Some Thoughts on Our Nation

If you are the type of person who thinks its OK to insult, denigrate, or otherwise demean another person because of their political beliefs (or, really, any belief) – if you are OK with wishing ill on another group of people that is different than you, or thinks differently than you – if you are so lazy in your thinking as to ascribe evil to an entire group that has a different political persuasion than you, then I’m here to tell you, you are part of the problem. Perhaps worse, you have unwittingly fallen into the trap set for you by the people who run this country. When they have us fighting one another, when they have us arguing with one another and myopically focusing on our differences, when they have us hating each other, we are easily controlled. All they need to do is continue feeding us the very things that keep us fighting, arguing and hating. Hate and anger are powerful emotions – they tend to dominate when we feel them. They tend to cloud better judgement. They tend to make us blind to other things going on. Hate and anger tear down, they destroy, they wreck.

It doesn’t really matter whether you feel you are justified in your thinking – its wrong. Within the breadth and depth of human experience, there is so much nuance as to make it nearly impossible to paint a group of people with a single brush. There are nuts on both sides of the aisle, there are extremists on both side of the aisle, there are ‘the loud’ on both sides of the aisle. We need to stop giving them the stage. The nuts, the extremists and the loud don’t want to talk and discuss and they don’t want to actually change anything because no amount of change would ever satisfy them. It is because ‘them’ isn’t really ‘them’ – each person within those groups on the fringe has a different idea of what would be satisfying. You see – even within the fringe, there is nuance. The only thing that unifies them is that they believe they are justified in achieving their objectives by ‘any means necessary’…which is as empty as it is destructive. 

So let’s stop giving these people our attention. Let’s stop buying the lies we’re being fed that there are ‘two Americas’. We are all people living in one country and we don’t all think the same way and that’s ok. Most, MOST of us are reasonable, rational, somewhat compassionate, good-natured, respectful people. We want good things for our neighbors and for ourselves. We want to provide for our families and take care of those we love. We care about the suffering of those less fortunate and actually take real concrete steps to alleviate the poverty and hardship we see around us. We aren't fooled into thinking that mere virtue signaling helps anyone.

I’m sad about the state of our nation – this polarization isn’t helping and it is making the reasonable and rational seem like a lonely island…except on that Island is most of us…and quite honestly, most of us feel like we aren’t being heard. The nuts, extremists and the loud are drowning everything else out. Its time to stop giving them the stage and to start discussing, talking, finding common ground, and moving forward. If we don’t, eventually we will forget that America was founded on the freedom to think and believe differently. One side will simply beat the other into submission.

It starts with an accurate view of one’s sphere of influence. Social media has deluded us into thinking that our sphere is bigger than it is. No, you don’t have 500 or 1000 friends. You have about 5-10 actual friends. You live in a specific community and spend the vast majority of your time in that community. Start there. Find ways to serve the people in your community. Invest your time with the people who are actually your friends. Stop watching the news all day. Unplug.

Start small – it’s that simple.

Some Election Thoughts

First, I'm glad that all the yard signs are gone and all of the political ads on television have ceased. No matter what happens from here on out, we can all unite in our agreement of how much we hate the sheer din of a late-stage Presidential election cycle.

Second, this thing doesn't appear to be over - even though the Biden folks have said they think it is. A) Biden hasn't been certified as the victor of any contested state and it looks like ballot recounts will likely occur in at least 2-3 battleground states. Does it look likely that it's over? Yes. Is that assured? No.

Third, I am struck in looking at the results we do have by just how much this election was about ONE person - Donald Trump. You either liked him (or liked what was happening for you, during his presidency) or you disliked him, but either way, it seems clear that most people felt strongly enough about Trump, one way or the other, to go out and vote. I don't think this election had anything to do with Biden or the country's faith in him as a leader - and that's evidenced by the fact that the Democrats didn't take over a majority in the Senate and actually lost several seats in the House. If there was some country-wide sentiment about the vision of the Republican party, then I think you would have seen a Biden presidency and a Democrat majority in the Senate and an expanded majority in the House, but we didn't see that. This election was unique in terms of U.S. Presidential elections in the sense that it was about one person. We felt strongly about Trump, but much less so on the rest of it.

Fourth - we have some serious issues about the execution of elections moving forward. Mail-in balloting was way up this year because of the pandemic, but I'm not sure that the process for handling it is secure. I'm not saying that fraud occurred, but the OPPORTUNITY for fraud was there in a way that it hasn't been in past elections. First, every state has to employ the same rules. I'm sorry Pennsylvania, but you can't decide that you're going to accept ballots as long as they were post-marked by election day. No one is in the dark about when election day is and if you can't get your mail-in ballot mailed well before Election Day occurs, then go to the polls on the day. Second, Florida seemed to get everything right - count the mail-in ballots as they come in so that on Election Day, you have that information ready to go and can simply add the Election Day votes to the total for a quick and straight-forward counting process. There is no reason, even if we allow mail-in voting, that we can't have some solid results, with most precincts in and counted, the night of Election Day.

