In this Episode of The GRID, host Chris Kuhlmann uses the old metaphor of judging a book by its cover to explore voting character vs platform, and the consequences of sitting out the vote. It’s ALL or NOTHING when it comes to our involvement
CREDITS
Host: Chris Kuhlmann
Written by: Chris Kuhlmann
Produced by: Shaun Griffin
Music composed by JD Kuhlmann
Art: Shaun Griffin
Sound: Chris Kuhlmann and Shaun Griffin
Sponsor: Forever 17
www.Forever17.com
Visit us at www.kingdompatriot.us and check out our Vision Video
Email: admin@KingdomPatriot.US
SHOW NOTES
Non-vote: A Vote for the Wrong Platform
ALL or NOTHING when it comes to our involvement
There’s a danger in judging a book by its cover and it’s clear to me that presidential campaigns are mostly about who can draw the nicest book cover and who can scribble on the others.
Would you say based on what we’ve seen, it’s time to elect a new president to lead the United States. Apparently most of American agrees with you since President Biden’s approval ratings are in the mid to low ‘30s and less than ½ of his own party want him to run for re-election.
Exercise: Pick the Candidate
So, let’s do this exercise. There are three candidates and here are the alleged facts about each.
Candidate A: He associates with crooked politicians and consults with astrologists. He’s had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day. He effectively believes that the only way to prosperity is to spend as much money as possible.
Candidate B: He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a bottle of whisky every evening. He is stubborn, not known to compromise, and as things get more and more challenging, he continues to double down.
Candidate C: He is a decorated war hero. He is able to unite large and vast groups of people. He is a vegetarian who doesn’t smoke. He drinks an occasional beer and has never committed adultery. Many would say he is a natural leader?
Which of these candidates would be your choice?
We are conditioned to look for certain characteristics in candidates; characteristics that align w/ those of our families, our societies and our leaders. The media investigate the “person” because in reality, it seems many don’t elect the platform, they elect the person. It seems natural that we want a leader who is flawless in every respect. Now let’s look at the questions.
As far as the answers on the candidates, if you chose C, clearly the one with the most desirable traits, you just elected Adolf Hitler and are now responsible for the deaths of millions and you passed on Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchhill
The Media
The media bought into this and except those who are deeply moved by the issues, I see time and time again that people say, “I like this candidate better because he’s nice.” Really, or worse, “I’m sitting this election out because I don’t like my party’s candidate.”
That right there is a huge problem, are you sitting this out because your party’s candidate is a sinner? How do you know what you see is nothing more than the book-cover that has been months or years in the making to get you to make your judgement without opening it?
So that really brings us to the essence of today’s topic. The topic of All or Nothing in politics. For example, if Congress had a bill that made it out of committee that said we are uniting all 50 states on abortion policy and these will be the terms. All abortion is illegal after 10 weeks except in the case of rape and incest. Would you support this bill? Many would not. Why? Because it still contains the provision for exclusions that rarely happen. I said rarely, not never.
Would I support this? In a New York minute.
One thing that progressives do extremely, extremely well, is play the long game. Do you think if there had been a push to legalize gay marriage, legalize marijuana, outlaw prayer in schools, and talk of prosecuting pastors for hate Crimes…in the late 1800’s?
This would be blasphemy of the highest order….but trying to do that all at once would be the short game…the long game is like Ocean waves eroding the beach one wave at a time over months, years, incrementally, a tiny fraction, just a minute amount each time.
It’s just electing one individual to a county prosecutor’s office who neither respects life nor has any fear of our Father in heaven. It’s just removing prayer from one school, then letting the ACLU use that as a precedent for every other school. It’s just allowing one movie to portray Jesus as a homosexual, or art with an upside down cross floating in urine. Those weren’t made up, those last two actually happened.
