A Far Left Turn…You Can Believe In
I congratulate Barack Obama on his victory as President-elect of the United States. I’d also like to congratulate the American people on this peaceful transfer of power which has characterized our Republic for the past two hundred and thirty years. The freedom to vote and elect our own leaders is a special responsibility I hope we never take lightly. In 2008 the American people have spoken. Though I’m deeply saddened by the choice we made in this election year, I also believe in civility and respect in all of our political battles. There is no place for hate or bitterness in our social and political discourse. I commit myself to pray for our new president and support every good effort that he makes to lead America during the coming years.
I also commit myself to stand up to any efforts to turn America away from God and her historic underpinnings of faith. If our new leaders point us in destructive and God-denying directions, I will be one to speak out and resist those efforts in every appropriate way. Our new president is a gifted and talented politician, but his words and record speak loud and clear about the type of change he wants to bring to America.
Barack Obama ran on a message of Change You Can Believe In. If you can trust his words and stated positions, then these are the CHANGES that are coming:
- America will become an increasingly secular nation with greater mocking and attacks on Christianity. Obama calls himself a Christian but he is anti-Christ in many of his political policies. His ideas are doctrinaire liberalism or secularism. In this regard, he has the atheistic press firmly entrenched on his side since only 8% of them attend Church regularly as opposed to 40% of all Americans. This is a primary reason they were so vicious to Sarah Palin: She represented a young and vibrant Judeo-Christian worldview which needed to be discredited. The press saw this as a huge threat to their to their secularizing agenda. The same tactic was used with Governor Mike Huckabee during the Republican primaries. In the liberal view it’s not conservatives who are a threat to America–it is the Christian faith. Will an Obama presidency increase both the marginalization and persecution of Crhistians in America? Do we want to become a spiritually-dying secular state like many European nations, or do we want to remain “America?”
- America will become an increasingly immoral nation with the continuation of the abortion holocaust and the national triumph of gay marriage. Barack Obama told Planned Parenthood that his first act as president would be to push through the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) which would strike down most abortion restrictions in the nation. He also told Rick Warren during the Saddleback Forum that he would appoint activist judges to the Supreme Court. Since we have already killed over 45 million children since 1972, would this multiplication of the “shedding of innocent blood” bring an increase in judgment to our nation? And though Barak Obama has said that he believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, he has strongly supported the gay agenda in America which threatens to destroy the family and could lead to a mass exodus from the public schools by forcing the acceptance of the gay lifestyle on school children. The homosexual lobby has one clear objective: the complete acceptance of perversion including marriage. Will Barack Obama respect the five thousand year history of marriage, or will he pander to the gay interests at the expense of our children?
- America will become an increasingly poor nation with less wealth and higher taxes. Barack Obama does not believe in the capitalism-motivated creation of wealth and prosperity but in the re-distribution of wealth to groups that he favors. He has strong socialist leanings that will raise taxes on capital gains, personal income, and small businesses. In these difficult economic times, many are predicting that his economic prescriptions will turn a recession into a depression. Will he be flexible and pragmatic enough to abandon his liberal philosophy? If he doesn’t, will the wealth and prosperity that America has enjoyed truly become only a memory of the past?
- America will become an increasingly insecure nation with terrorism possibly coming to our shores. Barack Obama has promised to cut the military budget by 25% and bring the troops home from Iraq–regardless of security concerns or victory. He has promised to sit down with dictators without pre-conditions–and our new vice president, Joe Biden, has warned that the Obama administration, due to its inexperience, will be severely tested in the first six months. It’s also very clear that America’s enemies, including Al Qaeda, were rooting for Obama from the beginning. Will Obama’s victory embolden our enemies to bring their fight to the cities of America? For all of George Bush’s faults, the strength of his presidency was putting the enemies of America on the run and keeping us safe for the past seven years. Can Obama do the same with his inexperience and anti-military posture?
I’m not solemnly predicting any of the scenarios listed above. I’m just fearful that President Barack Obama will be who he has said he is. He talks about being a unifier–but with the 4th worst record on partisanship in the United States Senate, does being a unifier mean he will compromise some of his secular principles, or try to “unify” us all into sharing his liberal beliefs? I fear it is the latter.
I also have another concern: The almost messianic hysteria of the Obama election is incredibly scary. Did you notice the people crying and dancing in the streets? You’d think that the Messiah had returned to make everything right with the planet. Is this how they reacted when the Fuhrer of the Third Reich spoke to the masses? Are the people of America so smitten with Barack Obama’s charisma and style that they will think and do anything that he tells us to do? The next four years will answer that question.
Despite these sobering thoughts, my heart is hopeful. Just before Jesus entered the darkest moments of his life on earth, he said to his disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God–believe all in Me” (John 14:1). He knew that God was in control of history, that good would triumph over evil in the end, and that the people of God would ultimately dispel the darkness through faith in his Name. He also knew that the history of nations are like individual lives. There are “dark” chapters in which we must persevere through difficulties and problems, and there are “light” chapters where the grace and blessings of God are robust and clear.
On November 4, 2008, we may have entered a dark chapter in our nation’s history. But God is still at work. And it is our job–as the people of faith–to help turn on the lights again.
America’s Choice – Huckster or Hero?
The 2008 presidential election will soon be upon us–an election of a lifetime. I realize that some of you have already voted, and many of you will see this as preaching to the choir. But some are still undecided, and others have friends that could benefit from this analysis. If the following thoughts speak to you, please forward it on to those whom you might influence.
Some definitions:
1. Huckster – n. 2. One who uses aggressive, showy, and sometimes devious methods to promote or sell a product.
2. Hero – n. 2. A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.
The American Heritage High School Dictionary, 4th Edition
There is a fire burning inside that demands that I speak yet again about the choice Americans face in Tuesday’s election. I felt this burden one other time–in the fall of 1976 when America was facing the choice of a center-right ticket of Gerald Ford and Bob Dole against the far left combination of Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale. I spent that summer writing a book called What About Jimmy Carter which was published two months prior to the election. I then watched in anguish as the electorate foolishly chose Carter whose lack of leadership and deceptive policies brought us four years of misery. That was bad enough. This year there is much more at stake.
America is at a point in history where we could substantially lose both our national strength and God-given destiny if we lose our biblical foundations. In this year’s presidential race, we face a stark choice, and it boils down to this: Will we choose a political huckster who could rip America from its moorings, or will we choose a true American hero who can help reform our floundering nation?
After years of scrutiny and giving him the benefit of the doubt, I have come to the conclusion that Barack Obama is not who he appears to be. Rather, he is an amazingly gifted but calculating politician who is a political huckster–a phony. Using the definition above from “America’s Favorite Dictionary” I will make my case. Barack Hussein Obama is:
- Aggressive – There has never been a national politician so unwilling to build a resume and list of accomplishments than Barack Obama. He is in his forties. He’s never run a business–never authored significant legislation–really never done anything except run for office. Yet he has aggressively sought the presidency for nearly four years. That’s blind ambition.
- Showy – This epitomizes the campaign style of Barack Obama. Remember the international preening in Berlin? The Greek columns at Qualcom Stadium? And most recently the “Presidential Infomercial” where he appears in a setting that’s remarkably similar to the White House or Camp David? Obama is the consumate flashy politician who is big on style but small on substance. He’s a showman–a very good one. Unfortunately, the show has been slick and convincing to many.
- Devious methods to promote a product. This is the most suspect area of the Obama campaign. When he first burst on the scene, he appeared to be fresh and sincere, a new kind of politician that we could trust and believe in. But over the past few months, the real Barack Obama has emerged–and the picture is not pretty. The product he is peddling is himself–and here’s what we have learned about him:
1. He’s devious on moral issues. He says he is sympathetic about abortion, but defining when life begins is “above his paygrade,” he is the Senate’s biggest supporter of abortion on demand (100% Planned Parenthood voting record), and he even supported infanticide while in the Illinois State Senate. He says he supports traditional marriage, but he’s actually a champion for homosexuals forcing their morality upon this nation.
2. He’s devious on national security. He said he is for the troops and their mission, but he voted against funding their operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. He said in the Infomercial that he would “build up the American military” but in times of honesty he has stated that he will cut defense spending by 25%. He says he’s a strong supporter of Israel, but he embraced a PLO terrorist (Rashid Khalidi) who said that the creation of Israel was a “catastrophe.”
3. He’s devious on economic issues. He says he will give a tax cut to 95% of Americans. That’s a lie. First of all, 40% of Americans don’t pay any federal income taxes at all, so how can you give them a tax cut? Second, he will not restore the Bush tax cuts which are set to expire. That means everybody who pays federal taxes will see a tax increase. And we’ve recently learned through the “Joe the Plumber” incident that Obama is a quasi-Socialist. He believes in major government re-distribution of wealth–more in keeping with the principles of Cuba, North Korea, and the former Soviet Union–not the economic ideals that made America a model to the world.
4. He’s devious about his associates and friends. His youthful mentors were Marxists and radicals including Frank Marshall Davis and Saul Alinsky; He took a suspicious loan from convicted felon Tony Rezko; He sat for twenty years (twice a month according to his own words) at Trinity United Church hearing nearly 500 sermons from Pastor Jeremiah Wright but “never heard anything controversial”; He’s a close and present associate of unrepentant terrorist William Ayers. Obama said their kids went to school together (Ayers’ kids are adults and Obama’s are grade school age–go figure) and that he just “lived in the neighborhood.” Obama began his state legislature career at a fund-raiser at Ayers’ home. He also praised Rashid Khalidi in 2003 at a dinner party for the pro-PLO Columbia professor who hurled epithets at Israel (the LA Times is refusing to release the tape of the dinner). If Obama’s friends and associates give us a glimpse of who he really is, then Americans have reasons to be fearful.
5. He’s devious about his past. Why has Barack Obama, a man running for president of the United States, been unwilling to unlock his birth and educational records? What’s he trying to hide? There is a case winding through the courts that claims Obama has lied about his citizenship. This is not a Republican smear campaign–it was launched by a Democrat attorney who was once the deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania. Philip J. Berg claims there is reputable evidence that Barack Obama has lied about his birth and/or citizenship. To run for president there are three simple qualifications: 1) You have to be 35 years old (Obama qualifies), you have to have been a resident of America for 14 years (he has), and you have to be a natural born citizen. The last one is the question mark. Mr. Berg believes that Barack Obama was actually born in Mombasa, Kenya, and may have taken on Indonesian citizenship during his childhood years (in which he used the name Barry Sotoro). Either situation disqualifies from from running for president–just as Arnold Schwartzneggar could never run for president because he was born in Austria. The evidence is pretty strong: 1) an altered birth document that was recently sealed from public scrutiny when Obama visited his ill grandmother in Hawaii, 2) Two different names for the hospital he was supposed to have been born into in Honolulu, and 3) Obama’s Kenyan grandmother stating that she was there when he was born in Mombasa! If Berg eventually wins this case, and Obama is elected president, then he will have to resign and supporters will have spent $600 million dollars on a phony who caused a constitutional crisis. If you want to watch a video about this interesting case, please click here.
6. He’s devious about his faith. Obama calls himself a Christian and has actively courted the votes of evangelicals as Jimmy Carter did in 1976. But the more we learn about his faith, the clearer we see that it is a religious veneer that is anything but biblical. For twenty years he went to a liberation theology church in Chicago pastored by American-hater Jeremiah Wright. In a 2003 interview with his local Chicago newspaper, Obama admitted that he didn’t view heaven and hell as actual places, that there were many roads that lead to God, and when asked of his definition of sin, he gave this absurd and very revealing answer: “Sin is going against your own principles.” What? I know 2nd graders who understand that sin is breaking the commandments of God. Going against your own principles? Hey, Barack–Does it matter what your principles are? Does it matter if God shares those principles? According to Obama’s preposterous idea, Hitler would be sinning to decide not to kill Jews. In ’76 I did not question Jimmy’s Carter’s personal faith–just his worldview. I question many aspects of Barack Obama’s profession of faith.
On the other hand, though John McCain is not my first choice for president, I have grown to greatly appreciate him as a true American hero. He has consistent and principled character. You can trust his words. Even if you disagree with him on an issue (as he and Sarah Palin do on drilling in Anwar), you know where he stands and he doesn’t say one thing and do another. He has been noble in his legislative career, especially in crusading against wasteful government earmarks and spending. He has also authored many major pieces of legislation over the past twenty years. He has a record, principles, and a basic integrity and honesty that makes him a leader America can trust. And finally, there is probably no one in the entire nation who has risked or sacrificed his life more for his nation than John McCain did during his years as a POW in Viet Nam. That sacrifice and understanding of evil will make him an excellent Commander in Chief that will serve our nation well in a hostile world.
Barack Obama is a huckster. John McCain is a hero. It’s as simple as that.
Obama’s America: A Sobering Assessment
America will soon vote in one of the most important presidential elections of our history. The stakes are high because:
- We have not experienced a nation-wide spiritual awakening in many years.
- The tide of moral and economic disarray is accelerating in our nation.
- The next president of the United States will likely choose one to three US Supreme Court justices–setting the cultural course in our land for a generation.
- The choice of presidential candidates reveals a stark contrast in governing principles.
As I wrote previously, that choice is between a FAR LEFT ticket in Barak Obama and Joe Biden and a CENTER-RIGHT ricket in John McCain and Sarah Palin. Even the expremely liberal, pro-Obama Newsweek magazine admitted in last week’s cover story that America is a CENTER-RIGHT nation. So why would we vote for a FAR LEFT president?
I can think of a few possible reasons: 1) The triumph of style over substance. Obama is young, charismatic, and an incredible speaker. However, his policy positions are socially immoral, economically socialistic, and militarily naive. But his likability quotient trumps those concerns with many people. 2) Intellectual ignorance. Many people no longer understand the Judeo-Christian principles that made America a unique and blessed nation in history. Those principles include rights to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, limited government, hard work, personal responsibility, low taxes, secure borders. sound money, and a national destiny. 3) A growing welfare mentality. In an insecure world we want the government to provide health care, manage the economy, oversee my social security etc. Unfortunately, human governments, by design, uniformly fail in these functions (eg. the demise of Europe and “Exhibit A” – the former Soviet Union). But many of us no longer understand this. 4) The historicity of electing an African-American. I, too, could get excited about this possibility if it was the “right” black man or woman. I would enthusiastially support candidates such as Michael Steele, Thomas Sowell, J.C. Watts, or Condeleza Rice for president of the United States. They share America’s historic values and are clear-thinking leaders. Barak Obama is not.
So many people are inclined to vote for Obama–including some evangelicals. What’s an evangelical? A person that believes in the authority of God’s Word and the necessity of sharing his or her faith. This is the scariest part of the 2008 election: It could be the votes of Obama-infatuated evangelicals that put him over the top. In the 2004 election, 22% of professing evangelicals voted for John Kerry–a Far Left politician. Right now the polls show 30% of evangelicals may be inclined to vote for Barak Obama. If that stat is true, then the extra 8% could be the margin that carries Obama to victory.
Then Christians would be responsible for electing an anti-Christian president (in worldview and policies). That’s an extremely scary thought. Can you imagine standing before God one day and explaining how your vote helped bring down a once great and godly nation?
If you think that last point is extreme and far fetched, then you might want to read the following article called “Letter From 2012 in Obama’s America.” It’s fairly long, but it is well researched and reasoned, and is the best article I’ve seen this year on the consequences of the 2008 United States presidential race.
If you are a Christian, please read it with an open mind and heart. Your future may depend upon it. Here’s the link. May God speak to you.