now, Nicolás Maduro. I will address the Scandinavian and Venezuelan forms of governments in another upcoming article/teaching.
Socialism’s Appeal
In regard to the Democratic Platform being aggressively socialist, they have a huge advantage over the Republican Platform.
The advantage is this: It is a myth that people yearn most for freedom.
Some people, do yearn most for freedom…praise God. But many, if not most people, prefer to be taken care of, even at the price of a loss of freedoms. That is why people almost everywhere in the world prefer a big state to a limited one, even though, by definition, the bigger the state the less the individual’s freedom. That is why the American experiment in limited government was unique in world history. It is not coincidental it was founded by people who revered the Hebrew Bible. As I noted above, the words on the Liberty Bell, the symbol of the American Revolution, are from the Torah, and they are about liberty (Leviticus 25:10).
At this very time in our political landscape the Democrats are intensifying Identity Socialism with leading persuaders like Ilhan Omar, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Rashida Tlaib, Barack Obama, and Democratic governors and mayors across our land.
Below are only a few of the emerging socialistic voices who are influencing the Democratic party in a major way. They are represented by “the Squad.” Their ideologies will become the way the Democratic Party will govern.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is the youngest woman ever to serve in the US Congress, having been elected to represent New York’s 14th district. A self-described democratic socialist, Ms Ocasio-Cortez has effectively used her Twitter and Instagram accounts to make the case for progressive policies, including her flagship “Green New Deal.” Speaking at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, she pronounced capitalism as “irredeemable.” (Search for, Alyssa Taylor, “Ocasio-Cortez calls capitalism an ‘irredeemable’ system”).
A “Democratic Socialist” is a person who espouses and enacts socialistic reforms through the normal Democratic political channels. Yet, at the present time, the self-identified Democratic Socialists are not going through this process to pass laws about immigration, and health care.
Rashida Tlaib, who became the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress and one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress when she won Michigan’s 13th District, like Ms Ocasio-Cortez, is a democratic socialist. Omar, Tlaib, and others on the socialist left, want to abolish ICE, the immigration enforcement authority. All of the leading Democrats are publicly committed to free healthcare for illegals.
Ilhan Omar. Along with Ms. Tlaib, she became one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress when she won Minnesota’s 5th District. By the way, Ilhan Omar’s 100,000-strong Somali community in Minneapolis is the terrorist recruitment capital of the United States. (Search for, Holie McKay, “How Minneapolis’ Somali community became the terrorist recruitment capital of the US, February 16, 2019.)
The Republican Party will govern under a Constitutional Republic with the emphasis on capitalism and the free-market system. Capitalism is a form of government in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state who decides where the profit will be best utilized.
The Free Market works because it encourages people to improve their lives by satisfying the needs of others.
No one starts a business by making a thing or providing a service for themselves. They start a business or make a product to provide for others. In the Capitalistic system the consumer has the ultimate power! The consumer votes with every dollar they spend. In a socialist economy the government has the ultimate power. It decides what you get from a limited supply it decides will exist. Instead of millions of people making millions of decisions about what they want, a few people, the Government Elites, will decide what you should have and how much you should pay for it.
Not surprisingly, 99% of the time they get it wrong.
Have you noticed that late stage socialist economies run out of essential items like toilet paper? Of course, this is not a problem for those who have the right connections with the right people. These chosen people get whatever they want. They become the elite and generally live in luxury, security, and massive wealth. Everyone else is out of luck. This is exactly the case with Venezuela where the Chavez and Maduro families live extravagantly in estates strewn across the world.
Only a Free Market Capitalist economy can produce the wealth necessary to sustain all the socially free benefits given out by the government. To get the free benefits a society must generate enough wealth by creating enough tax revenue to pay for everything the government gives away. Scandinavian countries are not Socialist countries. They are, by their own admission, Market Economies (Search for Danish Prime Minister Lars Lökke Rasmussen). Capitalism is the best wealth generating form of government. Even Hitler recognized this as he kept capitalist industries like Volkswagen in operation to generate wealth for his war machine.