So in the above example, am I a supporter of abortion because I want my leaders to vote for a bill that allows abortion before 10 weeks with 2 exceptions? Of course not. I abhor abortion. It is one of the great abominations of our time. I don’t want to preach judgement, I’m just saying similar to the sacrifice of children on the Altar of Molech, this is abhorrent in God’s eyes. But a side note, if any of you have experienced this, I am not judging you at all. I’m grieved, but God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness is for you in this area just as it is for any other sin. My point is, because I’m choosing the better of the two choices, I know that I’m saving lives because if California, Illinois, and New York had this law I just gave as an example, thousands of innocent babies would be saved. So I’m willing to play the long game. I’m willing to accept today what is imperfect but better than current state in hopes that I will continue to fight the battle for tomorrow. Need a couple of other examples?
How about Trump? I voted for Trump twice. Yet someone asked me this past weekend “Do you believe Trump is the savior of America.” I’m not sure if the person thought I was smoking weed, but I said of course not. I think he is bombastic, arrogant, thin-skinned, reactionary, and certainly doesn’t talk like someone who has experienced God’s grace. He definitely plays into the patriotism that so many of us embrace because we truly love our country. But even despite my feelings of Trump as the candidate, am I a Trump loving die-hard, in your face, conservative? No, but what I am is a long-gamer.
You see, I know that Trump, while very imperfect, still was running on a party platform that embraces life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I also know the candidate running against him embraced a platform of big government, religious regulation, and expanding abortion. Yet, if I’m a short-gamer, I’m not voting in the 2020 election because I just can’t stand the way Trump handled the federal election and the Georgia senate race. I get it because I didn’t like it either. Often I actually agree with Trump’s policy decisions even when I disagree his methods. But I’m not a Trump lover. I’m a lover of freedom and of saving babies lives and seeing people experience God’s grace.
But those are not God-fearing who also are long-gamer’s often will accuse and harass someone like me who voted for Trump? How? I’ve heard people called “racists” “bigots” “homophobes” because they support Trump policies. All the while supporting their own candidates who have despicable and sordid pasts, because if they can get you to stay home and think of the “person” instead of the “platform,” they know they can win. If Christians ever wake up and think the long-game and vote on principals and platform, I believe we would have greater success electing Godly leaders.
So that brings me full-circle to the comment “all or nothing”. If campaigns can convince us that their candidate has the most beautiful cover and that this person is the nicest human being, maybe they can get your vote because the other candidate is mean looking or has a flawed past or cranky bedside manners. But folks, we have to be ready, we have to be willing to work hard to play the long-game (even if your candidate is flawed) if they support policies that most closely align with God’s word, the choice is actually pretty clear.
I’ve also heard that by not voting, I’m making my point. I can’t support this man or woman - that’s actually what all campaigns want you to do, they want you to make your decision on what you see and hear about the candidate, but I assure you that narrative, that book cover is highly deceptive and flawed. What is not flawed nor as deceptive is what each political party stands for. If you don’t vote, you are definitely making a point, you are making a point that no one will ever see or hear other than if you choose to share it at your company Christmas party.
I implore you to get involved, and to play the long-game.
Prayer
“Lord just like Nehemiah did in Chapter 1, we repent, we own, we confess that the sins of our nation are own sins as well. That WE as a nation have abandoned you and that much of what we see is the result of a nation that does not fear God. Lord call us to prayer, grant us favor, remind us to pray for our leaders, even the ones we don’t like. Help us be wise as serpents but gentle as doves. And with fervent prayer lift up those who can’t lift themselves up. Father help us be discerning to identify Godly men and women to run for political office who love you and our country and are willing to promote policies that honor you. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.”
The last think I would leave you with, is just be willing to accept the imperfect if it is moving in the right direction. Newsflash! All candidates are sinners and no party’s platform is the equivalent with scripture. But if you seriously look at the issues, I think you will see where one has a more God honoring platform than the other.
Thank you for joining today, don’t forget to lift our leaders up in prayer.
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