An Informed Political Decision for Bible Believing Christians
We don’t just need to know that the Bible says about salvation, healing or financial prosperity, but we also need to know what God’s Word says about: military actions, taxes, capital punishment, welfare, investing, the environment, social programs etc. Church parishioners are misinformed because they don’t take the initiative to get informed, and most churches are 501 (3c) corporations and are forbidden by law to take a solid stand for political candidates who support REAL issues. What a joke! I totally understand why so many in the world don’t respect the Church. The Church has the usual sayings: “this world is not my home,” “Jesus is coming soon,” “I’m in the world but not of the world.” Oh give me a break! Though these statements are true, they are cop outs. Many in the Church need to unpack their spiritual bags and stop being so preoccupied with the Rapture (the coming of Jesus). We need to be more concerned about living right lives, influencing those around us for good and being active participants in practicing God’s way of doing things in every part of our everyday life. Jesus is coming back, that has already been established, but He’s not coming back until His enemies are made His footstool (Mark 12:36). This won’t be fulfilled until the Church starts being the Church and stops playing Church! Praying, fasting and reading the Bible are great, but until the Church can master practical application of those spiritual truths in the earth realm, we won’t be as effective as we should be. No one cares that you can speak in tongues, cast out devils and pray the prayer of faith. What matters is can you get results to meet people where they are. Or are you just a powerful Christian within the Church building?
The Issues:
Abortion
Although this is the unofficial “litmus test” for Christian political activism, it is a matter that must be addressed in its most succinct form. The Preamble (Outlines a general philosophy of government that justifies revolution when government harms natural rights), from the Declaration of Independence (1776), states: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.. The pre-born child, whose life begins at fertilization, is a human being created in God's image. The first duty of the law is to prevent the shedding of innocent blood. God hates that (Proverbs 6:17). It is, therefore, the duty of all civil governments to secure and to safeguard the lives of the pre-born. To that end, no Christian should support the practice of infanticide, euthanasia or suicide with your vote or your money, directly or indirectly.
Limited Federal Government, Encourage More Local Government
The closer civil government is to the people, the more responsible, responsive, and accountable it is likely to be. The Constitution, Articles I through VI, lists the powers which may be exercised by the federal government. Article I, Section 8 specifies the authority of the Congress. The federal government was clearly established as a government of limited authority. The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution specifically provides that: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." We the people need to be in charge, not the politicians. We send them to office to serve us, not vice versa. This is a bi-partisan issue; government has been growing exponentially under both major parties: Republicans and Democrats.
Big Government Spending
A legitimate and primary purpose of civil government is to safeguard the God-given rights of its citizens; namely, life, liberty, and property. Only those duties, functions, and programs specifically assigned to the federal government by the Constitution should be funded. The government has no authority to fund the arts, regulate education, transportation, commerce, farming, etc. In fact, some of the tenets of the Communist Manifesto call for these types of regulations imposed by a centralized government. America and Americans have fallen from a mighty long way. It’s time to stand on principle and not follow the candidate with the most money.
Crime
Crime, in most cases, is to be dealt with by state and local governments. The right of states and localities to execute criminals convicted of capital crimes (Genesis 9:6) and to require restitution for the victims of criminals (Exodus 22:1-7) should be exercised. Romans 13:4 states that the civil magistrate “bears not the sword in vain.” We all know that swords aren’t used for spankings or timeouts, they are for executing people. The governmental structure has this authority from God to punish law breakers that deserve this type of punishment. Turning prisons into recreational centers and educational facilities definitely needs to be revisited. Rehabilitation and redemption are great, but tax payers shouldn’t fund this. Trial by jury should also be employed more because many of the lawyers today are not truly interested in justice, rather a settlement and/or another victory under their belt.
Defense
It is a primary obligation of the federal government to provide for the common defense, and to be vigilant regarding potential threats, prospective capabilities, and perceived intentions of potential enemies.
