16 October 2008

disillusioned

Is there any truth?
Yes. But we might not find it in our political system. Forgive my lack of enthusiasm, but I am weary, and at times I am fearful regardless of who is elected.

Personally, I'm advocating the strategy of pray pray pray. Pray for God's agenda to rule the hearts of ALL who serve in political office. This isn't a new strategy, of course, reference our friend Daniel. He certainly pursued faithful, fervent prayer in spite of a leader who did not profess faith in Yaweh. And we read of amazing outcomes.

Could we talk to God as much about our leaders as we talk or complain to each other about the candidates? Could we pray for their hearts to turn to God's heart? Could we engage in Christ-like living so that we care for the poor, the orphan and the alien among us? Could we adjust our personal spending habits to say with integrity to our government that spending beyond our means is not what we support? These are only a few areas. Those are huge challenges for me personally. But these ideas feels more hopeful than other things on offer. This is not a popular or politically correct comment, but Jesus still is the only hope. Of this I'm certain.

If you're interested in some of the things discussed last night, I browsed to "hear" what was being said about the latest debate and the following was posted:


FactChecking Debate No. 3
October 16, 2008
Sorting out fact and fiction in the presidential candidates' final debate.
Summary
Spin and hype were apparent, once again, at the third and final debate between McCain and Obama:

* McCain claimed the liberal group ACORN “is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history ... maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.” In fact, a Republican prosecutor said of the first and biggest ACORN fraud case: “[T]his scheme was not intended to permit illegal voting.” He said $8-an-hour workers turned in made-up voter registration forms rather than doing what ACORN paid them to do.

* McCain said “Joe the plumber” faced “much higher taxes” under Obama’s tax plan and would pay a fine under Obama’s health care plan if he failed to provide coverage for his workers. But Ohio plumber Joe Wurzelbacher would pay higher taxes only if the business he says he wants to buy puts his income over $200,000 a year, and his small business would be exempt from Obama’s requirement to provide coverage for workers.

Update Oct. 16: ABC News reported the morning after the debate that Wurzelbacher admitted to a reporter that he won't actually make enough from his new plumbing business to pay Obama's higher tax rates. ABC said his admission "would seem to indicate that he would be eligible for an Obama tax cut."

* Obama repeated a dubious claim that his health care plan will cut the average family’s premiums by $2,500 a year. Experts have found that figure to be overly optimistic.

* McCain claimed that Obama’s real “object” is a government-run, single-payer health insurance system like those in Canada or England. The McCain campaign points to a quote from five years ago, when Obama told a labor gathering that he was “a proponent of a single-payer health care program.” But Obama has since qualified his enthusiasm for Canadian-style health care, and his current proposal is nothing like that.

* Obama incorrectly claimed all of McCain’s ads had been “negative.” That was true for one recent week, but not over the entire campaign. And at times Obama has run a higher percentage of attack ads than McCain.

* McCain described Colombia as the "largest agricultural importer of our products." Actually, Canada imports the most U.S. farm products, and Colombia is far down the list.

* Obama strained to portray himself as willing to break ranks with fellow Democrats. His prime example was his vote for a bill that was supported by 18 Democrats and opposed by 26. Congressional Quarterly rates him as voting with his party 97 percent of the time since becoming a U.S. senator.

As I said, Jesus is the hope of the world. I am still hopeful in (and praying for) His love changing everyone and everything.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I find that people pray for their candidate to win, but for those who pray for god's will, be sure that is what you want. You never know what his will entails. Personally I don't think it makes a difference how much prayer is put forth. What's gonna happen is gonna happen. Just my thoughts.