The First Election in Post Christian America?
The Super Tuesday results are in and both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are leading their respective parties.
This means we are on the verge of having an entire presidential election built on anger and envy.
Today I want to define the bigger cultural problem we’re facing in America. Next week I will propose the short-term and long term solutions.
But first I want you to ponder the following:
Is this the first major election in post-Christian America?
One year ago I was very excited about the 2016 race. After seven dreary years of watching America be divided and transformed by a secular progressive ideological administration. I was heartened that many good people had stepped up. 2016 looked like a great year to point the American electorate back to a freedom agenda.
The Republican side included a number of good-to-excellent governors, two sharp US senators, and a couple of successful business people–with at least four of them being “outsiders” (Trump, Fiorina, Carson and Cruz). They were also a great racial mix of America–black, Hispanic, Indian (Bobbie Jindal) and white.
The Republicans had become the “Big Tent” Party. On the other side stood two old white insiders.
I likened my initial excitement to the beginning of football season. There’d be many contests, then the playoffs, and in the end, the best candidate would prevail.
Because most of the contenders were God-fearing, conservative-oriented people, I assumed that one of them would rise to the top. That’s still possible, but not in the case of the current front-runner who could be the Republican nominee.
Let’s first look at the main remaining candidates and then size up the Church and electorate.
Hillary Clinton
It appears after Super Tuesday that she is sailing toward the Democrat nomination–though she’s a non-inspiring campaigner, a political camelion of sorts, a voice from the past, and appears to have a problem with integrity and truth-telling.
When she was asked by an NBC journalist whether she’s ever lied to the public, she looked flustered and blurted out, “I try not to!”
Try telling your wife you “try not to commit adultery.”
There’s a good chance Hillary will be indicted in the next six months for breaking the law and compromising the security of the United States with her e-mails. If not before the election, then maybe after she becomes president–whereas she can be the first POTUS in history to pardon herself.
Richard Nixon must be rolling in his grave.
Bernie Sanders
If the world were made up of utopian college students, then Bernie would be crowned emperor. You have to like his sincerity about wanting to give everybody free stuff. He’s a modern day Robin Hood (take from the rich and give to the poor) teamed up with Santa Claus.
I wanted to write an article about him naming it “Santa Hood,” but it sounded too inner-city.
Then there’s the problem with socialism: The second “S” in USSR stood for “Socialist” and that nation imploded economically. Cuba has been exporting socialism for years and it’s the basket case of the Caribbean. Socialist Venezuela is on the verge of collapse.
Yes, I know that Europe has many smaller social democracies. But they’re dying spiritually and economically under the paws of government control. Is that that the path that America wants to take?
Managed “socialist” economies only produce one thing over time: equal poverty for all (except for a few elites). Yet, it’s been hilarious to listen to Bernie’s college-age followers talk about socialism. Some even think it’s a form of social media!
Memo to America: It’s time to break up the monopoly of public education and begin teaching liberty again. Ignorance is not bliss. It leads to less opportunity, lower standards of living and ultimately tyranny.
Marco Rubio
He’s young, articulate, charismatic, and Hispanic. He stumbled when attacked by Chris Christie, but has rebounded and just won his first state (Minnesota). In my view he would make a young Ronald Reagan in the 21st century–a good president. He’s not as rigidly principled as Ted Cruz–but thoroughly conservative.
It’s unfair to call him establishment. He became a senator via the Tea Party.
Ted Cruz
He’s probably the only true outsider in the race who is hated by Washington, D.C. for his principled stands. Though not as humble or charismatic as Rubio, his lawyerly, constitutional approach is refreshing. He now has three states under his belt including the large, critical state of Texas.
Howevr, notice that both the secular press and Washington power brokers hate Ted Cruz. That tells you who would make an excellent 45th president.
Donald Trump
Right now he’s the likely Republican nominee, and in my view, that’s concerning. Though I appreciate him initially taking on the entrenched Washington and political correctness, his true character has come out over the past few months and it’s not presidential.
In temperament, he’s simply a junior high bully. He’s says he’s conservative now, but lived most of his adult life as a pragmatic liberal. As president, we don’t know what we’d get. There are no core principles in Donald Trump except self expression.
Here’s the most thoughtful article I’ve seen on the Donald, written by missiologist/revivalist friend George Otis, Jr.
It is well worth your time.
