A Choice Between Two Futures — Part 3

[This is Part 3 of 3 — Click here to read Parts 1 and 2: Part 1 Part 2]

As I explained in Part 1, this series of posts is specifically addressed to Christians who follow this Blog — even more specifically, to Christians who are eligible to vote but have not yet done so.

In this Part 3, I’ll point out what I believe are the contrasts between the two platforms that are the most critical from a Christian perspective, and why this election is a time for Christians to rise up and “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all entrusted to the saints” [Jude 3 NKJV/NIV — “the saints” are us]. In wrapping up this series, I’ll include at the end of this post some thoughts I am asking all Christians to seriously consider and pray about.

Two Diametrically Opposite Ideologies

I hope by now I have clearly shown that the upcoming election is NOT about choosing between two PEOPLE. It’s about choosing between two diametrically opposite IDEOLOGIES. That should be evident to anybody who will simply look at the stark contrast between the Democrat and Republican platforms. Anybody, particularly any Christian, who thinks this contrast doesn’t matter needs to 1) read both party platform documents in detail [here are links to each: Republican Democrat,] 2) IGNORE all ads from both parties and “news” shows with panels of experts and latest polls, and 3) look at montages of video clips showing what each party’s members say in response to questions about issues that are [or should be] of particular interest to Christians. Here are some of the areas in which contrasts are the clearest:

• Sanctity of Human Life
• LGBT Issues [e.g., Redefining Marriage, Religious Liberty Concerns, Transgender Bathrooms in Schools, and the International Abortion and LGBT Agenda]
• Conscience Rights in Healthcare
• God in Government
• The Supreme Court
• Education
• Sex Education
• Social Experiments in the Military
• Terrorism

As I began listing the differences I was finding as I read both platform documents in detail [Democrat 92 pages, Republican 67 pages,] I began to realize that my list was looking remarkably similar to a tabular comparison produced by Family Research Council I had seen earlier this year. Although the wording in that tabulation would be viewed as “slanted” to the Right by some readers of this Blog, it nonetheless depicts the contrast accurately because many of the entries are direct quotes from the platform documents. So I’ll simply provide a link to the FRC document instead of creating a similar document myself. Please view the tabular comparison at this link: FRC Party Platform Comparisons. Another excellent resource is Election 2020: Two Visions For America, published by the Billy Graham Evangelical Association. On pages 19-22, this guide has a tabular comparison similar to the FRC document, adding some additional issues: Federal Judges, Economic Empowerment And Poverty, National Defense, and Israel And Jerusalem. Please view this document at this link: BGEA Party Platform Comparisons.

Keep in mind that millions of voters in this country [enough to swing an election one way or the other] are what one popular radio talk show host calls “low information voters,” an alarming number of whom can’t answer simple questions like “Who is our Vice President?,” “What are the three branches of our government?,”  or “How many Supreme Court Justices are there?” That, coupled with the fact that upwards of 90% of traditional “news” media is controlled by six corporations whose leadership is liberally biased [see this post of mine from 2017: Fake News Or Just Meaningless News?] and almost 20% of adult Americans get most of their “news” not through these sources but through Social Media [see Social Media Influence,] means Christians have far less influence than they could. So what could change that?

Circles Of Influence

A well-documented phenomenon for many years is that if any of us picks any person at random, we are connected to that person in some way through only nine steps through his/her and our mutual connections with other people. In recent years, the consensus among those who ponder such matters is that social media has reduced the number of steps to less than six. The validity of this concept is very succinctly described in this video [less than 3 minutes:] Six Degrees Of Separation. This Degrees Of Separation concept can by extension be viewed as Circles Of Influence — i.e., the number of people one person can influence simply by expressing his/her opinion to his/her close contacts. This is actually the “engine” driving protests and demonstrations — and unfortunately, the devolvement of them into rioting and looting — we see in the media every day. If all born again Christians would pray fervently and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit regarding the upcoming election — and if so led as they do so, include dialog on this within their Circles Of Influence — that same “engine” could literally drive the election’s outcome.

In Closing …

I have appreciated the feedback I’ve gotten from this series of posts, and am grateful for the opportunity writing it afforded me to disseminate what I believe very strongly is important and crucial information at this point in our country’s history. I’ll close the series with these thoughts. …

• An earnest plea for all Christians who’ve read this series to take what I’ve written into account, pray diligently about their own voting decision, and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in making it.
• A request that all Christians seriously consider being a part of utilizing the Circles Of Influence concept I mentioned above — i.e., post your thoughts to your FaceBook page, send Tweets, etc.
• A request that all Christians who have heretofore been somewhat ambivalent about what they have viewed as “just politics” — even to the point of allowing themselves to view their voting decisions as personal decisions only and not affecting others — to begin finding ways to continuously keep themselves more aware of cultural/social [which in many ways are spiritual] developments in our country, like the “evolution” over decades that led to the current situation.

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