WHY GOD IS NOT A REPUBLICAN . . . NOR A DEMOCRAT
Posted on November 17, 2007 - Filed Under Elections, News, Third Party
By Todd FishkindWhen you really come to know God’s HEART, when you feel His pulse and heartbeat, as revealed in Holy Writ, you come to appreciate the good sides of both major political parties, and come to dislike the undesirable small-mindedness in both as well. (Political, I said? Now, the very word, in and of itself, denotes, at least in its common connotation, a sense of loyalty to one body of information, one camp, one side, etc. Unfortunately, in life, not ALL TRUTH is contained in just one camp, humanly speaking). And so, much to the chagrin of many “fellow republicans”, and even fellow Christians, I do not, nor can not believe that the Republicans convey nor possess the entire picture when it comes to the governing of human affairs; and much less when it comes to GOD’S HEART on such matters! The mean-spirited, socially exclusive, favoritism-toward-the-rich reputation they have is not by mere chance. They earned it. And the new “compassionate conservatism” held forth by Governor Bush is hopefully more sincere (from the heart), than the latest makeover we have seen from Gore.
God’s heart is ever that of NEARNESS AND COMPASSION toward the truly needy, broken-hearted, broken-spirited, helpless and homeless in the land. God is no repector of persons. God does not favor the rich and powerful. In fact, it says in Holy writ “, … consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God.”
Sounds like an upside-down Kingdom to me. If you are tired of business as usual in this world, then look to God and His ways. You will definitely NOT be politically correct, nor even RELIGIOUSLY correct, inasmuch as you are not in accord with man-made religion. All will not speak well of you. Instead, you may find yourself walking the tightwire of balance, while people on both sides are occasionally throwing rotten tomatoes at you. These are some of the marks of a free thinker.
Many Republicans say, in effect, “This is the land of the free. Work hard and you will prosper. Climb out of your ghettos, (either literal or imagined). Break free of all the racial and generational bondages and be your own man (or woman); make your own life! No one is holding you down but yourself, and your perceptions of yourself.” And there is some truth to this. But, there is MUCH MORE of the Truth to be told! Tell this to a young man or woman who perhaps had no father, and is SO spiritually broken down and helpless within, in some cases, without proper parental role models, that he or she cannot see any way out of their dilemma. Many face a backdrop of social conditioning, hurts and injustices of all kinds that is hard to understand if you have not walked in their shoes. (Tell a gang-banger or meth producer - from ANY race, for that matter, to quit their highly lucrative lifestyles of crime and go get a job). College? A meaningful career? This is ideal . . perhaps an all-uphill climb for those whose parents recently immigrated, or whose descendants were cruelly wrenched from another land and forced to lead a life of slavery. (We HAVE come a long way, but so much has yet to change). Impossible? No, just ideal. And how can the ideal become Real unless the mean-spirited, do-for-yourself idealism of strictly Libertarian Republicans is brought down to earth, back to reality.
As the old saying goes: “Give a man a fish and you’ve fed him for a day. Teach him HOW TO FISH and you’ve fed him for life.” In this light, we can see how critical wise and balanced social programs can be. (Not a welfare state where we rob the productive of their hard-earned income, but workfare, where those who are willing to work are given greater opportunity to honestly rebuild their lives). The greatest failure of social institutionalism is where it fails to rebuild the human spirit. Interestingly, this is one of the great failures of the Church as well, for this is Her job. “To whom much is given, much is expected.”
The Conservatives are correct to stand up and resist the destruction of babies who are yet in their mothers’ wombs. This evil is most blatant during the late- term “partial birth abortion” where their feet are sticking out the mother and their brains are sucked out of their skull. Does this sound rude? Too graphic or disgusting to talk about? Not nearly so much as the wretched wickedness of human nature that DEIFIES personal choice - “the right to choose” (murder) over the very sanctity of life! How can any honest soul believe, deep inside, that this monumental smoke screen of human selfishness could possibly be right, and that the God of LIFE HIMSELF does not find this to be an abomination?
And, how could any honest soul so value the Environment (and rightly so!!), every plant, tree and threatened specie, and yet so devalue human life? Easy. To the liberals, human life is sometimes inconvenient. And, by now, in human history, we should know that human nature is supremely selfish, indeed.
And yet, the conservatives, for all their moral values, have missed the mark by 1000 miles when it comes to true, deep compassion for people . . the GROWN ones, that is. They seem to feel that God will bless them for their moral conservatism while they remain blind where it comes to the Kingdom principles, according to Holy writ (which are indeed moral injunctions, as well), such as sharing the wealth, caring for the poor, supporting the widow and the fatherless. Perhaps God has allowed the Democrats in the White House these last 8 years (and running congress for nearly 3 decades) in order to punish and humiliate the Republicans, as they look in from the outside and take a lesson on human compassion and sensitivity. They are moving toward the center, but have they really learned? Time will tell. I will predict this: The Republican party will not exist 12 years from now . . . as we have known it.
