I recently attended a conference where I met a gentleman, Karl Priest, who seeks to do right in every area of his life. He has spent many years fighting the secular humanists running our schools. He tries to answer the flaws and falsities of evolutionism. I have requested that he and his friend, Teno Groppi, share their thoughts in providing me with some advice regarding this year's Presidential election, see “The Advice” section below.
THE SCENARIO
First, imagine it is November 2008. It’s after the winter and spring primaries and the summer conventions. What happens to the value voter or the principled conservative Christian voter this fall faced with the choice of Senators John Edwards (D) or John McCain (R) in the Presidential election? Edwards like any other of the Democrat Party nominees represents pretty much the Party line: a woman's right to kill her baby; expanded rights for persons who participate in acts of sodomy; status quo on border enforcement; increased taxes and spending will solve Americas problems (Healthcare, Education) etc. Clearly Senator Edwards represents an evil platform from the standpoint of any Christian or social or fiscal conservative.
Senator John McCain like many of the other GOP candidates (Mayor Giuliani, Governor Romney, Senator Thompson and maybe even Governor Huckabee) seems to be a bit better than Edwards except for immigration where they are virtually the same. McCain appears to be pro-life but not necessarily 100% pro-life: he thinks it is okay to terminate babies conceived in rape; he voted to fund embryonic stem cell research which requires the destruction of human life; he holds that states ought to decide whether civil unions or homosexual marriage should be permitted; and he was for amnesty for illegal aliens. Clearly it appears that Senator McCain is 90% pro-life more than any Democratic candidate. So do I vote for him despite his overall shortcomings in other important areas? What does a conservative and a Christian do, when he or she goes into the voting booth with this choice?
THE ADVICE
Well, the following is some guidance and some thoughts offered by Teno Groppi (compiled by Karl Priest) for anyone tempted to vote for the lesser of two evils.
"Settling for the lesser evil is exactly why we keep getting worse and worse candidates. If we will settle for someone who appears just one step to the right of liberal Democrats, that's all the Republicans will ever offer us. We will NEVER get any better if we continue to support lesser evils.
"We're accountable for whom we vote, not for who wins. The results are up to God; our job is to DO RIGHT.
"Every vote for a godly candidate is a vote for a godly candidate, no matter who wins.
"If you vote for a pseudo-conservative then YOU are responsible for purposely voting them into office. If you vote for a godly candidate you are responsible for supporting a godly candidate, no matter who wins.
"We don't even have to have our candidate win to accomplish much of importance. The last few presidential elections have been virtual dead heats. If we had even a 5% bloc of solid, principled, constitutional conservatives who would not compromise, the GOP would know they needed that 5% if they ever wanted to win. Then they'd HAVE to run a more conservative candidate to win back our votes.
"All that's needed is for Christians to stop throwing away their votes on lukewarm frauds and vote only for godly candidates. That's what will make those parties viable. If Christians stop voting for moderate/liberal fakers, the 3rd party candidates would get enough votes to at least force the GOP to run honest conservatives if they want to win. That's all it takes. The problem is simply that Christians won't stand for righteousness. They want to support a "winner", even if that winner is 75% liberal. So long as the other guy is 90% liberal, they think they're doing well.
"If Republicans were the answer, America should be a virtual Eden by now.
"That's not to say Democrats are the answer, but they are at least honest about being liberals and socialistic. The GOP has had plenty of chances, but there are not enough truly conservative Republicans to enact their own platform. The "Big Tent" philosophy has done nothing but make the GOP more like the Democrats. If they cannot keep their own party conservative and constitutionally American, how could they possibly bring the country in the right direction?
"If you vote for a pseudo-conservative you actually have voted for a loser. Christians have gotten so far away from God's word that they no longer have a clue of what winning and losing is. Winning is doing RIGHT, no matter what. Compromise is LOSING.
"I'm not concerned with being a majority. I'm concerned with being RIGHT. I'd rather be in the minority and be RIGHT. I'd rather vote for a godly "loser" than an ungodly "winner".
