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:

thirty biblical reasons to vote democratic in 2020: #21 Knowing History

September 21, 2020September 20, 2020 / Apple Hill Cottage / Leave a comment

“For inquire now of bygone generations, and consider what their ancestors have found; for we are but of yesterday and we know nothing, for our days on earth are but a shadow. Will they not teach you and tell you and utter words out of their understanding?” — Job 8:8-10 (NRSV)

…or in the modern words of Winston Churchill “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” It was originally a quote from George Santayana in the book A Life of Reason, published in 1905. Studying history is necessary if we do not want to repeat past mistakes. Knowing history is important for everyone, but especially for a leader.

David Cutler, a high school history teacher writes in Trump: an embarrassing history student, “I’m embarrassed when our commander-in-chief speaks ignorantly of the past — contorting the truth to accomplish political goals or rally his base…”

The president has made glaring mistake after awful gaffe after embarrassing blunder about commonly known historical and geographical facts. His mistakes have encouraged several journalists to suggest that the presidency should require a competency test:

There’s a reason society requires the credentialing of people who make highly consequential decisions — lawyers through bar exams, doctors through board certifications and state licensing procedures. It’s the same reason airlines don’t put untrained pilots in the cockpit and pray that they’re quick learners; pilots pass rigorous tests of competence long before they start moving passengers. And yet the most critical job on earth has no test for measuring what other professions call “job knowledge.”

…and later in the article, Chris Gay writes, “If it’s reasonable to worry about cognitive decline in older candidates because the stakes are so high, isn’t it reasonable to worry about civic, economic, and — above all — historical illiteracy for the same reason?” (from “No President Left Behind: Trump’s Lack of Basic Literacy and the Consequences.”)

Beyond the basic historical and geographical facts that the president gets wrong, even more worrying is not being able to distinguish the democratic imperatives that have been handed down from the founding of the nation. He has no sense of the tradition, the dignity, or the statesmanship of the office of the presidency.

It’s clear from the verse above from Job, that we are instructed to learn from our ancestors. Our lives are just a shadow; if we don’t build on the knowledge that already exists, what will we know?