Education
Federal government control of education is one of the tenets of the Communist Manifesto. In America, the Federal government has no authority to control, regulate or fund education. The Bible assigns the authority and responsibility of educating children to their parents (Proverbs 22:6). Parents should decide if they want to home school, or have some other sort of private schooling for their child. Collecting property taxes to fund a public school where your children may not attend is not fair or Constitutional. The chairman of the Communist Party, U.S.A., 1932, William Foster, in his book Toward a Soviet America, called for a U.S. Dept. of Education, the teaching of evolution, elimination of nationalism and religion in schools, the teaching of internationalism, and for the use of the Pavlovian method (direct instruction) on the students. Again, there is no governmental responsibility to educate children. They take our money and teach the children what may not be what the family wants the children to learn. This is totally not in the best interest of our children.
Family
The law of our Creator defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman. This marriage covenant is the foundation of the family, and the family is fundamental in the maintenance of a stable, healthy and prosperous social order (Genesis 4).
Foreign Policy/National Sovereignty
The United States is properly a free and sovereign republic which should strive to live in peace with all nations, without interfering in their internal affairs, and without permitting their interference in ours. American participation in any form of world government organization, including any world court, membership in the United Nations (and its subsidiary organizations), U.N. peace keeping operations, the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and any other such trade agreements should never be allowed. All treaties must be subordinate to the Constitution, since the Constitution is the only instrument which empowers and limits the federal government. American troops must serve only under American commanders, not those of the United Nations or foreign countries.
Unconstitutional, Undeclared Wars
Since World War II, the United States has been involved in tragic, unconstitutional, undeclared wars which cost our country the lives of many thousands of young Americans. These wars were the direct and foreseeable result of the bi-partisan interventionist policy of both Democrat and Republican administrations. Only the Congress has the Constitutional authority To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water; To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years; To provide and maintain a navy; (Article 1 Sec. 8). We are not authorized to give the President the authority to send troops anywhere to enforce UN resolutions or otherwise.
Foreign Involvement/ Foreign Aid
America must deal with its own problems first. Would you feed, clothe and take care of your neighbors while your own family is starving and dying? No! This isn’t to say that I support an isolationist ideology, but we must be good stewards over the resources and responsibilities that God has given to us. The US participates in sending our tax dollars to fund groups like: the World Bank, the United Nations, NATO, the International Monetary Fund, and the Export-Import Bank. These are international groups, not American groups. This means that our best interests are not always the main focus. We need to take care of the issues that we have here in the US, first.
The US also has troops in over 100 nations; this is not authorized by the Constitution. All of the troops that we have scattered throughout the world are not defending US liberty. Some of our troops are protecting our friends and their interests. I am in favor of helping our friends, but not at the expense of my own family. Take care of home first! What is the underlying motive of our politicians taking care of friends before family? Think about that. American taxpayers need that money that’s being used to fund all of these overseas operations in our pockets. A lot of times our government helps, funds, aids and gives comfort to those who do not always have our best interest at heart (2 Chronicles 19:2). This is not a Biblical or a Constitutional stance on this matter; yet many Republicans and Democrats support this type of foreign involvement with our tax dollars.
Gun Control
All gun laws that restrict law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms are Unconstitutional. The right to bear arms is inherent in the right of self defense, defense of the family, and defense against tyranny, conferred on the individual and the community by our Creator to safeguard life, liberty, and property, as well as to help preserve the independence of the nation. The right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution; it may not properly be infringed upon or denied. If gun control existed centuries ago with the British and the Colonists, there would be no America. Restricting the law-abiding citizens from owning firearms would mean that the only people who would have guns would be the government and the criminals. Who is going to defend the average person if we accept gun control? History teaches us that Stalin, Mao and Hitler all supported gun control. Guns are not bad, but guns in the hands of the wrong people are bad; especially when the good people cannot defend against them.
Health Care and Government
The Constitution opposes government intervention and the bureaucracy of American medicine. Government regulation and subsidy constitutes a threat to both the quality and availability of patient-oriented health care and treatment. Hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers should be accountable to patients - not to politicians, insurance bureaucrats, or HMO Administrators. If the supply of medical care is controlled by the federal government, then officers of that government will determine which demand is satisfied. The result will be the rationing of services, higher costs, poorer results - and the power of life and death transferred from caring physicians to unaccountable political overseers. Simply put, medicine is big business in America. The people’s best interests are not the priority in this matter. Healthcare is not a government issue; it is a private matter between patient and doctor. The government should stay out of this private sector matter and let the market determine the best practices. The good healthcare professionals will get the patients and the corrupt doctors will be out of business if the patients are allowed to decide without government intervention.