"We need to SPEAK UP and vote for politicians who will not compromise. I'd rather vote for a loser than vote for a winner who won't deliver on why I voted for him.
"Democrats and Republicans are two wings of a bird flying the WRONG way!
“. . . Democrats and Republicans are two degrees of the same poison. One is slow acting and the other is fast acting. Either way society is heading for death (judgment)."
THE RESPONSE
Looking at the facts in the scenario and the above advice provided by Groppi and Priest, what should I do in the voting booth? Pull the lever for McCain or any of the other compromising GOP candidates and get 4 more years of unprincipled political poppycock where none of the issues near and dear to me is ever effectively addressed? Or do I withhold my vote or vote for any third party candidate who more closely reflects my personal beliefs and principles knowing full well that the chances of electing a Democrat would insure 4 years of further entrenchment of the culture of death and a continued slouching toward Gomorrah?
It seems to me the choice is clear and by not voting for either party as many did in 2006 or voting for a principled third party candidate will send a loud and clear message that the status quo, even if it means allowing God to reprove America through the godless, evil Democrat Party platform and policies, that is better than continuing to accept compromise. Maybe the GOP will hear the message my 3rd party vote or my “non-vote" will send them in 2008, if they do not put forth an acceptable candidate. At this point only Rep. Duncan Hunter and Ambassador Alan Keyes fit the bill for me as completely acceptable candidates. Governor Mike Huckabee at this point could be considered marginally acceptable at best, which might in itself be an admission that he too is neither sufficiently godly nor sufficiently conservative to get my vote.
THE BOTTOM LINE
So if this was November 2008 and I was walking into the voting booth, I would pull the lever or write-in a conservative alternative to McCain or Edwards. I would not in good conscience be able to vote for either. As Groppi and Priest said, the two candidates are mere wings of the same fowl.
THE SCENARIO
First, imagine it is November 2008. It’s after the winter and spring primaries and the summer conventions. What happens to the value voter or the principled conservative Christian voter this fall faced with the choice of Senators John Edwards (D) or John McCain (R) in the Presidential election? Edwards like any other of the Democrat Party nominees represents pretty much the Party line: a woman's right to kill her baby; expanded rights for persons who participate in acts of sodomy; status quo on border enforcement; increased taxes and spending will solve Americas problems (Healthcare, Education) etc. Clearly Senator Edwards represents an evil platform from the standpoint of any Christian or social or fiscal conservative.
Senator John McCain like many of the other GOP candidates (Mayor Giuliani, Governor Romney, Senator Thompson and maybe even Governor Huckabee) seems to be a bit better than Edwards except for immigration where they are virtually the same. McCain appears to be pro-life but not necessarily 100% pro-life: he thinks it is okay to terminate babies conceived in rape; he voted to fund embryonic stem cell research which requires the destruction of human life; he holds that states ought to decide whether civil unions or homosexual marriage should be permitted; and he was for amnesty for illegal aliens. Clearly it appears that Senator McCain is 90% pro-life more than any Democratic candidate. So do I vote for him despite his overall shortcomings in other important areas? What does a conservative and a Christian do, when he or she goes into the voting booth with this choice?
THE ADVICE
Well, the following is some guidance and some thoughts offered by Teno Groppi (compiled by Karl Priest) for anyone tempted to vote for the lesser of two evils.
"Settling for the lesser evil is exactly why we keep getting worse and worse candidates. If we will settle for someone who appears just one step to the right of liberal Democrats, that's all the Republicans will ever offer us. We will NEVER get any better if we continue to support lesser evils.
"We're accountable for whom we vote, not for who wins. The results are up to God; our job is to DO RIGHT.
"Every vote for a godly candidate is a vote for a godly candidate, no matter who wins.
"If you vote for a pseudo-conservative then YOU are responsible for purposely voting them into office. If you vote for a godly candidate you are responsible for supporting a godly candidate, no matter who wins.
"We don't even have to have our candidate win to accomplish much of importance. The last few presidential elections have been virtual dead heats. If we had even a 5% bloc of solid, principled, constitutional conservatives who would not compromise, the GOP would know they needed that 5% if they ever wanted to win. Then they'd HAVE to run a more conservative candidate to win back our votes.
