Call It What It Is!

Election time can bring out the worst in people; including me.  Time is short.  A decision will be made in a few months that will determine to a great extent what direction our country, the USA, will take.  That fact stirs up passion in people.  We want the path we see as right, to be the path that will be followed.

Unfortunately that passion is often used in a negative forum.  It slanders the other party’s candidate, and even other candidates in our own chosen party.  Some of that negativity needs to be brought to light.  We as citizens need to make informed decisions as to who is best to lead our country.  We are all human and we all make mistakes.  But if there is a pattern of mistakes, a pattern of bad choices that go against what we believe is right, that needs to be a consideration for who we choose to vote for.

I am one of those people who believe there are good and descent people on both sides, as well as people who are corrupt on both sides.  So for me I’ve chosen to vote for the  party platform that best stands for what my  personal beliefs are.

I am a Christian, so I am voting for the principles that best follow the teachings of Christ.

I also love my country, so I am voting for who I believe will best protect my country.

I don’t believe in The Women’s Right To Choose.  I don’t believe in it because I believe that an unborn child is just that..an unborn child.  After a child is born, a mother has  the right to give it up for adoption if she doesn’t believe she can, or wants to raise it.  She does not have the right to kill it.  I think almost all people would agree with that.  I have a hard time understanding why it is the women’s right to kill that same child before it is born.

I don’t condemn those who have had abortions. I know there can be some very difficult situations in their lives that bring them to believe they have no other choice.  I also believe a lot of them would make a different choice if they could watch a video that shows what really happens in an abortion.  I believe they need compassion and education, not condemnation.

I do not believe in same-sex marriage.  I don’t believe in it because God in his word, the Bible, tells us very plainly in black and white, that it is wrong, it is a sin.  He even goes so far as to call it an abomination unto the Lord.  I do not condone their lifestyle for that reason.  That does not mean I dislike all people who live a gay lifestyle.  I do know some and like them as people.  I also know some people who have committed adultery, another sexual sin against God.  I don’t condone what they did, but I can still like them as individuals.

It is God’s place to judge, not ours.  However, God does call us to have discernment, to know the difference between right and wrong.  For that reason I believe it is wrong for our nation, which was founded on the principles of God, to pass a law legalizing anything that God tells us is a sin.  As the people that he created, God gives us the choice to follow his ways or not.  If we choose not, there will be consequences, judgement from God, that will come against us.  As a nation, if we choose not, there will be the same consequences and judgements on our nation as a whole.

I love America.  I love our way of life.  I love the freedoms we have that have made us the great country we are.  I don’t want to see that way of life slipping away.  But sadly, I can see it starting to.

I believe that is in a great part due to a few words, or ideologies, that have started sweeping our nation.  Those words are “Political correctness”, and “Tolerance.”

I looked up those terms to make sure I wasn’t just stating my own understanding of them.

As it turned out I was right on.

Political correctness:

1.  languages, policies, measures, which are intended not to offend or disadvantage any particular group

2. to avoid irritating anyone

Tolerance

1.  the ability or willingness to tolerate something, opinions, or behaviors, that one does not necessarily agree with

I do not intentionally try to irritate anyone, an individual, or group of people with my language, or my beliefs.  I believe in America we have the right to pursue happiness, wealth, of free speech, to worship the way we choose, to bear arms to defend ourselves.  We have the right to live according to our conscience as long as it harms no one else.

I can tolerate those who wish to live differently than I do.  I can tolerate someone whose religious beliefs are different from mine.  I can do that because God gave us that choice, our nation gives us that choice.

But there is a limit to political correctness and tolerance.  Freedom of speech gives us the right to speak our minds. If in speaking my mind, giving my opinion, offends you, if it is against what you believe, I’m sorry.  You have the right to disagree with me.  You do not have the right to tell me I can not pray in my school, I can not mention God because it might offend you.

We have a right to stand up for the things we believe.  We don’t have to “tolerate” illegal immigrants pouring into our country.  That does not make us prejudice bigots.  We are a nation of immigrants.  But those who wish to come here to live, should abide by our laws . They should want to become Americans and be grateful for the opportunities this country can provide them.  They should go through the process of becoming legal immigrants, the same way our ancestors and so many today have done.

We do not have to tolerate the mass of Syrian refugees into our country.  It does not make us  uncompassionate to want them vetted, to know if they have  Islamic terrorist connections.   We have a right to protect our nation from terrorists.

We do not have to tolerate a religion that vows to kill all Jews, Christians, and Americans! When they act on their beliefs, we have a right to stand up to them.

Jesus told us the commandments can be summed up in these two things, to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Our sermon in church yesterday was on the book of Romans.  The message was to basically “wake up from our slumber”, to recognize the times in which we live, that Jesus is coming back soon, to live in the light of Christ.  We are to come out of sin, darkness, not to be politically correct, but to call it what it is.

As a nation we need to turn back to God,  to love and follow him foremost.  We need to love our neighbors.  We need to wake up from our slumber, recognize the times in which we live.  We need to be considerate of each other yes, but we need to forget all this political correctness and tolerance, to not be afraid to offend someone who might disagree with us.  We need to stand up for what we believe in and just “call it what it is”!

Feel free to share if you agree!