Fifth, I find it to be either tone deaf, or outright mean-spirited, that people like Michelle Obama would say that everyone who voted for Trump is voting for a 'status quo [...of] lies, hate, chaos and division." That is extremely reductionist and is really a slap in the face to almost 1/2 of the people who voted. The Left would serve itself well to recognize the fact that more people voted for Trump in 2020 than did in 2016 and also that fringes of their own party have done more to sow the seeds of 'hate, chaos and division' than anyone else. It is to their own political detriment that they continue this rhetoric.

The Government Won't Save Us

In recent days, the conversation around President Trump and his "Christianity" has been re-kindled, mostly in light of Christianity Today publicly calling for his removal. If you're not familiar with the story, the president of CT issued an editorial calling for the removal of President Trump from office. You can read the editorial for yourself here.

As I have listened to the thoughts of friends and family in recent days, I would like to suggest the story many of us are telling ourselves, is wrong. Let me break that down:

First, to say that President Trump is immoral and therefore anyone who votes for him is casting their lot with him is, at best, logically false. As anyone who has spent any time following politics knows, our options are not always very good. In fact, most of the time, they are downright cringe-worthy. To paint the picture more specifically - our up-coming choice in 2020 will likely be Trump vs. a very progressive Liberal agenda, both economically and socially. On the social-side of that aisle is a very anti-Christian set of ethics and morals and on the economic side of that aisle is a land of much higher taxes and a boatload of 'free' stuff. To speak for myself, the social stuff doesn't bother me much - this is not a Christian country, and the laws of our land should reflect that, to a point (I will always fight against abortion). With that being said, the economic agenda is truly concerning. When the government puts it's hand in something, that hand never leaves. At the end of the day, voting for Trump may be unpalatable, but the alternative is equally unpalatable and voting for a 3rd party in this country is perhaps noble, but largely unproductive.

Second, there seems to be an illusion that there is some kind of functional difference between Democrats and Republicans. Politicians in Federal office exist, on balance, to a) further their own careers and b) build their own base of power. Few and far between is the congressman or congresswoman who is there to actually represent their constituency or stand on some moral ground. As an example, lost in all of the Trump impeachment stuff was a large spending bill passed by our U.S. Federal Government that was co-signed by many Republicans, and which will be signed by President Trump. In general, I do think Democrats are more likely to raise taxes and increase government spending, but Republicans in recent years seem to be all too eager to do the same. One difference I do see though, is in the future economic plans trumpeted by each party. The 'free stuff' in particular, is of concern.

Back to this underlying story - when I see fellow Christians getting all wrapped up in and bent out of shape by politics I find myself asking, "what are you putting your hope in?" Wanting to affect national policy on issues like abortion or marriage is a worthy pursuit, but Christians should not be surprised when things don't go the way we would like them to. In fact, we should be surprised if they do because folks, this isn't going to get any better. The world we live in will continue to become more and more anti-Christian until the Day that Jesus returns. Over the last 100+ years, we have been very lucky to live in America where Christian values were held up and where we have been free to exercise our faith - both those are quickly coming to an end. You see the evidence all around you - right now it is in legislation, but eventually, the World will not tolerate a Biblical set of values. As we have seen with the gay-rights movement, being apathetic towards homosexuality is not enough, it must be celebrated and affirmed in order to satisfy the people in that movement. Climate Change is another area where I see this; no longer are dissenting voices tolerated, there are now calls to jail people who would cast doubt on anthropogenic global warming. The truth of Scripture is already being bent and altered within certain denominations in order to soothe the "itching ears" of it's hearers (2 Timothy 4:3) and eventually, the World is not going to tolerate a Biblical worldview.

So, to the question "what are you putting your hope in?" - Jesus tells us that in this world, we will have trouble (John 16:33), that we should expect persecution (Matthew 5:11) and that we need to take up our cross daily and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). Paul says that the trials and suffering in this life are light and momentary affliction when compared to the Eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). We, as Christians, are primarily pursuing righteousness in light of the coming Judgement, not a better life here and now. Does that mean we are totally un-engaged with life in this world? No, definitely not, but it also means we are not putting our hope in the things of this World, or in it's leaders.

So, to the Evangelical who would vote for Trump, I say to you, "I understand that this is not a simple issue. There is a lot of complexity here and I don't believe that just because you would vote for him, that you are co-signing on everything he personally represents." To the Evangelical who is against Trump I would say to you, "I completely understand! Mr. Trump doesn't appear to be a very good person and many of his views, values and morals are not in keeping with Christianity." But to all of us, I would say, "Fix your eyes on Jesus and His return! Focus on living your life in a way that is righteous and pleasing to Him - do what you can within your own sphere of influence to help and care for others. Do not put your hope in government or in the person who is President."