Since 2017, in America, Taxes and government regulations have been reduced and a robust economy has been created—something many thought impossible just a few years earlier. Unemployment in minority groups is at a generational low. Economic expansion gets more people off welfare and helps create jobs. Capitalism promotes jobs, higher wages, and personal freedom. Capitalism leads to Economic Democracy—Socialism leads to the economic dictatorship of the elite!
An Argument for Capitalism
Capitalism has been a controversial institution virtually since its origin, and most certainly since Marx and other socialists unleashed their diatribes against it in the early nineteenth century. You would think that the defenders of the free markets would have given a justification for the financial allocations of capitalist. But we would be wrong.
In the public arena today we hear voices of socialists like Bernie Sanders say, “If we are a nation that can pay baseball players hundreds of millions of dollars, don’t tell me we can’t afford to pay teachers the salaries they deserve.” (Tweet by Bernie Sanders, May 18, 2019, @berniesanders) In typical socialist wording, notice Sanders says we. Sanders slips us a verbal sleight of hand. He has made the assumption that baseball players are payed by government while, the last time I checked, it is the owners who pay the salaries. The fans also are paying the players. The Government pays for teachers, but athletics are paid by the entrepreneurs who know how to generate wealth. Or listen to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who said, “No one ever makes a billion dollars. You take a billion dollars.” (look to Dinesh D’Souza, The United States of Socialism page 178). It is unfathomable for her to think that anyone could earn that amount of money because she has never even attempted the entrepreneurial task to generate that kind of wealth.
Are successful capitalist giving their “fair share?” Are employees receiving their “just desserts” for the labor they render? This issue of fair share and just desserts is encapsulated in Obama’s claim, going back to 2012, that “if you’ve got a business—you didn’t build that…If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. Somebody else made that happen.” Notice that Obama does not mention that the entrepreneurs also paid for the roads, schools, and their share of taxes and probably more than their fair share of taxes. So why should entrepreneurs incur some special or additional obligation to reimburse society for things to which they already contributed their fair share?
All the above people, Sanders, Obama, and Cortez have never owned or operated their own business and don’t know the first thing about how to generate wealth. However, each one of them is a multi-millionaire living in luxury. In fact, the Obamas and Sanders have several mansions to which they can escape. By the way, Karl Marx and his sidekick, Friedrich Engels, never owned their own business and did not know how to generate wealth. Interesting isn’t it that we elect politicians to run the affairs of one of the largest governments in the world without an ounce of skill to create wealth. They are experts, however, in spending the wealth of others!
Entrepreneurs can, and in many cases do, thrive under capitalism. Why? Because they offer something that the lesser paid worker does not offer—the creative industriousness to visualize a dream and bring it to completion.
Here are five things entrepreneurs do when starting a business that the rest of us don’t do, don’t know how to do, or don’t take the time to learn how to do.
1 They start with a Big Idea, or a dream.
2 They figure out how to do it, which usually means they get loans from lenders.
3 They virtually take all the risk!
4 They know how to brand and market their idea.
5 They learn how or know how to operate the business to make it succeed.
The wealth that is generated by these competent visionaries brings benefit to millions of people around the world and thus the entrepreneurs earn the wealth that is commensurate to the success of their business. By the way, so do the people that work for lesser pay in these large wealth generating businesses because they receive pay that is appropriate for their specific work in the organization.
Abortion
Abortion used to capture the attention of people across the nation as an action that was unconscionable. Because I believe as the Bible teaches, that life begins at conception (Psalm 139:13-16) and, therefore, abortion is murder.
Today in 2020, it clearly is not a primary talking point for the two parties, and I emphasize, primary. As a follower of Chris who believes that the Word of God gives us direction in every area of life, it is unfathomable for me to think that any “professing Christian” could vote for a party or a person that espouses the “right to choose an abortion.” If they do so, most of them justify their support of the right to choose because a family member has had an abortion, or the plight of the unborn baby from the impregnated woman has little chance to live a healthy and long life because of the poverty of most of these women. Also, many people simply believe that a woman has the right to kill her infant in the womb if she so chooses.
The Democrats
In a stroke of genius, the Democratic party has reframed and renamed the abortion issue as, “pro-choice.” Of course, a woman has a right to choose to take the life of her unborn baby, but that still makes that choice morally wrong. With the passing of Rowe vs. Wade, the Democrats provided massive support for Planned Parenthood. They believe that the government ought to pay for the procedure. It is an absolute travesty to know that our culture and country has drifted into a twisted and perverse acceptance that calls “evil good, and good evil” (Isaiah 5:8).