The real draw of Donald Trump is a frightened and angry American electorate that is fed up with the corrupt staus quo (that’s a good thing), but is looking for a King. Trump is tall, brash, and monarch-like. And he also embodies the secrets loves (idols) of many Americans: 1) He’s rich (money). 2) He has a supermodel wife (sex), and 3) He’s an entertainer (fame).
That’s what many Americans desire. They personify their longing in the towering personality of Donald Trump. Hence the powerful draw of his populist message and secular messiah image.
I’m extremely worried about Trump choosing the next Supreme Court justice. That goes for many other areas of public policy. I have no such concerns with Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio.
The American Church
My greatest disappointment over the past months has been with Christian leaders and conservative pundits who have joined the Trump bandwagon. They, too, are so upset at the political establishment that they seem willing to support anything that will crush it.
But I would remind them of this simple truth: the end doesn’t justify the means. The goal of renewing our government is not worth it if done through a foul-mouthed, temper-tantrum bully who doesn’t even believe in the essence of biblical faith–needing God’s forgiveness.
That’s horrendous compromise. It will not have a good ending. Think of King Saul in the Old Testament.
One of the saddest statistics is the number of “evangelicals” that are voting for Donald Trump (and Hillary Clinton). That tells you much about the state of the Church. We already know that many liberal denominations no longer teach God’s truth. But evangelicals have withstood the progressive tide in the past because of their born again values and biblical worldview–taught in the Bible-believing churches.
However, a Rubicon of sorts was passed in 2008 and ’12 when many Christians sat out the election or voted for Barack Obama because of his charisma. In 2016, many evangelicals are joining the Trump tsunami–which reveals one thing: a stunning failure of discipleship on the part of the Church.
(Click here to read a good article by Bill Blankshaen on Christians voting for Trump.)
The American Electorate
There are 323 million people in the United States (third largest country on earth) who are not easy to classify. But it’s increasingly clear that this generation isn’t attuned to the values of their fore bearers. A large segment of our nation fails to understand liberty, does not love or respect God, live for worldly pursuits, and nearly half the nation is receiving some kind of government support–and liking it.
Elections in free nations are cultural “mirrors”: what the people value, they will elect. Right now the majority of voters seem to be valuing a Republican Bully and a Democrat Liar. The voters appear frightened, angry, and envious of others.
Those are not the values of a free and virtuous people.
We’ve had 45 presidential elections in our 240 years as a republic. Yes, we’ve elected some pretty bad leaders during that time (think James Buchannon, Warren Harding, Andrew Johnson, and even Richard Nixon). But during those eras, spiritual awakenings and the Judeo-Christian ethics of the people held the nation together.
We are now in vastly different territory under a mountain of moral and financial debt where virtue and knowledge are no longer the bulwark of freedom. We are about to nominate a worldly bully and a corrupt liar to run against each other for president.
Thomas Sowell agrees. Read his sobering assessment here.
Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton call themselves Christians. But the proof is in the fruit. Both are extremely weak in character–with Trump being childish and Hillary, devious. Clinton’s worldview is clearly secular progressive and Trump’s is all over the map. Both of these disqualify them from guiding a free nation.
But currently they are leading the pack due to another discomforting possibility:
We may be witnessing the first election in Post-Christian America.
(Next week: “Hope Can Be Found in the Way of the Cross.”)
In Memory of Maria
Two days ago, my bladder awakened me at 3:50 am. Stumbling into the darkened bathroom, I did my duty and returned to bed, encouraged that I still had a few hours to sleep.
As I dozed off, suddenly a large BOOM thundered through the neighborhood, rattling the windows, and causing me to bolt up wide awake.
What in the world was that? I’d never heard such a thunderous noise in the nearly thirty years we’d lived on Arlington Place. Must have been a sonic boom made by an airplane overhead.
Still befuddled, I dozed back to sleep.
A few hours later I found out. My friend and personal banker, Maria McDonald and her husband Bill, were found dead in a home that had been obliterated by a horrific blast just a mile away from us.
Today I write in memory of Maria.
There are many bad things taking place in the world that modern communications remind us of daily. People are being slaughtered and are fleeing the Middle East by the hundreds of thousands. We are in the midst of a hard-fought and ever-changing election campaign that will determine the next president of the United States.
But when you lose a friend, the world stands still. You think about life, death, and the reality of eternity. Suddenly human love and affection takes center stage over all the international headlines.
Losing Maria has done that for me.
