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Volume 2 • Issue 3 | Fall 2018 | Your Guide to Voting
WHAT’S AT STAKE BEYOND THE ELECTIONS
Christians have a job responsibility; it’s unique, important and powerful. But it’s been largely forgotten. If Christians don’t quickly recognize that we’ve walked out on our job, and make a 180 turn to actually do what we’ve been called to do, then the future of our nation will be in doubt.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”Ephesians 2:10
What are those good works? I believe the privilege of living in a free republic comes with the responsibility to exercise our faith through our voices and our votes to help shape the world around us.
I don’t have to tell you the diagnosis of our culture is not good. The “test results” are in. The statistics reveal the ideas Americans are embracing are counter to God’s truth.
Many of the principles that are being celebrated in our culture today bring nothing but depression and destruction. Our culture is sick and we need to heed the warning of the diagnosis.
A recent Gallup poll on Americans views on morality provides an insightful yet disappointing “diagnosis:”
- 67% of Americans view gay or lesbian relations as morally acceptable
- 65% of Americans view having a child outside of marriage as morally acceptable
- 65% of Americans view smoking marijuana as morally acceptable
- 43% of Americans view abortion as morally acceptable [1]
- 43% of Americans view pornography as morally acceptable [2]
- 54% of Americans view physician-assisted suicide as morally acceptable
When we see the statistics on moral issues we must ask ourselves, do we as Christians look different than others in our culture? Are we creating a culture for Christ or are we caving to a secular culture?
What’s at stake beyond the elections? To put it simply, everything. Morality, family, the preservation of the Christian principles that formed the basis of our nation and most importantly neglecting the incredible job God has asked of us.
It’s our responsibility to act on our faith. To live out God’s truth in our lives to redeem culture for Christ in our communities and in our nation. Voting is one way to advance biblical principles. It’s an opportunity to redeem a small part of the public square for Christ by the individuals we elect and the policy we support.
While the diagnosis seems grim, it’s actually not new. From the beginning, Jesus called on his followers - the church - to be salt and light.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”Matthew 5:13-16
As Christians, we must be faithful with what God has entrusted to us, the power of our vote, and the job God has given us to be salt and light in our culture today.
Let’s act on our faith to live out biblical principles in such a way that others are drawn to Christ in our communities and in our nation!
[1] U.S. Abortion Attitudes Stable; No Consensus on Legality
I don't support the "Equality Act", and do not believe its objectives fall within the purview of federal jurisdiction, according to the constitution -- nor do I believe it would be realistically enforceable. However, when religious people assert that cannabis use is also "immoral" and "unacceptable" (as they do on this web site), it does raise an issue which I feel is important and relevant here:
When Jesus said "let him without sin cast the first stone", did he mean that people who steal or kill should not be punished? Of course not. The statement can only be understood in the context where it was uttered: what Jesus was saying here is that we have no right to punish people for their personal lifestyle choices... yet that seems to be the christians highest priority. When they elect policemen and politicians who enforce prohibitions on the sale, possession or cultivation of herbs, they are essentially hiring someone to cast the first stone on their behalf. Then they claim they are not responsible for the injuries which inevitably occur as a result of their actions. *
It is clearly recorded on page 1 of your bible that every herb was created by God as a gift to mankind, to be taken INTERNALLY as food or medicine. Every herb has a medicinal use if you know what it is and how to apply it. And many synthetic medicines are inferior copies of molecules found in nature. Sometimes these compounds are synthesized in a lab to simplify manufacturing -- but in many cases, this is done solely for the purpose of creating a patent monopoly on the medicinal applications.
We have now discovered that marijuana cures some types of cancer. We can literally watch it arresting the growth of cancer cells, and many patients have been completely cured by cannabis after their physician abandoned them to die. But why should we have to wait until we get cancer to take it as a dietary supplement? How do you justify harming so many innocent people simply because you hate smokers? Truth be told, those who are most devoutly religious just want to feel superior, and they often point out trivial faults in others because they are too insecure to confront greater faults in themselves.
As this organization is chiefly concerned with imposing its brand of "morality" on U.S. citizens, and modern christians often assert that this nation was founded by men of God, I would like to point out how those founders acknowledged that all men are endowed by their creator with EQUAL RIGHTS. If all men have equal rights, then you have no right to dictate what others may eat, drink or smoke in the privacy of their own home. If you prohibit the sale of medicinal herbs, or try to restrict what they can be used for, you are violating the God-given rights of others AND the teachings of christ. It's not what goes INTO your mouth which defiles you, but that which comes OUT:
When "christians" advocate physical punishment for the sale or possession of herbs, they are also committing the sin of BLASPHEMY -- for they place themselves above the most high, and attempt to overrule the creator. They claim to be the representatives of God, who carry out his will upon the earth, but they declare things to be EVIL which God said are GOOD.
Organized religion -IS- the apostate church, and contemporary christians are the smug and superior pharisees which Jesus despised for their arrogance, bigotry, and hypocrisy. The pharisees were constantly attacking and disparaging christ, and the supporters of organized religion are still doing that to those who obey his teachings today. Verily I say unto thee, you are closer to God when you are surrounded by HIS creations than when you are surrounded by the hypocrites and blasphemers in church who pay some whited sepulchre to say they are righteous when they are not !
The 'Equality Act' is not about equality, it is extending a privilege or benefit at the taxpayers expense, solely on the basis of personal lifestyle choice. That is completely different than prohibition, where fundamental human rights are directly VIOLATED at the taxpayers expense. Half of the population has deliberately disobeyed cannabis prohibition, and will continue to do so because the LAW is immoral. But many of them do NOT support legislation which grants special privileges and benefits on the basis of lifestyle choice. Do you honestly think that you can afford to lose their support ?!
If religious people continue to persecute cannabis users (or fail to stand up and protect them from the cruelty of the mob as Jesus would), they are going to make political enemies out of a constituency which otherwise would not have opposed them — and that could make the difference between success or failure in this endeavor: in our opinion, many "conservatives" are just as unreasonable as the neo-liberals (and have actually done greater harm to a greater number of innocent people.)
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"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!" —Isaiah 5:20
"Do I not have the right to do as I please with what God has given to me? Those who believe they are superior and closer to God than everyone else will be recognized last by the father." —Matthew 20:16
"Love thy neighbor as thyself." — Mark 12:31
"Treat others as you want them to treat you." —Matthew 7:12
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* https://www.houstonpress.com/news/texas-girl-was-taken-away-from-parents-because-they-smoked-pot-only-to-be-killed-in-foster-care-6714570
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/parents-toddler-injured-flash-bang-botched-raid-call-justice-article-1.1825366
https://medicalmarijuana.co.uk/young-boy-given-48-hours-to-live-now-cancer-free-after-taking-cannabis-oil/
https://www.cureyourowncancer.org/testimonials.html
https://www.cureyourowncancer.org/run-from-the-cure-2.html