The New Living Translation puts it this way: “Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side— leaders whose decrees permit injustice?“

While claiming God is on His side, he has:

Updated the immigration enforcement laws which massively expanded the number of people who were detained or deported
Made friends with autocratic dictators, while alienating our long-standing allies
When it was made public that Putin offered bounties for American soldiers, he DID NOTHING. In fact, he seems to serve Putin’s Russia. Susan Rice, former National Security Advisor, says it is unthinkable that no-one in the president’s close circle informed him of this. You might like to read her op-ed, Why Does Trump Put Russia First?
Passed tax reform act that mostly benefited the wealthy and large corporations
Rescinded the DAPA program that would have offered a pathway to citizenship to parents of children who are American citizens
Continued to profit from his businesses while acting as president, which is in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution
The Secret Service has spent over half a million dollars on golf carts protecting the president who has spent almost one out of three days playing golf at one of his resorts
Set up ICE detention centers for immigrants where the conditions are appalling and it is estimated that over 1,000 people have been separated from their families
The two private prisons that house more than half the immigrant detainees have doubled in stock value; the prison groups (GEO and CoreCivic) have donated approximately a million dollars to Trump and his campaign
Encouraged his supporters to vote more than once to throw suspicion on our democratic election processes
Lied to the American people about the severity of the Corona Virus, and has never really shown remorse for over 200,000 American deaths. Instead, he has said repeatedly, “It will all just go away…” (He gives himself an A+ for his leadership on the pandemic).
His cabinet is filled with corporate executives and lobbyists who now oversee the companies they worked for: a coal lobbyist heads up the Environmental Protection Agency; a big pharma executive runs the Dept. of Health & Human Services; a shipping heiress drives the Transportation Department; ex-Goldman-Sachs partners run the SEC and the Treasury Department; the owner of a dozen agribusiness companies directs the Agriculture Department… that’s only a few. Look ’em all up. He said he would drain the swamp — instead he’s quadrupled the size of it… (For a jaw-dropping look at the corruption see this article: Mapping Corruption, Donald Trump’s Executive Branch by Jim Lardner.

When a not insignificant number of Americans are willing to bypass the Constitution to keep a demagogue in power, that’s a grave threat to our republic. In 50 days—or sooner, if your state allows—we must vote in overwhelming numbers in defense of our Constitution and encourage others to do the same. —Evan McMullin, The Topline, 9/14/20

Indeed, the corruption and injustice of this administration has brought misery by its decrees; this corruption, deception, incompetence and slothfulness in the office of the highest ruler in our land should frighten us. Just read Proverbs 16:12: “It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts, for a throne is established on righteousness.” The fame, fortune, and future of a civil government depend on righteousness. For a longer discussion on this proverb, you can check out this commentary.

thirty biblical reasons to vote democratic in 2020: #23 Riches

September 23, 2020September 23, 2020 / Apple Hill Cottage / Leave a comment

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” — Matthew 6:24 (NIV)

Jesus used the illustration of money in many of his parables, and he taught a lot about money and our love for it. Sometimes in the parables he used money to express a deeper point, but this above verse in Matthew is pretty clear: You can’t serve both God and money.

It’s easy to condemn the rich for making an idol of their money. And this is exactly what I’m doing with this post. Yes, it is easy. The current president spent 66 million dollars of his own money to get elected in 2016. His business dealings are not above board, or he would have produced his income taxes by now. We the taxpayers are paying for all of his court costs in his legal battles as president. He has made at least $900,000 from his real estate businesses while he has been president. He has had 6 bankruptcies. He has lived the corrupt high life of a millionaire. He serves money. BUT,

Money is so easy to want more of, isn’t it? When we don’t have it, it seems as if so many problems could be solved if we just had some. This is making an idol out of money, as much as the rich person who can’t give it away because he can never have enough. They are two sides of the same coin (pun intended.) This is what Jesus was telling us: so even though millionaire Donald J. Trump is not off the hook, neither are we.

Consider your heart. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be too. (Luke 12:34)

Donald Trump’s heart is with his money. I suppose this is why people think he is an expert at it and why generally people think the U.S. economy will be better off with him in charge. But the last time the U.S. budget was balanced was from 1998-2001 when Bill Clinton and a Republican led Congress compromised on spending cuts and increased taxes. (Remember when Bipartisanship actually existed?)

Donald Trump inherited his money, has had SIX BANKRUPTCIES, and has lived in a jet-setting millionaire’s bubble for his entire life! He is so out of touch with the working American that he commented “Stocks are owned by everybody.” This is false. Only 50 % of Americans own stock. And 84% of stocks are owned by the wealthiest 10%.

And this is how much he cares about your Social Security: “If victorious on November 3rd,” the president said on Aug. 8th, “I plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax.” He then added: “I’m going to make them all permanent.”

But the problem is that the payroll tax funds Social Security. How will Social Security be funded if the payroll tax is permanently gone? We don’t know. All he says is “We’ll be using the general fund for Social Security.” What general fund is that? The one that has a three trillion dollar deficit? You might want to click on the link to that article above. It is startling.

Do you want someone who only cares for the rich to be in charge of our economy? Be careful with this answer, Christian. Check your heart before you cast your vote.

image from SquareQuotes.church

thirty biblical reasons to vote democratic in 2020: #22 Creation

September 22, 2020October 29, 2020 / Apple Hill Cottage / 6 Comments

“I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.” — Jeremiah 2:7

Like the sinners that we are, we spoil most everything, including the land. In the quote from Jeremiah above, God laments the defilement of the land. It could be rich with produce and fruit — indeed, enough to feed the world, but rather, with our feet we have trampled down the pastures and muddied the clear water (see Ezekiel 34:18)

During three years, and eight months of Donald Trump’s tenure as president, he has done much to foul the world we live in, especially the physical world. Many of the points below are taken from a concise and clear article from National Geographic: Fifteen ways the Trump administration has changed environmental policies.

(This article only deals with wildlife, clean air and water; if you would like to read a more in-depth article on energy policies, carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, I suggest you read “What is the Trump administration’s track record on the environment?” by the Brookings Institute or this Fact Check article from Politico).

The U.S. withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, a worldwide organization for cooperation on the environment and climate;
The Clean Power Plan was set to cut carbon emissions in this country by 32% by 2030, but Trump’s EPA decided that was too unfair to the power companies (read Big Business);
The EPA also announced they would loosen rules about methane gas flares, inspecting equipment and repairing leaks;
The definition of what consists of federally protected rivers or wetlands has been narrowed;
Two national monument parks had their acreage reduced and opened for mining and drilling companies in 2017;
An executive order called for a 30% increase in logging on public lands; in fact, Trump will open up more than half of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest to logging and development. The Tongass is one of the world’s largest intact temperate rain forests.

It goes on and on and on… Big business and greed get the green light, and all creation groans. There are so many amazing Bible verses on creation and stewardship of the earth, that I had a hard time deciding which ones to use. So here’s a fourth: