I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
At the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Benjamin Franklin was queried as he left Independence Hall on the final day of deliberation. In the notes of Dr. James McHenry, one of Maryland’s delegates to the Convention, a lady asked Dr. Franklin “Well Doctor what have we got, a republic or a monarchy.” Franklin replied, “A republic . . . if you can keep it.”
Were you aware that America has never been a democracy? Or that the word democracy is never once mentioned in the Constitution? We are a representative republic,meaning we elect those that make our decisions for us. Hence the electoral college. “The Founders wanted laws made by representatives in order to put a buffer between popular passions and legislation. Many were scared by the thought of democracy and equated it to Shay’s Rebellion and mob rule.” How fitting. Anyhow, moving on… You may read more about that at the above link if you so desire.
Sigh. Will there ever be a time I’m not just slightly embarrassed to be an American? It’s dubious. It’s not the election, per se but rather, the response to the outcome. I didn’t like either candidate but did my best to vote my values. Actually to say I didn’t like either candidate is really the understatement of the decade but there’s really no point in harping on the choices we had.
It started off so well. Almost too well. Too many candidates proclaiming the name of Jesus on stage. I am not really Republican–just like I was never a military spouse. I really consider myself Independent because I would vote for any Democrat I felt represented my values. I refuse to limit myself to party.
Now with that said, I do not say that my values are well represented by Donald Trump because they certainly are not. The only candidate I gave money to was Ben Carson and I liked Mike Huckabee as well, but in all honesty, I was going to vote ABC. Anyone but Clinton.
I really have always loathed Hillary Clinton, since she was the first lady way back. I dislike her values immensely and I do believe she is overtly power hungry,which I realize could describe many politicians but there’s just an alarm that goes off inside my head when her name is mentioned. It’s not at all about her being a woman. I admired Margaret Thatcher immensely and would have voted for Condoleeza Rice or any other woman who I felt had America’s best interest at heart, but I truly felt that Hillary had Hillary’s best interest at heart. That is all.
But to get back to the subject, for all who are afraid because of a combination of media spin and Trump’s childish behavior and impulsiveness, I would have been afraid had Hillary won. Does National Security mean nothing anymore? American lives? Traditional Families? Religious Freedom? The Constitution? Supreme Court Justices who rule by the Constitution and not their own political viewpoints? Israel? Why does my fear not matter? Because we no longer seem to be able to disagree respectfully.It’s our way or the highway. We have become as a nation, the great divide. And this does not bode well for our future as a people. Representative republic or otherwise.
If Hillary had won the election, I can tell you honestly that I would have been terrified but I would not have been protesting. or boycotting. or booing. Because this is the way we do things in America. We vote. And barely more than 60 percent of us do that in the best of election turnouts. Even though people died to give us the right to vote–we often blow it off because we don’t like the candidates. Now we have a bunch of supposedly rational, educated adults acting like two-year-olds because their candidate didn’t win and now they are not only scared (they claim), they want to overturn democracy. What on earth is going on? Have we lost our minds? Don’t answer that.
And yes, even with Trump, I’m still afraid. But less so. And God is on the throne no matter who the president of the United States of America is.
Just one simple example to sum up the problems of this day age: this applauded fashion designer who says she won’t sell Melania Trump a gown and she’s encouraging her buddies to do the same. Because she doesn’t like Trump’s bullying, bigoted stance on a variety of issues. She doesn’t agree with him on principle. But wait just a minute. What about the people who don’t agree with President Obama or the supreme court justices concerning gay marriage “on principle”? Their holy book says it is wrong and yet they are bullied for that. Doesn’t matter how kind they are or that they are not judging the people but the behavior, if you aren’t 100% in agreement with homosexuals, you are deemed a hater. Now not every Christian is kind about it, and not all see it as an objectionable lifestyle, but the point is it is a matter of faith. Why is it okay to bully conservative people (especially Christians) who don’t agree with you?
Furthermore,why is it acceptable to say that registering Muslims is obstructing freedom of religion but penalizing a small business who objects to selling a wedding cake to a same-sex couple is not considered the same? I am not, for the record, advocating a registry of any religion but I don’t think we are obligated to admit people to this nation who want to be ruled by Sharia law or to offer citizenship to those who will not abide by our Constitution. In fact, I believe it is unconstitutional to do so. And incidentally, why is it overlooked that Islam does not advocate same-sex marriage but not Christianity? I’d say they’re much more forceful about their opinions than any Christian I’ve met.
I think the answer is quite simple: fear. And we know God is not the author of fear nor confusion. We know perfect love casts out fear. What we don’t understand we fear, but sometimes we understand all too well what we fear: Socialism. Loss of Freedom. Big Government. A crumbling Democracy. Or representative republic.
But if we look just for a moment at that last fear, I wonder… what would happen if we didn’t need to rely on the government to look after those in need? What if the church reached out to those who were in crisis and loved them the way that Christ loved us? What if we loved first and asked questions later ? How would our America change then? What if our love spoke volumes and resulted in changed lives? How would the political climate in our country change then?
Yikes! A sobering thought. So maybe, maybe this is at least partially and maybe even mostly our fault? Umm… yes. I think it is true. I think Christians are responsible for sharing the love of Christ. And when they fail to do this, well… you see the result.You live it daily. Not that we can make anyone choose Christ. Not that there won’t always be a formidable enemy in our way. But we can choose to love when it is not easy. We can treat people the way Jesus would. We can reach out when everyone else turns away. That sounds so big… so uncomfortable… so messy. You can wish people would change and try to convince them to change but all the change on the outside–isn’t going to amount to a hill of beans without Jesus. He’s the only real change. When the Jesus in us reaches out to the lost and hurting with no ulterior motives but to love, maybe then we’ll have a third Great Awakening…and lives will be changed. But it sure isn’t going to happen with name calling and angry words. Ouch.
Life is hard. But sometimes we make it harder on ourselves than we need to.
Happy Thanksgiving Y’all.
Notes: Material from top two paragraphs taken from J.Best, blogger@ What Would the Founders Think
Decidedly Different 