You will have to bear with me for a couple of days as I write about politics. I know it is not considered good manners,and I know that it is one of the three things your mom taught you to never talk about in polite company. My mom taught me the same thing, but I have always been a bit of a rebel, and (gasp), I have never taught this concept to my kids, so we actually talk about politics a lot. Especially lately.
I really am not trying to convince my readers of anything. I think that most of my small audience feels much the same way that I do, they are probably just more polite than I am when talking about it. I am just a writer, amateur at best, I realize, but I like to write about things. It is a stress release for me and it is what I do when I am worried, angry, fearful, and/or concerned. I am all of these things as we come to the final sprint of this election season.
I read a really good article in World magazine this weekend.
(Time out for an infomercial: World is a really well written, conservative weekly news magazine. The very best I can find, with informative articles, interviews, and editorials. It represents both sides of every major issue. Our entire family reads World, and you can get it in "real" paper or online. Check it out!)
The article was written by regular contributor Joel Belz. He wrote about federal regulation and about federal de-regulation. What he said made so much sense to me. I am not very original, so my best ideas are usually someone else's. I want to give Mr. Belz full credit for what I am writing about today.
In my circle of friends and family, most of us are completely appalled over the liberal arguments for government regulations on health care, the food we eat, and everything in between. It seems that they will not be happy until we are a completely socialist nation. Mr. Belz points out that it is really a perfect time for those with socialist tendencies to rise to power because since the Reagan Administration and all the de-regulation that took place during that time, sinful man has abused that power, as we are so wont to do. Now, because we have so much corruption on Wall Street and in big companies, the average citizen truly believes that the only way to reign that in is to give all the control to the federal government.
I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who said that "a government large enough to give you everything you want, is also large enough to take away everything you have."
I will stand by my opinion that big government is not the answer to our nation's problems. I recently had a friend tell me that she believes that we have a "social responsibility to the poor and the elderly." I totally disagree. I believe that we have a moral responsibility to the poor and the elderly. In the book of James, God inspired the words, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world." There are many other verses that speak of the poor, those in prison, and children. Do I feel a responsibility in all of these "social" issues? Yes, I do. Do I believe that the government should be in charge of "spreading the wealth" and that their method of "taking care" of the poor and the elderly is the method that I should be forced to follow, whether I choose to or not? No, I most certainly do not.
Mr. Belz went on to state in his article that there is one big reason why our country stands on the brink of electing as President a man who wants to make us pay more taxes to fund more big government programs to give our federal government more control over our everyday lives than it has had in a really long time. If he is elected, it will be predominantly because of the young people in our country, the ones who are voting for only the first or second time. The ones who are a product of the most socialized government program we have instituted. This is a huge, multi-billion dollar program that 90% of our nation's children participate in, in some form or fashion. The children who are participating in this big-government program are children of liberals and conservatives alike. They are the children of the same people who shudder at the thought of a universal health care system that will cause the practice of medicine in our country to be mediocre at best. Their parents are the same ones who believe in capitalism and free enterprise.
You have probably figured out that I am talking about America's system of education.
Our public schools in America are a prime example of how socialism works. When children are taught the agendas of the state, the emerge from that program loyal to the state. They have been rewarded for following and punished for being different. It is a strange, strange system - but, it has been in place long enough now that those who teach and administer in the system are products of the system, therefore, they do not fight it, most of them actually believe in it. These young men and women are the same ones who will be out in droves tomorrow, voting for a man who promises "change" but has yet to fully explain what he plans to change.
Mr. Belz points out in his article that he has placed his hope in the 10%. The children of our nation who are not being raised by a socialist government program. The ones who are attending private Christian schools or home schools. His prayer, and mine, is that even if it is too late for the 2008 election, that these children will grow up to be our nation's next leaders. That they will stand for the freedoms that so many men and women have died to give us. That they will defend our nation as a nation "under God." My hope is not in our nation or in any government program, conservative or liberal. My hope, and the hope that I strive to teach to my children, is in our Almighty God. He alone can save our nation or destroy it. My prayer is that parent's will teach their children to make decisions with God's law as the only basis for that decision.
I realize that in this post, I have violated not only the etiquette rule that says you shouldn't talk politics, but also the one that says you shouldn't talk religion. The thing is, I don't like religion, and I don't believe that I have any religion at all. I believe in Jesus and in a relationship with Him. I believe that He is the only way to God and that within the pages of His Book, are the keys to all of life. I can't separate that from what I believe is best for this nation.
So, whatever you believe...please vote tomorrow if you haven't already. We still live in a free country and I for one, would like to keep it that way.
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