Culture
The Demonic Triad
We’re now two weeks away from one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime.
I want us to ascend from hovering over the swamp and take a sweeping 30,000 foot view from a visual airliner.
I’ve been thinking recently about one of the most important clauses in Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address: “that government of the people, by the people, and for the people should not perish from the earth.”
That sentence is in serious jeopardy in 2016 America. Why?
Because of a Demonic Triad. Read More
Why Do the Democrats Hold an Electoral College Advantage?
As the 2016 US presidential race moves into the final ninety days, there’s been a lot of talk about the Democratic Party’s Electoral College edge that could lead Hillary Clinton to victory.
This advantage is well known, but I’ve never heard anyone explain it Did it just emerge out of nowhere? Did the Dems buy off some states that they now hold in their pocket? Or is there something we can learn about the Electoral College that might give us our marching orders?
Much is at stake in the 2016 contest and beyond. So why do the Democrats hold an Electoral College advantage?
First of all, let talk about the US Electoral College of which most American voters know very little.
It’s an institution that elects the President and VP every four years. Citizens do not directly elect the president or the vice president. Instead, they elect representatives called “electors”, who generally pledge to vote for the leaders their states have chosen via the popular vote.
Electors are apportioned to each of the 50 states as well as to the District of Columbia. The number of electors in each state is equal to the number of members of Congress to which the state is entitled, while the Twenty-third Amendment grants the District of Columbia the same number of electors as the least populous state, currently three.
Therefore, there are currently 538 electors, corresponding to the 435 Representatives and 100 Senators, plus the three additional electors from the District of Columbia. The Constitution bars any federal official, elected or appointed, from being an elector.
Except for the electors in Maine and Nebraska, electors are elected on a “winner-take-all” basis. That is, all electors pledged to the presidential candidate who wins the most votes in a state become electors for that state. Maine and Nebraska use the “congressional district method”, selecting one elector within each congressional district by popular vote and selecting the remaining two electors by a statewide popular vote.
The candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes (currently 270) for the office of president is elected to that office.
The Twelfth Amendment also provides for what happens if the Electoral College fails to elect a president or vice president. If no candidate receives a majority for president, then the House of Representatives will select the president, with each state delegation (instead of each representative) having only one vote.
If no candidate receives a majority for vice president, then the Senate will select the vice president, with each senator having one vote. On four occasions, most recently in 2000, the Electoral College system has resulted in the election of a candidate who did not receive the most popular votes in the election (George W. Bush).
Recently, a Republican strategist suggested that John Kasich choose a mainstream Democrat from another state and run a “Unity Ticket” against both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. He noted that if these two candidates win their home states, then neither Hillary nor Trump can reach 270 electoral votes, thus throwing the election to Congress as outlined above.)
That’s your civics lesson of the day.
Why did our founders set up this system instead of just using a direct vote of the people?
Because they were smart. They realized rightly that “direct democracy” easily devolves into mob rule and group think. They also didn’t want the bigger states dominating the little ones. That’s another form of tyranny by the masses. They wanted the smaller states to have a fair say–for their votes to be meaningful.
So the Electoral College was born. It’s really a brilliant design to balance the power of large and small.
This brings us to the advantage of the Democratic Party in the Electoral College. Here’s the math to make it simple:
- At the present time, eighteen states in America reliably vote Democrat in every presidential election. Those states are on the west coast and eastern seaboard–and include some very large states such as California and New York. These eighteen states–called the “Blue Wall”–contain 237 electoral votes–just 23 short of what’s needed to win.
- Another fourteen states–most of which are in the Mid-west and South have reliably voted Republican for years. But they are states with smaller populations and thus smaller Electoral College votes. The red States make up 101 electoral votes.
This gives the Democratic Party a huge advantage. Their candidate, unless they’re a murderer or spouse-beater, has a pretty strong lock on 247 electoral votes. They only need to snag a few more states–like Ohio and Florida–or any other combination of smaller states to win.
On the other hand, the Republican standard-bearer needs to run the table of many states to add enough electoral votes to their 101 to triumph.
Thus the “Blue Wall” electoral “lock” of the Democrats. This has been true of every presidential election since Ronald Reagan swept 49 states in 1988. Since that time, the “Blue Wall” has emerged to frustrate many Republican candidates for president.
Why is this so?
Here is the reality behind the electoral math.
1. America is in a world view battle in which the Judeo-Christian worldview is being overtaken by the secular/atheist worldview.
In terms of colors, biblical faith equals red and secular progressive equals blue. Over the past five decades more people have become secular than have been born again in Christ.
2. Secular group think has mushroomed in the urban cities of the west and east coasts.
Take my own state of Washington. For the past few decades, if you color a map of Washington by the votes of each county, then your map would look almost entirely red (Judeo-Christian) except for a blue circle in King County (secular) where Seattle is located. By glancing at the map you might think that Washington is a Red State with a blue dot. But, over half of the state’s population lives in that King County blue circle–so WA is usually locked down for the Dems.