In a Monarchical Theocracy, surely God, while fostering individual incentive and enterprise, and the trickle-down concept, would not allow the top 1% to amass most of the world’s wealth. Surely 44 million Americans would not be without health care. Surely, Hollywood and the liberal media would not continue to masturbate the minds and hearts of our youth (and culture at large) with this great Hedonistic onslaught of permissive filth, mind-trash, excessive violence, smut, child porn and the exploitation of our precious women. Again, in any party, we only tend to value human life when it is convenient to do so, or if there’s money in it, or when the polls tell us so. GOD ALONE is both Smart enough and Good enough to rule the world.
Al Gore’s real problem is not Clinton’s Monica fling. That is a colossal smoke screen. The real Clinton albatross is antinomianism (lawlessness), particularly in high places. It’s that whole play-it-to-the-edge and well-over-the-line approach in respect to law. It’s that have-at-it, do-whatever-you-please (legal or not) approach to power in the Oval Office. The worst part about it is that the President is the chief executive officer of the land - the highest law enforcement official there is. And the Vice President is the second, and Gore has been joined right to the hip with Clinton, defending Him all the way. Now, his Jewish running mate, Lieberman - a good man with principle (who DID speak out publicly about Clinton) - is Gore’s latest makeover to, in effect, whitewash over Gore’s rotten, shallow history of say-anything-to-get-elected politics. Of course, the very nature of politics, IN BOTH PARTIES, is a game wherein many decent people are compelled to do indecent things.
If you are a Democrat or a Republican, or an Independent, let me encourage you to think beyond. God’s heart is VERY, VERY BIG . . much bigger than that of the Democratic or Republican party. (God is not even an AMERICAN! . . unless you also consider Him a Spaniard, a Russian, German, Chinese, and all the others as well - how’s that for head-openers? . . . for He is SO inclusive — the ONE TRUE INCLUSIVE PARTY — and yet, so beyond it all at the same time). That is why no one party has it all.
Personally, I am a conservative centrist. Not all Democrats are stinking ultra-liberals. Not all Republicans are bigoted, cold-hearted conservatives. I love the environment and hate her destruction in the name of technological and industrial “progress” by big business interests. And while I appreciate the jobs provided for many millions through the business sector, I deeply abhor the mafia-like attributes it has taken on via over-crowded freeways and unhealthy, smog-filled air, and evils too innumerable to mention that are contrary to the public good. Does anyone for a moment believe that if a person viably marketed an inexpensive electric car, and refused to sell it to big oil, that that person would not end up in a block of concrete at the bottom of the Hudson River?
I profoundly respect human life, in the womb, in the ghettos, in the brothels, even in the Playboy Mansion where womens’ great dignity is cheapened and exploited daily. This is where one Hispanic politician here in Southern California thought it would be so cool to have a fund raising event, and couldn’t understand why it was such a stigma to the Democratic party. Nor does she understand what a profound disservice she has done to our precious Hispanic population, by linking them to this event at the Playboy Mansion - a place that has perpetuated so much vice and wrought such unspeakable damage in the souls of men and women. Deception runs extremely deep. God created sex. Sex is a beautiful thing — like fire . . . in its place. It provides warmth and beauty, but when it gets out of its safe place — the fireplace — it burns down the house . . homes . . marriages . . families. Remember, the height if Liberty is not the freedom TO sin, it is freedom FROM sin. If such “freedom” — so-called today — is defended at ALL costs, even to our own inner, moral destruction, then it is no longer our freedom that we are defending, but our bondage.
I also love moral character - a thing which cannot be legislated or well-quantified in polls, or even in parties. We are like sheep gone astray, herded along, often by our basest instincts, by the media, by slogans and issues, into limited, small-minded camps. They exploit the masses by doing their thinking for them; and all the while they are really promoting party agendas and using sensation and populist issues to incite and lure people in.
Unfortunately, this happens on both sides. One is in power and the other sabotages legislation, appointments to positions, etc, sometimes just to embarrass and thwart the opposition and to use it against them in the next election, much to the harm of the Common Good. Human nature is selfish, and no one group has a monopoly on human nature. That is why God, in Holy writ, condemns factions and needless divisions, as they are so often mere products of the flesh, and not of His Spirit.
God also allows division, or polarization and diversity as a necessary part of our human experience. Because we are so selfish, this diverse polarization calls us beyond ourselves and into a greater appreciation for Who He is, and how His Great Heart is so wonderfully reflected through so many.
I just discovered something the other day. Take the word “ME” and turn it upside down. Then it reads “WE”. Our whole world is upside down with this “ME” mentality, particularly in the wake of the “Me Generation.” Now we have our “Generation X” out there, a whole sea of young humanity who are left with little or no value system at all, so bereft and desperate for vision in these tumultuous times. They need us to show them some light. They need us to BE light for them in these dark times. We need to show them some of God’s love . . . a message that reads much louder than all the politics in the world. We need to reach out to “another kind”, not just “our own”. This is God’s heart. In short, we need to be more like God, for God is not a Republican, nor a Democrat. God has a GREAT, GREAT, GREAT HEART. For God is LOVE.
Note: the following is a guest essay originally submitted during the 2000 presidential primary. If you would like to submit an essay/rant, email us.
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