Here’s what happened.
Bill and Maria McDonald (70 and 65 respectively) lived a mile from our home (as the crow flies) in Port Orchard, Washington–a small town of about 13,000 people located in the center of Puget Sound. In a community of this size, you know many people–even though 60,000 folks are scattered among the trees and the metropolis of Seattle is just across the water.
Two days ago Bill and Marie’s triple-wide mobile home, situated on two and a half areas behind Mullenix Elementary School, simply exploded–leaving most of the debris, according to a first responder, “no bigger than match sticks.” (At this point, the source of the explosion is unknown.)
Though there is heavily forested land between our home and theirs, we felt the blast hit our house causing the windows to shake. Shirley’s parents, who live seven miles away, heard the sonic boom and got out of bed to see what was happening. People in Renton, Washington–forty miles away across the water–heard the explosion.
Now we know why.
The McDonalds’ two and a half acres look like a war zone. Neighbors’ windows were shattered and pictures fell off walls. At the elementary school, 1000 feet through the dense trees, windows were broken by the impact. Recovery crews are finding bits of the house and even family pictures up in trees and on power lines a quarter mile away.
The home is gone–as if destroyed by a tornado.
The blast was so unusual that it made the national news and certainly dominated the local coverage. If you’d like to see an early report on what happened, you can watch it here on the local KOMO News broadcast.
I heard about who had died when I visited my mom that afternoon. She’d gone to the bank earlier that day where Maria worked. It was closed but cameramen were present. They broke the news that Maria and her husband had been killed in the vicious blast.
My mother was one of the first to be interviewed on camera about the death of Maria.
I met Maria McDonald decades ago ago when she started working for Kitsap Bank. This well-known local institution has been our family bank since 1950 when my young doctor father walked through the front door and shook hands–the only terms necessary for getting a loan in those days–with bank president Frank Langer.
Ever since, Kitsap Bank (with numerous locations around west Puget Sound) served as the Boehme family bank.
Maria, from a Guamanian background, started working at Kitsap Bank twenty-two years ago. She was a gentle, kind soul, who was known for her business acumen, sense of humor, service at St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church, and her great cooking. She had recently helped organize a Lenten soup supper at the church.
Husband Bill was also active at St. Gabes, an Air Force veteran from the Viet Nam War, worked with the Knights of Columbus and owned a satellite communications consulting firm.
Bill and Maria have five children and twelve grandchildren.
At a memorial mass held yesterday, both were fondly remembered for their faith and love.
Jarrod Roth said for many:
“There’s something about them that sets them apart from many others in a special way. It’s the way they connected with people. In a loving way, in a self-less way, uplifting way, it was a very humble way of living their lives. In a way it made them larger than life…They’ve touched all of us. They’re gone but not forgotten.”
I never met Bill, but certainly agree about Maria.
As our personal banker, Maria managed all of our YWAM and personal accounts. I always enjoyed coming into the Kitsap branch near our home and seeing Maria perched on her chair in the right corner of the building. Her smile always invited me to come over to work out some kind of problem.
One of those problems drew us close five years ago.
I was traveling and speaking in Puerto Rico in 2011 when Shirley called to tell me that our home had been robbed. It took place in broad daylight and involved some “professionals.” During the only hour of the day when no one was at home, the thieves entered our house and quickly searched through every room on two floors–probably in less that ten minutes.
Our compound of buildings also houses two Youth With A Mission offices.
The police later told us that they were looking for three things: 1) Money (including checkbooks), 2) Jewelry (to pawn), and 3) Fire arms (for you know what).
In ten minutes of ransacking, they took four check books in desk drawers and Shirley’s engagement ring. She felt extremely violated when she came home later that day and found numerous drawers open and her jewelry box plundered.
She urgently called me to ask what to do.
I told her to call Maria and put a stop on everything. When I came home, it took weeks to undue the damage that ultimately cost us $1000 in bad checks. The engagement ring never turned up though I looked through every pawn shop in the area. The thieves were eventually caught and went to jail.
We did learn from the police department how to hide and scatter valuables in your home. If, there’s a next time, the robbers will waste their time.
But back to Maria, our personal banker.
She was the one who lovingly walked us through that ordeal. She not only did the work of cancelling old and creating new accounts, but she also shared her heart and soul with us.
She too had been robbed. So had her daughter. Almost like a grief counselor, she walked us through the process of dealing with our loss with her strong faith, caring personality, and warm smile and comfort.