Immigration
The integrity of the international borders of the United States, the Constitutional authority and duty of the federal government to guard and to protect those borders should be enforced at all times. Can immigrants from any nation come here as they wish? Or just anyone who comes through Mexico? Again, this is an issue that Republicans and Democrats are using as a political hot potato. Allowing illegal immigration to take place and then granting them amnesty is illegal. A certain amount of immigrants who would like to come to America each year and assimilate into our society should be given that opportunity, as long as the established rules are followed. We now have a Hispanic population that has surpassed the African American population. Many of these immigrants are illegal and demanding rights. This is totally unacceptable. Even though many of them are good people who are helping our economy, many people are still forgetting that these people broke the law to get here. Let’s not forget that approximately 25% of the inmates in US prisons are illegal immigrants. Immigrations should be scrutinized more closely and not politicized.
Money and Banking
One function of money is a medium of exchange. The Founding Fathers established a system of "coin" money that was designed to prohibit the "improper and wicked" manipulation of the nation's medium of exchange while guaranteeing the power of the citizens' earnings. The federal government has granted unconstitutional control of the nation's monetary and banking system to the private Federal Reserve System. It is necessary that the United States: Return to the money system set forth in the Constitution; Repeal the Federal Reserve Act, and reform the current Federal Reserve banks to become clearing houses only; and Prohibit fractional reserve banking. Besides, in Article 1 Sec 8 of the Constitution, only the Congress has the authority To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.
Personal and Private Property Security
The Fourth Amendment right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, including arbitrary or de facto registration, general and unwarranted electronic surveillance, national computer databases, and national identification cards. This is not Nazi Germany, Russia or Guatemala where the government just busts down your door, you shut up and let the bullies take what they want. Do we still have the rule of law in this country? We have too many examples of recent history where bad cops and military personnel (not all, just a small, compartmentalized cadre) bust down people's door, arrest people unlawfully, frame people, and abuse the power with which they are supposed to be protecting and serving.
Religious Freedom
Article I of the Bill of Rights reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Our Constitution grants no authority to the federal government either to grant or deny the religious expressions of the people in any place. Both the First and Tenth Amendments forbid such tyranny. No church or religious organization is required to file forms for exemption status as stated in the IRS’s own publication #557……“a church, its integrated auxiliaries, or a convention or association of churches is not required to file Form 1023 to be exempt from federal income tax or to receive tax deductible contributions the organization may find it advantageous to obtain recognition of exemption.”
Welfare
God, who endows us with life, liberty, property, and the right to pursue happiness, also exhorts individuals (not the government) to care for the needy, the sick, the homeless, the aged, and those who are otherwise unable to care for themselves (James 2:15-17). America's welfare crisis is a government-induced crisis. Government social and cultural policies have undermined the work ethic, even as the government's economic and regulatory policies have undermined the ability of our citizens to obtain work. Charity, and provision of welfare to those in need, is not a Constitutional responsibility of the federal government. But they do this because the Church, of course, is asleep again and doesn’t understand its place in this world. Taxpayers of the United States should never be obligated, under penalty of law through forced taxation, to assume the cost of providing welfare for other citizens. Neither should taxpayers subsidize welfare for persons who enter the United States illegally. The message of Christian charity is fundamentally at odds with the concept of welfare maintenance as a right. In many cases, welfare provisions by the Federal government are not only misdirected, but morally destructive. It is the intended purpose of civil government to safeguard life, liberty and property - not to redistribute wealth. Such redistribution is contrary to the Biblical command against theft. Individuals, families, churches, civic groups and other private organizations are mandated to fulfill their personal responsibility to help the needy.
Wage and Price Control
The government has no authority to set wages and prices; so doing is inconsistent with principles of individual liberty and the free market. Let employers and employees decide the wages that each is willing to accept and to pay.
Tariffs and Trade
Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations." Congress may not abdicate or transfer these Constitutional powers to other agencies (domestic or foreign). The US doesn’t need to be apart of the United Nations, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO), Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and all other agreements wherein agencies other than the Congress of the United States improperly assume responsibility for establishing American trade policies. Article I, Section 8 provides that duties, imposts, and excises are legitimate revenue-raising measures on which the United States government may properly rely.