In Mark 12, Jesus says, "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what it God's." Jesus knows that we have earthly responsibilities - paying taxes, voting, etc - and that those things affect our life and the lives of many others, but what Jesus is saying here is 'those things that you do should not define you - your things, your money - those are used for Worldly pursuits, but your life, devote your life to God and to pursuing righteousness.'

Just my thoughts - I will not judge my fellow man for their voting choices because these issues are complex and multi-faceted. I will also continue to pray for our President as Paul instructs in 1 Timothy 2. But most of all, I want to live a life in pursuit of righteousness, as a result of faith, and unto the Day of Jesus' return so that I might hear from Him, "well done, good and faithful servant."

Racist vs. Racial

Has there been a moment over the past two years where Donald Trump has not dominated the headlines? Usually it is for stuff he has said rather than stuff he has done, but the most common refrain over the past two years has been something along the lines of Donald Trump and racism, it has been the favored attack strategy by the Left. His recent tweets about Baltimore, specifically the district under Congressman Elijah Cummings, have seemingly pushed the cries of "racism" to a new level. First, let's look at what he said:

"Rep, Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the Worst in the USA...[...]....As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place. Why is so much money sent to the Elijah Cummings district when it is considered the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States. No human being would want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately!"

The media and politicians on the Left have all jumped in to decry this series of tweets as racist. While certainly not nice, and perhaps not fitting of how a President should communicate, it's hard to find evidence of racism here. For review, racism is defined as:

"prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior." - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

The key element of that definition is the part about 'superiority'. In fact, if you look at any functional definition of 'racism', they all contain that very key element. For someone to be 'racist', they have to be espousing beliefs that either a) they are superior to others because of their racial background or b) some segment or group is lesser-than because of their racial background.

The important distinction I'm trying to make here is that there is a HUGE difference between something having a racial element, and something being racist. If you're looking at Trump's tweets, that I quoted above - it's hard to find even a racial element to what he is saying. At no point does he mention race, and these tweets are actually in response to Rep. Elijah Cummings' critical comments regarding the conditions at the Southern US border. What Trump seems to be highlighting here is that Rep. Cummings perhaps ought to be focusing his attention on fighting for the people of his District, and helping to improve their lives, rather than focusing his energy on fighting the immigration policies of our country, an issue that likely does not directly affect many of his constituents in any meaningful way.

But of course that isn't what this outcry is all about, right? Folks like Al Sharpton will jump at any chance they get to inject race into a situation in order to push their agenda...and that's exactly what has happened here. As they believe it, Trump using the words "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess" is evidence of racist attitudes on the part of Trump because Cummings' district is a primarily African American community. In other words, because there is a RACIAL element (perhaps) to this story, that necessarily makes Trumps comments RACIST...which is flat-out ridiculous. The two things are completely separate, most of the time.

The larger point here is that the media and those with a racial agenda on the Left have made and are making a concerted effort to change the definition of words. You can't label someone a 'racist' just because you don't like them. You can't label someone who talks about racial things as a racist. The only times you can label someone a racist are a) when they say racist things, which indicate that the beliefs they have are, by definition, racist, b) when they do racist things and c) when they label themselves as a racist (David Duke would happily be labeled a racist). In other words, the 'racist' label is not arbitrary - it has an actual definition. Just because President Trump thinks the Elijah Cummings' district of Baltimore is a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess", doesn't make him a racist. It is, in fact a very poverty-stricken, high-crime area. That is factual, based on any set of criteria you would want to look at. There are many other areas of the country that are like it. His point in his tweets was not that this area is somehow lesser, or that the people in this area are lesser (which would be racist), but that the people in power, Rep. Elijah Cummings especially, who are supposed to be fighting for the interests of this particular area and who are supposed to be the ones trying to change things for the better, are not doing their jobs. Instead, those people are engaged in other areas of the country, fighting for causes that their constituents probably don't believe is a high priority (I obviously don't know about that last part, for sure, but I'd be willing to wager a large sum of money).

I'm not fighting for Donald Trump here - he's not a great person, he has made a habit of stooping to low levels of communication that are unhelpful and petty - and on top of that, it's arguable that he has said racist things in the past (I would make that argument). What I'm fighting for is the meaning of words. Al Sharpton, and others like him, have already done enough damage to the word "racism", rendering it an almost useless label because of how often they use it. When the Liberal media then doubles-down on it, it will only serves to make the term obsolete.

I do believe that there is systemic racism all over the place, but thankfully, the number of people who are actually racist is minimal. Most of us love people of all kinds, regardless of their racial background. Is Donald Trump a racist? Maybe, but these recent comments are not proof of that. Other things he has said and done in the past are much stronger indicators of how he feels.