"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive
and are left will be caught up together
with them in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air.."
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
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"Whether or not we can be ever fully safe is up -- you know,
is up- in the air."
- G.W. Bush, Oct 24, 2004
Bush has wasted too much time leaving our destiny to some idea that will fall from the sky. Our domestic and foreign policy belong down to earth. My prayer is that we will soon have a leader who understands that.
Coming from a society that has always prided itself on being based in decency and Christian-based values, I don't think breaking the Golden Rule and making carelessly offensive pre-emptive attacks upon our global neighbors ( largely based upon lies ) is going to cause us to deserve respect; nor will it ever make us safer.
That's what this election is all about.
We need a new direction.
Bush's visions of the Rapture seem too real to him for any of it to be acceptable to me. Each time he reverts to faith when pressed with a difficult question, I lose faith in his ability to lead a real and wanting nation. His latest statement about our safety being up "in the air", combined with his born-again attitude and non-reality-based thinking are disturbing to me. My faithful vision for those who are living on this earth are strikingly different than those of Mr. Bush, and it's one of the main reasons why he will never have my vote.
If you are a secularist, please pardon my foray into the fields of personal faith for the sake of forwarding political ideals.
I want nothing more than for my nation and its people to follow the rule of law, which, in its most simplistic state, parallels the rule of God. The rule begins from the within and, in the spirit of love, helps us to create a vision of freedom in the light of true respect and fairness.
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment."
-Matthew 22:37-38
"The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
-Mark 12:30-31
Bush talks a mean God, and judging from his actions while in office, I can only come to the conclusion that
his God is mean.
Maureen Dowd wrote a refreshingly astute column about how Bush planned for national safety predicated upon a miracle with incurious ignorance of fact and willful blindness; so much we have become a casualty of faith.
When casualties of blind faith become - or cause others to become - casualties of unnecessary war, we can clearly see that the spirit of God's law has been violated.
"A word was secretly brought to me,
my ears caught a whisper of it.
Amid disquieting dreams in the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
fear and trembling seized me
and made all my bones shake.
A spirit glided past my face,
and the hair on my body stood on end.
It stopped,
but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
and I heard a hushed voice:
'Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?"
-Job, 4:17-21
Bush seems to be trying to act as a Moses when he is merely an elected public servant. I am reminded of the book of
Exodus 18:15-24. Bush's job is not to be God's messenger. He has President confused with Prophet.
I am deeply concerned.
"As for the deeds of men-
by the word of your lips
I have kept myself
from the ways of the violent."
-Psalm 17, A prayer of David
We need new direction.
"He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God."
-Micah 6:8
We need a humble leader whose faith is incorporated in his soulful deeds, not wading in the shallows of his chirping throat and warbling lips.
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
-James 2:14
This is the closest you'll see me get
to praying that our hope is met-
That John F. Kerry wins next week
to work on the vision that we seek.
Don't be afraid to join me in this prayer.
IDDYBUD