This week and probably next week we will look at a subject that should be near and dear to our hearts…the selection and functioning of our political leaders. In the Bible when the people decided they wanted a ‘king’ so they could be like the other ‘nations’, they were warned and decided to go there anyway. Today we are still living with that decision. Leaders have been searching for ways to rule/control/benefit/degrade citizens ever since. The rule of King Zedekiah, the last and weakest of all the kings of Judah, is an example of a leader who wanted power but did not know how to manage it leading to the defeat by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. Zedekiah, although initially approved by Babylon, let the thirst for power get the best of him and in doing so invited the fall of Jerusalem. Zedekiah turned out to be foolish and arrogant. Power was more valuable to him than leadership. Enter Jeremiah. Zedekiah ask Jeremiah to intercede with God, hoping that after all the sins of the nation and all the ignored warnings, that God would simply let bygones be bygones, and He would miraculously rescue Judah from the advancing Babylonians…so he could continue his quest for power. That is not all that different from people today who think God exist only to get them out of trouble and rescue them from the consequences of their sins. They imagine that they can go on living as sinfully as they please, ignoring God’s Word, pretending their actions have no consequences, and that God will make everything come out OK. But God sees the heart. We can’t help being struck by the similarity between the sins of Judah and the sins of our world today.
Every two years citizens go to the polls…or at least should…to elect the legislators who will establish the guidelines our nation will follow. This is done through established laws and the monitoring of agencies who carry out the complicated functions of government. In such an awesome responsibility, how might and what should these elected officials consider to stay within their established authority…authority established in a contract with the US citizens…the Constitution?
> The war between freedom and slavery can be lost in the legislative halls of free men. A wave of Socialism is sweeping many free western nations toward a kind of suppressive feudalism. In this battle our legislators are on the front line of defense and this must be considered with every vote cast.
> The entire fabric of American security has been badly weakened by technical decisions of the Supreme Court…decisions not always authorized by the Constitution. The only remedy is legislative action to restore these security laws. (Is it time to put the Supreme Court back into the ‘broom closet’ where it was when the Constitution was initially established?)
> Federal legislators should continue to support the Congressional Committees which are under attack by the Communist Party and their ‘fellow travelers’.
> Restore to Congressional committees the right to determine whether the questions asked of pro-Communist witnesses are pertinent.
> Restore to Congressional committees the same freedom to investigate Communists and pro-Communists that these committees have always had when investigating businesses and labor problems.
> Restore to the states the right to enforce their own anti-subversive laws.
> Restore to the Smith Act the provision which makes it a crime to teach or advocate the violent overthrow of the Government.
> Restore to the Smith Act the meaning of ‘organize’ which includes organizational work done after 1945 so that Communist agents cannot hide behind the statute of limitations.
> Restore to the executive branch of the government the right to determine ‘reasonable grounds’ and to dismiss security risks in both sensitive and non-sensitive positions of Government.
> Restore to the states the right to exclude from public employment and education those who refuse to testify about their Communist activities and associates.
> Restore to the executive branch the right to question aliens awaiting deportation about subversive associates and contacts, and the right to deport aliens who are found to be Communists after entering the United States. (With today’s executive regime, this might be a waste of effort.)
> Restore to the executive branch the right to deny passports to those who refuse to sign a non-Communist affidavit.
> Restore to the states the right to exclude from the practice of law those who have been members of the Communist conspiracy or who refuse to testify about Communist activities.
> Be alert to any attempt by left-wing forces to dismantle or emasculate the FBI. (This emasculation has already started and the FBI is not helping itself.)
> Put into force the excellent recommendations of the Commission on Government Security which were published in June 1957, but have never been acted on.
> Become familiar with the advantages of using powerful peaceful pressures against Russia and its Communist allies, especially in the economic and political fields.
God will only bless people if they listen and obey the God who loves them. God is always a God of love, yet He is a God who sometimes acts in strange ways that we cannot understand. One of the greatest tests of our faith is when we discover we can no longer understand what God is doing, and His actions do not seem to be in line with His promises. We rely on our political leadership to lead this nation utilizing its founding principles found in the Judeo-Christian principles. Those principles made this a great nation…not a perfect nation…but a nation with a foundation on which to grow. When we do not accept our responsibilities as citizens and rely strictly on politicians to set the standards for the nation, we can find ourselves in a nation of peril. The kingdom of Judah had to learn this the hard way. They had rejected God’s purpose for their lives and made themselves useless to Him. A human life or a human society, once it has turned away from God, begins to rot and become disgusting and unusable. We see examples throughout history. When we violate our design and purpose by rejecting God, we lose our power, our usefulness, our purpose, and our beauty. We become good for nothing. God will guide us and will provide us with the inspiration we need to be wise stewards of the nation/world He has given us, but we must exercise those gifts in choosing our leadership if we are to remain useful to His kingdom.
Because politics is so related to the life we live here on earth, we will continue on this subject next week. It is critical to our ability to be able to worship God in peace, and to be able to find a God ordained purpose for our lives.
-Bob Munsey
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
Geezer Politics 