The eugenics champions, Margret Sanger and Francis Galton, are getting their wish from their graves—precious black babies are the largest percentage of children aborted. Planned Parenthood, who has even sold baby body parts, only confirms the degradation to which we have sunk. The first time I heard that they were harvesting body parts I got down on my knees and cried. What a travesty. We have lost the ability to “blush” over our sins (Jeremiah 6:15).
The Republicans
By-in-large, the Republican Party has had outspoken voices against abortion espousing “Pro-Life” for all those unborn children in the womb. They believe it is morally wrong to take the life of an unborn baby! They promote adoption over abortion. They also recognize the many challenges of the inner city, things like dilapidated housing, broken families, violence, lack of decent education, and a general spirit of hopelessness. Generally, they understand that the willing impregnated women and the irresponsible and vacant father ought to be held accountable for their actions. The Republicans also believe these challenges can be solved with moral and conservative politicians placed in positions of authority in the inner city who can enact polices to lift people up out of poverty and influence moral behavior.
Private organizations like Pregnancy Resource Centers, and The Right to Life movements have been very effective in giving women and men an alternative to Abortion. Recently, the Trump Administration created “opportunity zones” which was created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to incentivize investment in underserved communities. The belief is that one of the major solutions is to promote economic success, which will help alleviate the pressures which often lead to abortions.
Concern for Persecuted Christians
DemocratsPresident Obama disregarded the sufferings of Christians around the world. He opened the doors of our country to as many Muslims as possible without proper vetting.
Republicans
Under President Trump and Vice President Pence, initiatives have become actions to help persecuted Christians leave their respective countries. The republicans have provided funds for Christians to escape and the President has given executive orders to open the doors to fellow Christians to enter the US. Also, President Trump continues to meet with evangelical leaders and is unafraid to recognize God and the Christian community. How refreshing! Perhaps Mike Pence is influencing him more than we know.
The Second Amendment (It means far more than the right to bear arms)!
One of the last actions socialist and communist countries take to control people is to take away their guns. This has happened in every country run by dictatorial regimes like—Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, and Venezuela.
In Venezuela the socialists began a systematic propaganda campaign to demonize guns and gun owners. This campaign was called “Desarma La Violencia” (Disarm the Violence). The Venezuelan socialists organized a “buy-back” program, very much along the lines of what Democrats like Beto O’Rourke are preposing if Biden wins the presidency.
The term “buy-back” is an Orwellian nonsense. How can you buy back something you never owned in the first place? How can you buy something when you are using the money of the very people who you are taking the guns from?
The Second Amendment, if eliminated, will bring life-altering ramifications. If the general populist is disarmed, as was done in all totalitarian regimes, the governments will likely unleash the armed militias filled with dissidents and protesters. In Nazi Germany they were called the Brownshirts. In the case of Venezuela, they were called the “colectivos” (a collective group of protestors). They were not part of the government per se, but were civilian armed thugs who worked in cahoots with the socialist regime. They were paid by anonymous millionaires to terrorize the common people who protested against or blamed the government for the shortages and blackouts. These thugs are Venezuela’s answer to Antifa. No surprise, Bill Ayers—one of the founders of Antifa—praises the colectivos as a necessary militarized force to defeat the enemies of Venezuelan socialism. “Venezuela must be defended,” Ayers writes, in part because “it’s todays’ proving ground for socialistic alternatives.” (tweet by Rand Paul, August 2, 2019, @RandPaul)
Without law and order, and when the general population is disarmed as is the case in downtown Portland, we will see more murders of peaceful Trump supports and others who happen to be in the way of thugs like Antifa. Three of our grandchildren, along with myself, have seen them up close and personal and it is down-right scary.