Every person should have a personal banker like Maria.
That’s why when I heard she’d been killed in the explosion, I nearly cried as if she was a member of the family. In small communities, some friendships are like that. You might not know people socially or intimately, but the friendship is deep and meaningful.
Friendship, on all levels, is a gift from God (Proverbs 17:17).
I learned after the blast that Maria was just two months from retiring from the bank. She and her husband looked forward and planned to travel and enjoy their large family.
All that vanished in an instant.
There are some important lessons here.
First, you can work all your life to attain a goal or an imagined future, and that plan can change in a heart-beat. Thus the importance of placing your life in God’s hands, seizing every day for what it is, and knowing that eternal life for the redeemed is your ultimate destination (Psalm 90:12).
Secondly, life really boils down to two things. Be a good steward of the things God has given you (Titus 1:7-9). You will not have them forever, but God wants us to use them for His glory for our brief time on earth. Even more importantly, serve the people around you (1 Corinthians 9:19). They are your greatest treasure and possess infinite value.
Stewardship and serving are twin pillars of a wise life.
And finally, make sure to befriend and share Jesus with those with whom you have daily contact (2 Timothy 4:2). They include the clerk in the store, your lawyer, your CPA, the neighbors on your block, and your friends at church and at play.
Talk about God’s kingdom. Point them to Jesus. Love and encourage them.
I write these words to remind myself to press on.
In memory of Maria.
Antonin Scalia: Supreme Human Being
I don’t know if the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia set off a flourish of revelation. Or if the primary battle in South Carolina is spawning new heights of political rhetoric.
But the week following Scalia’s death produced some great social commentary. I want to share some of those pieces with you.
But I especially want to pay tribute to the memory of Antonin Gregory “Nino” Scalia.
He was truly a supreme human being.
Before I get to the impactful life of Justice Scalia, I want to commend four articles that brimmed with insight this week. Please read them at your leisure:
- Global: “How Does the US Economy Compare with the World” by Nicholas Vardy.
- Politics: “Sanders and Trump: Magic Sells” by Charles Krauthammer.
- Economics: “The Lure of Socialism” by Thomas Sowell.
- Justice: “Why Antonin Scalia was a Jurist of Colossal Consequence” by George Will.
Now to Antonin Scalia.
Supreme Personality and Character
I have a few friends who knew Justice Scalia and greatly enjoyed his warmth, wit, musical gift (he loved to play the piano and lead others in singing), gregarious nature, delight in Italian food (he had lunch at the same DC Italian restaurant for forty years) and jovial personality.
Though polar opposites in legal worldview, Justice Scalia and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg were “buddies” who enjoyed opera and taking vacations together with their spouses. Scalia also reached out to Justice Elena Kagan–a staunch secular progressive–and took her to shooting ranges for target practice (not at her!).
The rest of the DC political class should pay attention to such humility and comradery.
Supreme Faith and Family
Antonin Scalia was a devoted Catholic who loved His Lord and practiced his faith. He was married to his wife Maureen for fifty-five years, fathered nine children, and had over thirty grandchildren and great-grandchildren–all of whom adored him.
His son Jim was interviewed on television this week and shared how his dad deeply loved his family–and that what you saw in public of Antonin Scalia you also saw in private. His family legacy will be great.
Supreme Legal Brilliance
Justice Scalia taught us that the law matters. That the law is the written word–period. And that the written word takes its meaning from how history understands it–not what we wish it to mean.
He tirelessly taught that a “living” constitution (bad idea) is like an open marriage: that weakening the contract destroys the relationship it was meant to protect.
Thus, he championed constitutional originalism. Here are ten samples of his eloquence:
1. “What is a moderate interpretation of the text? Halfway between what it really means and what you’d like it to mean?” (Remarks at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C., 2005.)
2. “There is nothing new in the realization that the Constitution sometimes insulates the criminality of a few in order to protect the privacy of us all.” (Majority opinion, Arizona v. Hicks, 1987.)
3. “God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools … and he has not been disappointed. … If I have brought any message today, it is this: Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world.” (Speech at Living the Catholic Faith conference, 2012.)
4. “If you think aficionados of a living Constitution want to bring you flexibility, think again. You think the death penalty is a good idea? Persuade your fellow citizens to adopt it. You want a right to abortion? Persuade your fellow citizens and enact it. That’s flexibility.” (Speech, Wilson Center, 2005.)
5. “A law can be both economic folly and constitutional.” (Concurring opinion, CTS Corp. v. Dynamics Corp of America, 1987.)
6. “If we’re picking people to draw out of their own conscience and experience a ‘new’ Constitution, we should not look principally for good lawyers. We should look to people who agree with us. When we are in that mode, you realize we have rendered the Constitution useless.” (Speech, Wilson Center, 2005.)
7. “It is one of the unhappy incidents of the federal system that a self-righteous Supreme Court, acting on its members’ personal view of what would make a ‘more perfect Union’ (a criterion only slightly more restrictive than a ‘more perfect world’) can impose its own favored social and economic dispositions nationwide.” (Dissent, United States v. Virginia, 1996.)
8. “Bear in mind that brains and learning, like muscle and physical skill, are articles of commerce. They are bought and sold. You can hire them by the year or by the hour. The only thing in the world not for sale is character.” (Commencement address, College of William and Mary, 1996.)
9. “We should start calling this law SCOTUS Care … [T]his Court’s two decisions on the Act will surely be remembered through the years … And the cases will publish forever the discouraging truth that the Supreme Court of the United States favors some laws over others, and is prepared to do whatever it takes to uphold and assist its favorites.”
10. “Every tin horn dictator in the world today, every president for life, has a Bill of Rights,” said Scalia, author of the 2012 book “Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts.” “That’s not what makes us free; if it did, you would rather live in Zimbabwe. But you wouldn’t want to live in most countries in the world that have a Bill of Rights. What has made us free is our Constitution. Think of the word ‘constitution;’ it means structure.”
Samuel Alito: “He was a towering figure who will be remembered as one of the most important figures in the history of the Supreme Court and a scholar who deeply influenced our legal culture. His intellect, learning, wit, and memorable writing will be sorely missed.”
Stephen G. Breyer: “Nino Scalia was a legal titan. He used his great energy, fine mind, and stylistic genius to further the rule of law as he saw it. He was a man of integrity and wit. … He loved his family. He also loved ideas, music, and the out of doors. He shared with us, his colleagues, his enthusiasms, his humor, his mental agility, his seriousness of purpose.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: “From our years together at the D.C. Circuit, we were best buddies. We disagreed now and then, but when I wrote for the [Supreme] Court and received a Scalia dissent, the opinion ultimately released was notably better than my initial circulation. Justice Scalia nailed all the weak spots—the ‘applesauce’ and ‘argle bargle’—and gave me just what I needed to strengthen the majority opinion. … It was my great good fortune to have known him as working colleague and treasured friend.”
Elena Kagan: “His views on interpreting texts have changed the way all of us think and talk about the law. I admired Nino for his brilliance and erudition, his dedication and energy, and his peerless writing. And I treasured Nino’s friendship: I will always remember, and greatly miss, his warmth, charm, and generosity.”
Anthony Kennedy: “His insistence on demanding standards shaped the work of the court in its private discussions, its oral arguments, and its written opinions. … [The] foundations of Justice Scalia’s jurisprudence, the driving force in all his work, and his powerful personality were shaped by an unyielding commitment to the Constitution of the United States and to the highest ethical and moral standards.”
John G. Roberts Jr., chief justice: “He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues. His passing is a great loss to the court and the country he so loyally served.”
Sonia Sotomayor: “My colleague Nino Scalia was devoted to his family, friends, our court, and our country. He left an indelible mark on our history. I will miss him and the dimming of his special light is a great loss for me.”
Clarence Thomas: “Justice Scalia was a good man; a wonderful husband who loved his wife and his family; a man of strong faith; a towering intellect; a legal giant; and a dear, dear friend. In every case, he gave it his all to get the broad principles and the small details right. … It is hard to imagine the court without my friend. I will miss him beyond all measure.”
Supreme Legacy
Looking at the three branches of the American government over the past fifty years, the greatest president of my lifetime is Ronald Reagan.
The greatest Supreme Court Justice is Antonin Scalia.
It’s harder to choose the greatest congressional leader because few in recent history have made a huge mark. The closest, in my opinion, is Ted Cruz whom Dr. James Dobson strongly endorsed this week.
If Ted Cruz isn’t elected president of the United States in 2016, then maybe the next president can nominate him or someone like him to take Scalia’s place.
That would make Nino (and all Constitution-loving Americans) supremely happy.