"All that's needed is for Christians to stop throwing away their votes on lukewarm frauds and vote only for godly candidates. That's what will make those parties viable. If Christians stop voting for moderate/liberal fakers, the 3rd party candidates would get enough votes to at least force the GOP to run honest conservatives if they want to win. That's all it takes. The problem is simply that Christians won't stand for righteousness. They want to support a "winner", even if that winner is 75% liberal. So long as the other guy is 90% liberal, they think they're doing well.
"If Republicans were the answer, America should be a virtual Eden by now.
"That's not to say Democrats are the answer, but they are at least honest about being liberals and socialistic. The GOP has had plenty of chances, but there are not enough truly conservative Republicans to enact their own platform. The "Big Tent" philosophy has done nothing but make the GOP more like the Democrats. If they cannot keep their own party conservative and constitutionally American, how could they possibly bring the country in the right direction?
"If you vote for a pseudo-conservative you actually have voted for a loser. Christians have gotten so far away from God's word that they no longer have a clue of what winning and losing is. Winning is doing RIGHT, no matter what. Compromise is LOSING.
"I'm not concerned with being a majority. I'm concerned with being RIGHT. I'd rather be in the minority and be RIGHT. I'd rather vote for a godly "loser" than an ungodly "winner".
"We need to SPEAK UP and vote for politicians who will not compromise. I'd rather vote for a loser than vote for a winner who won't deliver on why I voted for him.
"Democrats and Republicans are two wings of a bird flying the WRONG way!
“. . . Democrats and Republicans are two degrees of the same poison. One is slow acting and the other is fast acting. Either way society is heading for death (judgment)."
THE RESPONSE
Looking at the facts in the scenario and the above advice provided by Groppi and Priest, what should I do in the voting booth? Pull the lever for McCain or any of the other compromising GOP candidates and get 4 more years of unprincipled political poppycock where none of the issues near and dear to me is ever effectively addressed? Or do I withhold my vote or vote for any third party candidate who more closely reflects my personal beliefs and principles knowing full well that the chances of electing a Democrat would insure 4 years of further entrenchment of the culture of death and a continued slouching toward Gomorrah?
It seems to me the choice is clear and by not voting for either party as many did in 2006 or voting for a principled third party candidate will send a loud and clear message that the status quo, even if it means allowing God to reprove America through the godless, evil Democrat Party platform and policies, that is better than continuing to accept compromise. Maybe the GOP will hear the message my 3rd party vote or my “non-vote" will send them in 2008, if they do not put forth an acceptable candidate. At this point only Rep. Duncan Hunter and Ambassador Alan Keyes fit the bill for me as completely acceptable candidates. Governor Mike Huckabee at this point could be considered marginally acceptable at best, which might in itself be an admission that he too is neither sufficiently godly nor sufficiently conservative to get my vote.
THE BOTTOM LINE
So if this was November 2008 and I was walking into the voting booth, I would pull the lever or write-in a conservative alternative to McCain or Edwards. I would not in good conscience be able to vote for either. As Groppi and Priest said, the two candidates are mere wings of the same fowl.
.
Again, special thanks to Karl Priest and Teno Groppi for their valuable contribution to this article. I urge you to visit Karl's website, "Insects: Incredible and Inspirational" and explore the depth of God's creation in some of the wonders of nature.
Yes, Greg -- please DON'T vote!!!
ReplyDeleteYes -- Please Don't Vote!
posted 01/02, by kent wicker Add IM (viewed : 5)
Popularity 5 (0 encourage, 0 discourage)
Please leave the voting to people who can distinguish Christ's message from their own ego and cultural baggage!
Seriously, I don't think Jesus would be very upset with John Edwards, whose vision of America corresponds very nicely with a lot of Biblical precepts -- probably more than any other candidate.
Whereas Jesus came down very hard against those who confused petty rule-making (e.g., "he's pro-life, but not as wildly, extremely pro-life as I happen to be, so he doesn't meet my standard..." etc.) with true love and walking with the living God.
--kwix