When people are disarmed and mobs rule the streets, conformity becomes the socialist minded persuasive norm. The conformity mentality is fostered in every corner of the country as mobs take to the streets. Democratic leaders, of course, consistently call for massive conformity while simultaneously refusing to protect the people. The irony is the conflict and anarchy in Portland, could be solved in less than a week or two if the two Democratic leaders, Mayor (Ted Wheeler and Governor Kate Brown) would empower the police to control the violence as they are trained to do. Peace would be restored and we would not have $70-80 million dollars in property damages due to the destruction caused by rioters. Guess who will pay for this? I just went to get my vacuum cleaner fixed and I was surprised by a new tax I’d never seen before. The business owner shrugged his shoulders and said to me, “I have no idea what this new tax is, but it is coming from governor Kate Brown.” The tax is called, Oregon Corporate Activity Tax (CAT). And ponder this— the people in Multnomah County, Oregon will vote her in again. These social democrats continue to be elected by the voters and we all are paying for their mismanaged policies.
The Democrats, for the most part, support the removal of guns from the hands of the populist. If not immediately—gradually. Joe Biden promised Beto O’Rouke that he would be in charge of gun control if he was elected as President. O’Rourke said this: “If someone does not turn in an AR-15 or an AK-47, or brings it out in public and brandishes it, then that weapon will be taken from them. If they persist, there will be other consequences from law enforcement. But the expectation is that Americans will follow the law.”
Whatever the rational for confiscation of certain weapons, it is not the place of the state to disarm the citizenship. The bottom line is the democrats do not support the 2nd Amendment as it is written.
The Republicans, for the most part, support the right to bear arms. The reality is that criminals will always find a way to arm themselves. We are seeing in present day Portland in September 2020, for example, more and more Democratic backed Antifa gangs and thugs who have increased in their ownership and use of large assault weapons to threaten people. A lot of common citizens are buying AR 15’s because they realize a 22 pistol will not do the job of protecting their families…especially if there are less police on the streets! In addition, many anarchists are now taking to the suburbs, which they have said they would do. Because of the lack of support in funding for the police, the rise of vigilantisms to stop the anarchists will only increase. I talked to a neighbor yesterday and he said he is now putting up an electric fence and is arming himself to protect his family due to the polices’ hands being tied. Can you believe I am even talking like this?
The Parties Positions on the support of Israel.
The Democrats in the past have essentially given lip service to the support of Israel and have sided with the UN, which is vehemently against Israel. If Biden is elected, it will be more of the same. They have caved into the demands of the Muslim Terrorist organizations from the Palestinian ranks. The result is a less-safe middle east, a less secure Israel, and a significant lack of support to Israel as the one democratic form of Government in the Middle East. Israel is our friend and we need friends in that region.
The Republicans have and continue to support Israel. I think this is crucial in the scope of God’s prophetic Word! Under Trump, the US has refused to go along with the radically biased UN against resolutions that support Israel. Trump’s decision and action to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, is a show of support for Israel.
Any Christ-Follower who interprets the Bible from a literal, historical, and grammatical perspective understands God’s master plan and the role that the Nation of Israel plays in the prophetic calendar. Genesis 12:3; Zechariah 2:8 and12:3, are only three passages of Scripture that reveal God’s plan for the nations and for Israel.
By the way, I am so tired of hearing naïve Christians say, “We know how it is going to end so why do anything?” Or, “I am waiting until the Rapture when I am taken out of here!” Or even worse yet, “I praying for the persecution to come so I can die for Christ.” No offense, but how ridiculous are these comments? I do not want my beautiful wife, children, and grandchildren to be martyred for their faith. I want them to live in peace, joy and prosperity in a free country where they can worship the Lord God Yahweh, and bring others to Christ. I welcome Christ’s return, but before He does I am going to “occupy” until He comes (Luke 19:13 KJV). I am more interested in living for Christ then I am dying for Christ…and the latter is only determined by Him anyway.
- Globalism or Nationalism
Globalism is the operation or planning of economic and foreign policy on a global scale.
Nationalism is identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests.
The Democrats
Prior to Trump, the last four administrations: the Bushes, Clinton, and Obama attempted to bring America into unity with the strong forces that are promoting a worldwide unification of countries. These policy placements have only hurt America with regard to economic prosperity, and security. This is one of the reasons Trump is getting push back in just about every possible direction….he is going up against all forms of globalism. George Soros and Bill Gates, to name a couple, are billionaires who support the cause of globalism with the goal to bring America in line with the rest of the world.
