camel eye

Point seven of Jim’s healthcare reform measures:  let plaintiff attorneys run the ambulance services.  They are already chasing them and transportation would be free to the consumer (on a contingency basis).

Seriously now, take a piece of paper and make two columns:  one for McCain and one for Obama.  Under each candidate, answer the following questions.  Don’t guess.  Write only what you are sure of.  Put a question mark when you don’t know or are unsure.

How much less tax will you personally pay in 2009 under McCain?  Under Obama?  Projected 4-year change in deficit spending under McCain?  Under Obama?  Projected 4-year increase in national debt?  Projected troop reduction as of June, 2009?  First year cost of economic stimulus package?  Projected 4-year change in military spending?  Favor of Fascist Corporatism for economic bail-outs?  Favor of intelligent design theory?  Does proposed healthcare plan allow free second opinions?  Proposed 4-year change in border security funding?  Support of gay marriage ban amendment?  Believes sexual orientation is not relevant?

That’s a lot of question marks.  We are pathetically uninformed.  What little we do “know” is too often only opinions from other people who don’t know much more than we do.  When my Sunday school class did this exercise, the only two answers, that were not question marks, were in the wrong columns!

Way too often, we are influenced by outright lies presented as fact.  All too often, these lies clog my inbox and are from a long list of forwarding Christians.

False witness is serious business. Serious enough to be number nine of the ten commandments.

Did you get the latest email about “Obama explains national anthem stance” on meet the press?  Refusal to salute the flag, rewriting the national anthem, changing the flag design, he and Michelle attending several flag burnings, etc.?

Wow, that is pathetic.  I must forward that to everyone on my email list!  We must expose this!  I suppose liberals get similar lies about McCain but the hate mail I receive is about Obama so I’ll use this as a typical example.

The problem is, the Meet the Press gig didn’t even happen. Obama was not there. Guests that day were Tom Friedman and Joe Biden. This email began more simply in October of 2007, nearly a year before the fictional broadcast. The lies to include Meet the Press and General Ginn were embellished recently. Second, there is no Dale Lindsborg, the alleged author, at the Post. It takes all of 90 seconds to figure this out.  The email is totally bogus slander.  Lies.  False witness.

This whole thing was started by a photo taken at an Iowa political event where Obama had his hands folded in front of him while others on the platform had their hand over their heart. What the photo didn’t tell you was that the anthem and flag ceremony hadn’t started yet.  That didn’t stop the lying Christians.  They had a photo and that’s all they needed.

While this picture was making the rounds (October, 2007), political columnist John Semmens, a political satirist at the Arizona Conservative, wrote parody about it in his “Semi-News” page  (http://azconservative.org/Semmens118.htm).  He wrote a mock explanation making up the obviously false quotes.  Humor.  Someone read it, it fit their agenda, and they started an untrue email campaign presenting it as genuine statements from Obama. It is, and always has been, political humor. Other spoofs in that Semmens page included mandates requiring employers to distribute free fruit in the workplace, distribution of contraceptives to 11 year old girls because of the Lewinksy episode, fines for obese people who order high calorie meals at restaurants, and “opening our borders and extending a welcome to the teeming masses yearning for the free education and free health care that our wealthy country owes them.”

Obvious satire.  Presenting it as fact is bearing false witness.  Forwarding that email, as fact, is bearing false witness.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40).  If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).  God didn’t say VOTE for Obama. He very explicitly said LOVE Obama just as we love ourselves and just as God loves us.

Spreading false witness is not love. It tells the world that our faith is merely situational and we choose to love what is convenient and choose to slander what is not.  It does nothing for our great commission and only makes us look foolish and ignorant.  I can look foolish and be ignorant quite well all by myself and don’t need the help of anti-so-and-so zealots.

“A truthful witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies” (Prov. 14:5).
“The righteous hate what is false, but the wicked bring shame and disgrace” (Prov. 13:5)

The world sees the truth and we are not part of it.  The world sees the hypocricy and it is us.   Our children see our example and imitate us.

Instead, why are we not celebrating our generous gift of democracy?  No party has a monopoly on good policy and we all agree we could use a deeper pool of constructive ideas.  Our nation has problems but it’s far from falling apart.  Other countries can only dream of conditions as good as our crises.   We are passionate, and critical, because we have tasted what freedom and democracy can cause and are challenged to perpetuate and expand them.  What foreigners see as a country of spoiled whiners is actually a nation intent on improvement.  If we allow our passion to become anger, we lose focus, we lose progress, and we eventually lose our country.

“The simple believes everything but the prudent looks where he is” (Prov. 14:15).  Wise advice.

As we vote for the candidate most politically like us, what are we really after?  We will never agree with everyone on everything but the common goal is an exalted nation.  We want a leader to lead us to exalted nation status.  “Righteousness exalts a nation” (Prov. 14:34).  “A throne is established by righteousness” (Prov. 16:12).  In my human viewpoint, I’ve been looking in the wrong place.  I was worried about tax policy, foreign policy, economic stimulus, and VP qualifications.   From a divine viewpoint, I should be looking for righteousness.  A candidate tuned in to God is always going to be the better choice.  Not just a Christian, but a man who seriously seeks God’s will.

What is a righteous man?  “John came to you to show you the way of righteousness”  (Matt, 21:32).  “The righteous will live by faith” (Romans 1:17).  “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ” (Romans 3:22).

God’s choice is the righteous candidate.  Not the perfect candidate.  Not one over another because there is an “R” or a “D” after their name.  He wants the one tuned in to Him.  The one He can work with.

How do we know a righteous man?   Our hearts are known by our actions.  But, in a political campaign, the clowns will tell us whatever we want to hear whenever it is convenient for getting another vote.  Personally, I ignore what others say about them and look directly at what they say and write.  Preferably, what they say and write before the campaign starts.

In this election, we do have a clear choice regarding righteousness.   Consider these quotes and writings of our two candidates, with names omitted, and see if a righteous one emerges:

When asked pointedly, “is Jesus Christ your personal savior?”, candidate responded, “I am a man of faith. I have deep religious beliefs and values.”  Righteous or not?  I don’t hear “yes” and Bin Laden also has faith and deep religious beliefs and values.

“And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life. It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn’t fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. The questions I had didn’t magically disappear. The skeptical bent of my mind didn’t suddenly vanish. But kneeling beneath that cross, I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works.”  Righteous or not?

Regarding baptism, one candidate says “I’ve been in discussions with Pastor _____, and we’ll continue those discussions.”  Righteous or not?

“It means I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and that I am redeemed through Him. That is a source of strength and sustenance on a daily basis. I know that I don’t walk alone. But what it also means, I think, is a sense of obligation to embrace not just words, but also through deeds and expectations that God has for us. And that means thinking about the least of these - acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God.”  Righteous or not?

Righteousness exalts a nation.