Bush, but With Reservations

The election is tomorrow. Most people I talk to think Bush will squeak by. I don’t have a clue. The polls go back and forth, with several new ones (seemingly) every day. All I know is that somebody’s going to win, and I, with a serious lack of enthusiasm, hope it’s George Bush. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Kerry wins. My gut tells me Kerry will win, but that’s not exactly a scientific evaluation.

I do think Kerry could help our standing in the world—because I think ANYBODY would help it. As long as Bush is President, the world will be polarized against us. That’s the nature of his Presidency, acting as though it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks. I’m not of that mind. Some people argue, "Who cares what the rest of the world thinks? We don't need them." To me, that's a pretty ignorant attitude. It's in our best interests--our security interests, and our economic interests--to have friends in the world.

I also think the poor would be better served by Kerry—because I think ANY Democrat will probably be more attuned to the lower classes of society (even if only for purely political, rather than altruistic, reasons). Republican administrations look out for the interests of the wealthy. If the minimum wage is to be raised, or social services extended for the poor, I wouldn’t put any hopes in Republicans doing it. I say that as a life-long Republican. I think the Republican Party's greatest weakness is its lame social conscience when it comes to the poor--because those people are GREATLY on God's mind, and they should matter to us.

This is a big issue to me, because I’m convinced that God’s blessing on a country has a lot to do with how that country treats the poor. Throughout Scripture, God is concerned about the poor. I think God is pleased when he sees a government that looks out for the poor and helps raise them up, whether they’re doing it for religious reasons or not.

The Bush administration, much more than most administrations, seems to be in the “bag” of Big Business and the wealthy. And nobody really disputes that. That greatly saddens me. Which is why I’m voting for Bush with great reluctance.

I think Bush is genuine about his faith. I just think his clear preference for the wants of the rich, at the expense of the needs of the poor and working class, is a blindspot in his theology. We all have blindspots. But for the US President, this is a blindspot with serious consequences. By turning his eyes from the poor, Bush may prompt God to withhold blessing from us as a country.

Kerry’s Presidency would be a purely secular Presidency. His words about faith ring totally hollow, almost to a comical extent. For several weeks now, he’s been speaking in churches. The pulpit is not the place to be denouncing those in leadership. The Bible tells us to respect and pray for the persons he has allowed to be in leadership. It’s okay to criticize those in leadership. Just don’t do it in the pulpit during a worship service. Those pastors who allow Kerry to come speak—they should know better. But Kerry doesn’t know better. I doubt that he’s even aware of the Bible verses he’s violating.

And while I sympathize with the Democrats when it comes to economic policies affecting the lower classes, that's just about the only social policy where I agree with them. On most others, the Democrats, I'm afraid, would like to take us down some immoral paths. So I'm voting for Bush, despite my problems with him.

Posted on November 1, 2004 06:28 PM|

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