Democrats have been sympathetic to globalism starting in earnest with FDR and continuing with various Democratic administrations since that time. The intent of globalism is a noble cause to help bring up impoverished countries to a more equitable footing, but the reality is most of the money is derived from the US without other countries sharing a proportionate load. The result— America suffers the loss of jobs and job creation, and the national debt continues to increase!
Both parties continue to spend
too much money that we do not have!
The Republicans
Trump is a nationalist. He is a traditional patriot, surrounded by the familiar symbols of the flag, the anthem and soldier’s graves. Nationalism is not a distinguishing feature of fascism which Trump is routinely accused of. To take a few examples, Gandhi was a nationalist, as was Mandela. Other anti-colonial leaders were, to a man, nationalists. Winston Churchill was a nationalist, as was de Gaulle. The American founders were nationalists, and so was Lincoln. It makes no sense to call these men fascist as it does to to call Trump a fascist. His policies reflect nationalism all the way and the outcomes have made American stronger militarily, and economically.
The type of Nationalism that Trump champions is for each nation to work to make their own country as strong as possible in every aspect of life. His Nationalism is not promoting isolationism, but just the opposite. He wishes for each country to prosper based on its own merits and America will help countries who are willing and able to help themselves.
Trump get criticized for being so brash with strong rhetoric. Personally that does not bother me and for sure that is not how to scrutinize his policies. My own opinion is Christians are far too sensitive because they simply espouse the medias mantra. My Oh my! where have all the strong rugged Christians gone? We are so tenderized!
A major obstacle preventing the self-sufficiency of countries of the world is “corrupt leadership.” To simply give financial aid to corrupt people in power is a waste of our resources and fosters the destruction of that individual country.
- The World of Academia
The greatest war that is presently raging in America is the battlefield of the mind taking place in our grade schools, high schools, and universities.
Every ideology understands that if a society is to be changed it must be changed starting with children and youth. At the present time, the battle in our schools is being overwhelming won by the ultra-left. Fear and intimidation are now the norm for anyone who attempts to argue their point from the position of absolutes and conservatism. The idea of objective truth is long since passé, and subjectivism rules in the form of post-modernism, multiculturalism, deconstructionism, and political correctness. Here we are told that truth is relative to particular interpretive communities, and that knowledge claims are, at best, social constructions and, at worst, nothing but power plays.
In a recent Zogby poll, taken for the National Association of Scholars,
75% of American college seniors said their professors teach that there is no such thing as right and wrong in a universal objective sense. What is right and wrong depends on differences in individual values and cultural diversity. (Check out Total Truth, Pearcey page 113). This lie has laid the foundation for further perverse behavior.
Our school systems have become the new “social indoctrination” safe zones to transform our children’s moral and cultural values. School districts in nearly every part of the country have adopted gender inclusion policies like the one imposed on Nova Classical Academy. (Look to Get Out Now, page 5). Ignoring biological sex, children are being aggressively indoctrinated in transgender ideologies, gender-affirming classes, encouraging social transition followed by hormone blockers in early puberty, then cross-sex hormones for teens as young as fourteen. As Hasson says in her book, Get Out Now, “gender activists are pushing for earlier medical and surgical transition, shrinking the amount of time for children to ‘figure it out’”, page 56.
The Theft Critique
The predominate critique of America in our public schools is overwhelmingly anti-American. We are experiencing the rewriting of our textbooks, and the distortions about our Founding Fathers. The dogma goes like this: America has become prosperous only because it has stolen land from the Indians and Mexicans and thrived on the backs of slaves. (Look to my article on my blog titled: The Critique—White people stole America, Therefore Reparations Are in Order, August 28, 2020.)
Another subject I will cover later is about “Black Lives Matter.” They are entering our schools and swaying children not only about social issues but how they interpret certain parables of Jesus Christ. One of our grandsons in Seattle experienced this first hand. Friends we must be better prepared!
A dad told me yesterday, while I was at Home Depot, that his daughter who attends one of the most prestigious high schools in Portland, Jesuit High School, that Jesus Christ would be a liberal democrat. Wow! I had a great conversation with him.
The only Political party that is kicking back is the Republican Party. They are initiating a Pro-American Curriculum that teaches the accurate history of America. Trump is threatening to take away federal funding of schools that perpetuate these false unchallenged narratives about America. Clearly the Democratic Party is partners with the pundits who are rendering a derogatory critique of America.
The media is saying the polls are showing that Trump is losing the white women’s vote in the suburbs. Any morally sensitive mother could not condone such ethical recklessness in regard to the education of their child and the gender indoctrination of their offspring. We will see come November 3rd.
On this issue of the corruption in the public schools I speak from personal experience. Every one of our grandchildren in the West Linn and Lake Oswego School districts in Oregon and in King County, Washington, have encountered misinformation about America, have been mildly coerced to embrace the perverted “gender ideology,” and the egregious effort to disregard science and facts with the flight from logic and rationality. One of our grandchildren in Seattle was taken to the Principal because he disagreed with a girl about illegal immigration. We are fortunate to have some of our grandchildren tell us what is happening to them and what is taking place in our schools. Ask your kids and grandkids.
Please avail yourself and expose your children and grandchildren to PragerU where you and your child and grandchild will be equipped to face almost every issue facing them. I cannot recommend this site highly enough.
The Issue of Divisiveness
Over and over again I hear people say that our nation is so divided and that we need to come together. The truth, moral righteousness, coupled with the courage to stand for what is right will always receive kick back and cause division. For far too long Christians and morally upright people have rolled over to the immoral and corrupt behavior of politicians who have chosen to adjust the Constitution, and institute Judicial Laws that violate Moral Laws. Liberal administrators and teachers have infiltrated our schools with blatant lies and one-sided misinformation about social issues, and the history of America. Our school boards and city councils are filled with left-leaning people who do not have the best interests in the future of a traditional America. Our courts on the local and national levels have been dominated by activist judges who legislate from the bench according to their worldview.
With a preoccupation to gain peace and unity —Truth is always compromised!
I learned this while pastoring. While governing with consensus was supposed to foster better outcomes, in reality it only produced a duller knife, if you will. Seeking unity over truth only brings the decision or the direction to the lowest common denominator. By the way, Jesus Christ understood this concept:
34 “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. 35 ‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 Your enemies will be right in your own household!’ 37 “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.”
Yikes! – Matthew 10:34-37 NLT
Of course, we desire to be unified and that is what we work towards, but never at the expense of what is right!
This insatiable desire for peace and unity is dominating many of the local churches across America especially here in the Northwest. Most of them that admit their “white privilege, and racism,” have no record of actually being racist. It is simply an issue of cowardliness. However, the churches who are teaching the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) and are standing on all Truth are growing in numbers, wisdom, and strength. How wonderful is this!
Well that is my take on the upcoming election. Of course, there are more subjects I could have addressed but chose not to. If you have read all these pages you deserve a medal! ☺
I could have covered many more topics like: Health Care, War, Global Warming, Universal Basic Income, Racism, Free College Tuition and others. I will reserve these topics for future articles. Perhaps you will take a stab and write up your opinion about these subjects and even additional subjects. I would encourage you to send out substantive content that comes from your mind and heart and communicate it to others!
Please feel free to pass this on to others who you think might benefit from it.
Please Vote!
Please Encourage Others to Vote!
Vote According to your “Morally Absolute” Conscience! ☺
In Christ,
Dale
The List below are instructive resources that I used to help articulate my opinions:
• Total Truth, by Nancy Pearcey
• Exodus: God, Slavery, and Freedom by Dennis Prager
•The United States of Socialism, and The Death of a Nation: by Dinesh D’Souza
•Get Out Now by Mary Rice Hasson and Theresa Farnan
•The Bibles I use from various versions like the NIV, KJV, and NASV.
•PragerU: an informative site addressing many, relevant subjects. A must for you, your children and grandchildren. Directed by Dennis Prager
•Eternal Vigilance by Mathew D., Staver
•My personal experiences while at Oregon State University and presently interacting with our children and grandchildren who have informed me about what is happening in their classrooms today.
•My blog: dale@daleebel.org referencing various articles. You might enjoy reading some of my over 200 teachings.
The Founders’ Bible general editor David Barton. Every Christ-Follower should own and assimilate the content in this profound Bible.