Same is true of Oregon (Portland dominating the redness of the rest of the state), and also California where secular, urban Los Angeles gives the country’s most populous state a definite blue edge.
It’s assumed by most people that Hillary Clinton will win this secular “Left Coast.” Urban folks near the Pacific Ocean have tended to turn away from God, biblical morality and traditional values.
The same is true of most of the city-dwellers of the east coast–where much of the national population lies. Big urban states like New York and New Jersey are Democratic strongholds, and the other cities in other eastern and Midwestern states have become breeding grounds for Democratic votes.
3. The secularizing of the public schools (latter 20th century) and the radical atheism that now rules in academia on a collegiate level is a huge mega-phone for atheism.
Most of our colleges, both public (i.e. state universities) and private (Ivy League Schools) are in the cities growing humanist/secularist philosophy like a sociological cancer. They are also churning out “blue votes” by focusing on humanist causes and bashing those who believe in God and share conservative values.
The atheists have understood the following maxim better than God-fearing people: The philosophy of the schools in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.
4. Most of the mainstream media emanates from the cities and multiplies the liberal bias.
Think of the power of Hollywood in the west and Manhattan in the east. The majority of the media outlets in these areas pump out secular progressive news slants on a daily basis ridiculing Christians, advocating for abortion, promoting sexual deviancy, pushing for bgger government, and pointing the culture to man-made solutions instead of humble submission to a Higher Power.
The media are primary sponsors of the growing “Blue Wall.”
5. Human depravity makes it easier to be selfish, secular, and me-oriented rather than developing the strength of godly character.
It’s easier to sin than to be virtuous and self-controlled. So it’s easier to be a Democrat who wants the government to give us everything (like free college education) than to be a Republican and believes you need to work for it and pay for it yourself.
Being liberal caters to the flesh. Judeo-Christians values require character and self-control.
6. There is a devil and a satanic kingdom who are conspiring to bring down the heritage and exceptionalism of the United States through atheist propaganda.
We are not just fighting human words. There is a demonic contingent behind the issues that are trying to destroy both people and nations.
What must the people of God do to knock down the Blue “Iron Curtain”?
First, understand how it was built. Second, pray for God’s awakening of his people to do his will on earth. Third, share our faith with passion as never before! Fourth, possess a greater long-range vision for our neighborhoods, schools, universities, the media and all aspects of government than the other side does.
May God help us.
The Narcissism Epidemic
It’s all about me.
That incredibly narrow statement is the opposite of the first sentence in Rick Warren’s best-selling book, The Purpose Drive Life. It begins with these words:
It’s not about you.
However, the other phrase now seems to be the reigning philosophy in the West–a terrible phenomenon called narcissism. I’d never heard of narcissism when I was a kid. But I know about it now and see it everywhere I go.
Let’s take a look at the narcissist epidemic of our time and what needs to be done about it.
In researching this subject, I consulted a favorite dictionary: Webster’s 1828 Edition–the first one written by Noah Webster in the middle of America’s Second Great Awakening. It’s yuge!, and is sitting on my desk right now opened to the “N’s.” The word narcissist or narcissism is nowhere to be found.
Hmm.
I wasn’t surprised. In my readings of history, I learned that “self-consciousness” and even writing in the first person is relatively new. In fact, historians agree that Augustine of Hippo and St. Patrick of Ireland (in the 5th century AD) were probably the first humans to write books through the eyes of “self.”
In other words, ancient peoples saw the world through the eyes of God, the gods, or the group they identified with. They thought about others, considered themselves a part of others, and didn’t really even think about themselves. To them, a self-centered view of life was narrow, petty, not worthy of comment. It didn’t matter what “I” thought. Life was about others and to be lived for others.
My how times have changed.
Getting back to narcissism, I pulled up an on-line dictionary and here’s what popped up:
- Narcissism. noun. 1. excessive or erotic interest in oneself and one’s physical appearance. Vanity, self love, self-admiration, self-absorption, self-obsession, conceit, self-centeredness, self regard, egotism.
For thousands of years, the above definition didn’t apply to many human beings. Yes, there’s always been sin and self-centeredness. But at least in past centuries, it was oftentimes restrained internally and not expressed outwardly except in the case of thugs or deviants.
But in our day, many selfless concepts just as duty, moral obligation, “loving your neighbor as yourself,” or putting God at the center of your life (the first two Commandments) have gone by the wayside.
A large portion of 21st century Westerners seem completely obsessed with self.
Narcissism shows itself in many forms:
- Education – Children are no longer taught the Golden Rule, respect for authority, and living a life for the common good. Rather, life is all about having good “self esteem” and studying what you want to get what you want out of life. No wonder our schools are failing and kids are bored.
- Vocations – Young people in the West are taught that life is about “doing what you want” and making a lot of money so that you can be successful and happy. In the Christian worldview, that’s backwards: each of us should submit our lives to the Loving God and find His purpose for our lives–not what we want, but “Your will be done.”
- Marriage – Have you noticed how many young couples are no longer doing church weddings where the focus is on God bringing them together for His glory and purposes? Rather, the wedding is “all about us”–going where we want, saying what we want, and having the attention be on two human beings without reference to their Maker and Savior.
- Entitlements – Europe is already composed of many cradle-to-the-grave welfare states, and America is not far behind. Many people don’t vote for good leadership, or what’s good for their nation, but rather “what’s in it for me?” They feel entitled to food, housing, health care, even an abundance of leisure. The work ethic and personal responsibility are dying a slow death. In America, fully 20% of the population have not one family member working.
As America and Europe have become more secular (turning away from their God-and-other-people-centered roots), then narcissism has arisen. The addiction to social media by people of all ages in the 21st century says it all.
It’s all about me. My tweets. My photos. What I had for lunch. What mood I’m in. Much of what goes for healthy social interaction today is simply self-love on steroids.
Narcissism also shows up big-time in our politics. President Obama is the United States’ second narcissistic president, after Richard Nixon. But Nixon lived in a time period when Christian values were still in vogue and love of God and others, civic duty, etc. were widespread. During Obama’s term, those noble qualities have evaporated.
The rise of narcissism is also what makes the present US presidential race so alarming. Four of the five final candidates are garden-variety narcissists.
On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders is a Socialistic who wants to give “free stuff” to everybody. He’s the Robin Hood/Santa Claus of the 2016 race–and hundreds of thousands of people (especially Millennials) have been drawn to his message.
Like attracts like.
Hillary Clinton talks about “Working for You,” but her whole life has been the pursuit of power and money through self ambition.
The front-running Republican, Donald Trump, is unashamedly narcissistic. It’s all about him. Look again at the definition of narcissism above and you will find it can also be spelled T-R-U-M-P. Only difference is it’s an angry version of the Democrat form.
The only non-narcissist of the bunch is Ted Cruz. He’s the one candidate remaining with a solid Judeo-Christian philosophy and outlook. For Cruz (and Fiorina), it’s not about them. It’s about the Constitution–which was meant to be a restraint on self interest.
So what do we do about the narcissistic tidal wave enveloping us?
We do what honest human beings have always done. We pray for ourselves, our neighbors, our friends and our nations. We ask God to invade and change our hearts. The Bible calls this inner transformation conversion, repentance, being born again, or loving God supremely and your neighbor equally.
The only way to accomplish it is to die to yourself (with God’s help).
Life is not about you. It’s about loving Him and others.
In many parts of the world I have given a message called “The Secret of Happiness.” You can watch it here whenever you have the time. Putting God at the CENTER of your life is how we defeat the cancer of narcissism.
Leonard Ravenhill tells us:
“The man who has died to self has no ambitions so he has nothing to be jealous about. He has no reputation so he has nothing to fight about. He has no possessions so he has nothing to worry about. He has no rights, so he can’t suffer any wrongs. He is already dead so no one can kill him.”
The Apostle Paul put it this way:
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24).
Or Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
“The Cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise God-fearing and happy life. Rather, the Cross meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a person, he bids them to come and die.”
Here’s a final meditation on killing the narcissistic spirit:
“When you are forgotten or neglected and you don’t complain and hurt with the sting of self-pity, but your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer for Christ—that is death to self.”
“When your good deeds are misunderstood, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and you don’t let your anger arise in your heart, or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient understanding—that is death to self.”
“When you near with any disorder, tardiness or annoyance, and when you stand face-to-face with greed, extravagance and abuse, and endure as Jesus endured—that is death to self.”
“When you are content with any food, clothing, climate, circumstances, or any interruption by the will of God—that is death to self.”
“When you don’t care to focus on yourself in conversation, or bring attention to your accomplishments, or seek the approval of men—when you can truly love to be unknown—that is death to self.”
“When you can see others prosper and can honestly rejoice in the good fortunes of others and not envy and question God while your needs are far greater and in desperate circumstances—that is death to self.”
“When you can receive correction or reproof from someone of less stature than yourself, and can humbly submit both inwardly and outwardly, finding no resentment or rebellion rising up in your heart—that is death to self.”
“Are you dead to self yet?”
Fittingly, the author of those insights is anonymous.
It was not about them.
How about you? It’s time to learn the lesson while there’s still hope. Because when you die, and arrive on the other side of eternity, the first lesson you face when you meet God is this:
It was never about you.