David Kuo and Protest Votes

I was asked to post this so here it is.

I would like to ask David Kuo a question or two. Before this Administration what kind of faith based organization support existed at the Federal level? None is the correct answer. Thus, if you think that they did not get all that they should have under this Administration how much would they have gotten under the Kerry Administration? Again, none is the correct answer. Mr. Kuo doesn't appear to know much about the funding of Federal agencies. The faith based initiative being a new project would be harder to fund than the older ones. It is the new kid on the block and the fact that it got what it did is impressive. Every year the well established Agencies submit budgets that are usually greatly inflated knowing they are going to be cut back. The adage is if you need a Chevrolet ask for a Rolls Royce because if you ask for a Chevrolet you may end up with a VW Beetle. Sometimes you still got a VW Beetle and you had to fight for that because they might have tried to give you a pedal car or they gave you the Chevrolet and no money for gas. Getting appropriations is a tough battle. Even if there were no war a new project would have trouble getting everything it asked for so the war may not even be the reason for the amount received.

While I agree that God sits on the throne and thus whoever sits on the Hill can only do what He allows, it is silly and immoral to sit back and do nothing when we have the right to vote our conscious. The devil and evil do not take a sabbatical or declare a moratorium so why should Christians? Kuo's premise is ludicrous. It is like walking past a naked person with clothes in your hand but telling him that you gave your quota for the month.

True healing of this land will only come, if it ever will, when Christians return to living like 1st Century Christians. If we repent then God will heal the land. One area that we need to repent is in our political views. There are many, many preachers that preach the Old Book and values that are considered Conservative on Sunday but then vote against those values in the polls and teach their people to do the same. Many people vote their heritage regardless of issues. One fellow told me that as a good Southern gentleman that he could never vote for a Republican yet when he speaks his values he isn't a Democrat or at least the modern version of one. That kind of loyalty is not honorable. It is silly and destructive not constructive. In essence, he would have voted for a Hitler if he ran on the Democratic ticket against the Apostle Paul if he had run as a Republican. You must look at the issues not your geographic or partisan heritage. Nor should race be an issue if you are a Christian. I know Conservative pastors of color that vote for Liberals because they think they are being loyal to their race. By being disloyal to their Christian values they are actually hurting their race more than helping them and they are voting to have their faith driven from the public forum. That is also silly and destructive.

Some are suggesting a protest vote. May I offer two words? Ross Perot. That concept has been tried before and we got eight years of a man that the majority did not want. He won with the same percentage that the previous Democrat had when he lost. He was in office because of a split in the Conservative vote. Do we want that again? It would seem counterproductive to repeat the same mistake. Want to protest? Get active at the local level and get your favorite splinter party candidate to infiltrate the Republicans like Howard Dean did the Democrats. Shucks, he may become the Chairman of the RNC whereas now he is accomplishing nothing.

Many years ago I said that if you want to run the US then buy a Republican and buy a Democrat and see that they run against each other and you will be in control either way. Lou Dobbs seems to think that day has arrived and has said that there is no difference between the two parties. I disagree but the reality is that no third party candidate can win so if you vote for a Liberal or Conservative third party candidate you are voting for the guy you really don't want to win. Like it or not, a Republican or a Democrat is going to win so they are your only true choices. Protest votes or not voting at all will hurt you worse than voting for the lad you are mad at. Voting the lesser of two evils is still more productive than not voting at all or allowing the greater of the two evils to take office.

I am not a George Bush fan. He was the lesser of the two evils for me. Have the Republicans given me everything that I wanted? Nope. However, I didn't get all the things I definitely didn't want from the Democrats. Therefore, I am still ahead of the game. You may not like the current plan but the opposition has no plan but they want you to vote for their people and they will get a plan once in power. I really don't think that is a better deal. Tell me what you will do now and maybe I will vote for you. All I really know is that what I voted against will come to pass if they get power and Nancy Pelosi will get her pick of offices. Not much of perk there in my book.

Whatever you do, vote. If you are a Christian, then Christian values should be your primary criteria for picking a candidate. Everything else should be secondary or even non-issues. Whichever party will support those values best then that is the one you should vote for in any election. If Dobbs is right then vote for the one that tells the lies you like rather than for the one whose lies you don't like. Even if that is all we have then we still have to exercise our right as citizens and moral obligation as Christians. Since I may have some Jewish blood in me may I remind my Jewish firends that Moses would definitely be called a Conservative if he were alives so I don't think he would approve of you voting Liberal. Just a thought.

By the way, for my Liberals readers, I am not a 501 (c) 3 so I can say what I want and even if I were I believe that law states that a specific candidate cannot be endorsed or disparaged but it does not say anything about parties or platforms. I have not endorsed any candidates and the names I have mentioned in this message are not running so unruffle your feathers and have some Chamomile tea.

Shalom!

Ron Shultz
Concerned Christian Citizen