Taxes
The Constitution, in Article I, Section 8, gives Congress the power "to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States." So as long as the government is using our tax dollars for things that they are authorized by the Constitution and God to do, I’m all for paying taxes. Therefore I’m sure that 25-35% or more of your paycheck is too much for the government to take from you each pay period. Let the Federal government do ONLY what it is authorized to do and we the people can keep our money to care for our families, invest, help our neighbors, travel, etc. Moreover, as permitted by the Constitution, the taxation of corporations is an appropriate source of government revenue. The Supreme Court has defined "income" as a "gain or increase arising from corporate activity or privilege."
Terrorism and Personal Liberty
America is engaged in an undeclared war with an ill-defined enemy (terrorism), a war which threatens to be never ending, and which is being used to vastly expand government power, particularly that of the executive branch, at the expense of the individual liberties of the American people. The "war on terrorism" is serving as an excuse for the government to spend beyond its income, expand the Federal bureaucracy, and socialize the nation through taxpayer bailouts of the airlines, subsidies to the giant insurance corporations, and other Federal programs. Any undermining of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments under the guise of "combating terrorism" or "protecting national security" should not be allowed. Examples of such legislation are: the National Security Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and the proposed Domestic Securities Enhancement Act (colloquially known as "Patriot II"). The Patriot Act is as patriotic as Federal Express is a government corporation. It’s a misnomer designed to trick you. No good, patriotic American will vote against the Patriot Act(author sarcasm). It’s here to keep us safe. Yeah right! Next! Governments have used staged terrorists events to take the citizen's liberty for thousands of years, i.e. Nero burned the Coliseum in Rome and blamed it on the Christians, Hitler burning the Reichstag and blamed it on his political enemies, and he also bombed a German base and used that as the pretext to invade Poland. We need to make sure that our government is accountable to us. We can't just give them Carte Blanche trust, so to speak.
Social Security
The Constitution grants no authority to the federal government to administrate a Social Security system. People should be given a choice whether or not they want to be involved in this system. Politicians dip into this large pool of money to cover there short falls in exchange for IOU’s. Let people invest their own money if they want or let some other private sector investment firm(s) be another option. Let the market decide this issue and not let the government have a monopoly over the people’s private money.
{Author’s thought: My choice for President is not a Republican or a Democrat, but it happens to be a man who adheres to the same school of thought and principles that I support: Congressman Ron Paul (R) Texas. Don’t be suckered into the phony left-right debate, the name calling and labeling, i.e., left wing, right wing, centrist, conservative, liberal, libertarian, etc. This is all done to confuse you, just stick with the issues, history, the Constitution and the Bible. I like some of what Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Congressman Duncan Hunter, Senator Sam Brownback, Congressman Tom Tancredo say, but I’m going with Ron Paul because of his strict adherence to Constitutional politics. I don’t know if I agree with him 100% on every issue, but he’s a lot closer than the other candidates. Certainly no one in the Democratic race is worthy of my vote because of their blatant neglect to Biblical authority and a Constitutional mandate; and Christians should really question their belief system before voting. All people need to get informed, and vote based upon principle and not form or fashion. WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!!}
Take the political quiz to see which 2008 US Presidential best suits your beliefs. Then put your beliefs up against the Constitution and the Bible and re-take the test.
Ron Paul is a constitutionalist: Pro-Life, Anti-Tax, Pro-Secure the Border, Pro-Gun Rights, Pro-U.S. National Sovereignty, Anti-War (unjust undeclared war by the President and not by Congress), Anti-Trans Texas Corridor (NAFTA Highway), Pro-Liberty, Pro-Constitution, Pro-States Rights, Pro-Home School, Anti-IRS, Anti-Federal Reserve, Anti-United Nations.
Ron Paul: has never voted to raise taxes; never voted for an unbalanced budget; never voted for the Iraq War; never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership; never voted to increase the power of the executive branch; never voted to raise congressional pay; never taken a government-paid junket; voted against the Patriot Act; votes against regulating the Internet; voted against NAFTA and CAFTA; votes against the United Nations; votes against the welfare state; votes against reinstating a military draft; votes to preserve the constitution; votes to cut government spending; votes to lower health care costs; votes to end the war on drugs; votes to protect civil liberties; votes to secure our borders with real immigration reform.
1 comment:
Fantastic article! I posted a snippet of it and the link at my blog- http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/RonPaul2008
Shana
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