Voting For A Sacred Illusion

Come Tuesday, many of the faithful will dash off to the polling-stations (if they haven't already cast an absentee ballot) to do what they believe is every American citizen's civic duty - vote.  All will claim that this is a huge responsibility bought with blood, a freedom citizens must exercise or risking losing.

I won't be rushing anywhere on Tuesday because, as a Christian, I believe government, all government, is an impediment to freedom.

I read an interesting claim in an opinion piece this past weekend in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where the writer maintained that, 'our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness don't come to us from government but our Creator.'

Really?  Those things are not promised in the Bible, and in fact a bloody trail of tears extending back to the start of time would say otherwise.  No, it is the promise of a consititution written by men, not the Creator.  Millions of forgotten names and faces, that only the Creators knows and remembers, came and went without life, liberty or happiness in any great quantity.  There blood - their innocent blood - speaks loudly to the heavens.

And when men create constitutions, they have but one way to enforce them, and that is by violence.  Behind the vote, is violence.  Someone else's life, liberty and happiness had to be denied and sacrificed, so those in this government can have it.

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If Christians would look at Christ's example with eyes not shaded by patriotic comfort, they would see that Yahshua the Messiyah never tried to conquer the occupying force in His land.  He never tried to join the prosperous leaders of His own nation.  He never tried to become part of business, law-making, or tax gathering.

There were people out-of-work, impoverished, and sick.  The people who were in charge were so busy doing business as usual, playing the game the way society had arranged it; they offered the hopeless nothing.

Yahshua came to give hope to the hopeless.  Can Christians truly believe that any politician playing the game of politics as it stands, will help the poor?  Do most Christians really care?

On the front page of Friday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jamie Garibay said, "I've lost my faith . . . I'm just a peon factory worker . . . Today, there is no one out there who is going to make an impact on employment."  Jamie was laid off one-and-a-half-years-ago and has been struggling to find work in a city where the unemployment rate stands at 12.8%.  All he is doing is speaking the truth.  Most of today's poor are not going to be anything more than they are today.  They are the grunts, and the politicians as well as the corporate leaders of this nation have decidedly collectively that grunts were earning too much money.  Collectively, they profited by sending the grunt work overseas. 

The idea that people need to seek out an education is a lie because no society or civilization can stand with everyone in white collar office, technology, and medical professions.  There will never be that many jobs in those fields even if everyone were to get educated for them.  And those running the businesses would simply see these positions as grunts now, and devalue them.  In the end, it is all about profit - and it doesn't matter whose back the profit comes from - as long as it is not theirs.

What voting does is justify a system that rewards the wealthy.  Campaigning costs money - foolish amounts of money.  It is not about integrity of those running, or their beliefs, or their morals, because in the end, they have to be in someone's back pocket to get elected - including their own party. 

Christ was crucified because he exposed the frauds in the system without becoming part of the system.  He never wanted to live like them.  He never wanted to be like them.  He never worked to join their organizations and make a change for the future.  Nope, in fact, Christ spent His time with those the rich, prosperous and religious had rejected. 

He said, "This world is evil, greedy and doesn't care about you - your leaders don't care about you - but that's okay.  I care.  Believe on Me and sin no more; do your best to be rich in good works not money, and the Kingdom I am building will be yours."

As far as I am concerned, as a Christian, I placed my vote once and for all time.  I don't ever have to vote again.  Christ is my King.  And the world crucified my King for thirty pieces of silver.

Those running for office are the ones who want to be in charge of how that thirty pieces of silver will be spent.

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In this same opinion piece I mentioned earlier, the writer went on to preach, "It is time to return to the principles of our forefathers."

Everytime I hear this argument, my reaction is the same.  Those who say and believe this, either don't know history or don't care about the truth of it.

The principles of our forefathers allowed slavery to go on for another hundred years because slaves were such an important part of the economy, especially in the south.  It was okay that non-white people didn't have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - the principle was all that mattered.  And it took war and violence to eventually prove this great principle true.  Oh yeah, and even after that, non-white people still couldn't do most things white people could do for nearly another hundred years.  But hey, lets get back to those founding principles of our forefathers because the direction this nation is going right now, non-white people are noticing that much of white America still doesn't care what happens to them.

The principles of our founding fathers excused and justified the the theft of land from men they called savage and uncivilized.  By "God's good graces" they civilized the heathens with violence and war. 

The principles of our founding fathers also had no place for women among them, so I guess all these outspoken women politicans trying to have a voice might have to keep quiet.

To establish the consititution, blood had to be shed, innocent blood, in an a fallen and sinful world.

Christ didn't have any part in that.  If He did, then millions of Christians who lived before America was established should have been militant a long time ago, demanding their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  If they had, we might not have any martyrs to look back at.  There would have been no Christian persecutions, just Christian wars for a "God" ordained constitution, promising them things not in the Bible.

Vote for Christ and start praying.  No matter who gets in office, the truth is not as important to those elected as the economy - as mammon.  Do you see it yet?

Amen