November 5, 2008 § 17 Comments
The words of Padme Amidala Skywalker woke me up about a half hour ago. It speaks to my geekiness I suppose that my political commentary comes from the pen of George Lucas, but there you go.
I wasn’t closely watching the election results, but I knew Obama had it in the bag a long time ago. And so the Proletariat have spoken. In a mandate from the masses, America has chosen its destiny.
I stayed out of the fray for the most part this election. One who has chosen to remove oneself from the process has very little right to criticize or comment. For religious reasons, I have not voted in several elections now, under the conviction that my faith has called me out of the world system. But I feel free to say now that the decision has been made, and as an impartial observer, that things are about to change forever in these United States.
The change hoped for, and voted for, are going to be two very different beasts. Oops, did I say beast? Obama has been given a blank check for the next four years, and if he plays his cards right, even longer. And I’m not talking a second term. We are always just one revolution away from life as we know it changing forever, and yesterday, that revolution was accomplished without a single shot fired. From the voting booths, with ballots as weapons, an overwhelming majority declared its victory, and soon America will reap its rewards.
Congratulations, America, you have elected an official who does not believe life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is equal for all citizens. Welcome to the new fascism. This will be a brave new world indeed. It’s been a long time coming.
Cultured Mama 
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO LEAVING THE INTERNET! I CAN NO LONGER STAND MY FRIENDS LIST!!!!!
Liz, for serious, really? Ok, so I see your latest post is directed at me. Fine.
Number one, I do not hate Barak Obama. Number 2, I do not believe he is the antichrist though there are plenty of folks out there who believe he is their savior, and so I was making an tongue in cheek comment.
Number 3, I believe that as of this moment, I still have the freedom to express an opinion, and since I withheld said opinion for the many months leading up to this moment, I finally had a say. That doesn’t mean I will be saying it every day and every moment for the rest of his term in office, but I felt it needed to be said. What happened yesterday is an important and landmark moment in this country’s history on many levels.
It is wonderful that we for the first time in history have elected a person of color to the highest office in the land. But I believe that it has been done at a great cost. I’m not depressed, I’m not mad, I’m not scared and I don’t hate anyone for voting the way they did, nor do I hate Obama.
But I do believe that life as we know it in this nation is about to get a lot harder for many people. I’ve been saying this time was coming for years now, and we are about to see what that means. You don’t have to agree with me, and I expect that most people won’t. That’s fine.
I’m not going to ask you to not be mad at me for expressing my thoughts. You be mad and freak out for whatever reason you want. But I would prefer the civil discussion you and I have always previously enjoyed to being screamed at in my journal and told I am part of a friends list you can no longer stand. I thought we had more respect and love for one another than that.
NO NO It’s not directed at you! Not specifically. Please. I am sorry. If you’d like me to remove the previous comment from your journal I will. I was just really not expecting to see this from you. And it’s, like, the fifth time I’ve seen it on LJ now. I thought you were staying out of politics for religious reasons. I don’t know. I’m really quite confused actually. It was an overreaction on my part to post what I did in my journal. I’m just so tried of all the hate. Especially from Christians who profess their love for their fellow man. I’m not saying that you are any of those persons. Do you honestly think Obama’s presidency is the end of liberty as we know it? I’m sorry. it just totally boggles my mind.
I’m sorry. I should just go. If you don’t want me around I’d understand. I’m far from a stable person. And I’ve never been a “good Christian” anyway. Most people have given up on me a long time ago.
It’s ok Liz. I have stayed out of politics for religious reasons, and will continue to do so. But I felt I needed to say something, even if it is unpopular, or could get me in hot water with many of my friends. I can’t sleep either– part of it being a need to write these things down. I’m sorry you aren’t feeling well. *hugs*
Funnily enough, my friends list is so Dem heavy, I have barely seen a whimper amongst conservatives– if it’s there, it is buried amongst the exultant congratulatory posts.
I’m not mad at you, and I don’t want you to remove your comment– if I didn’t want it there, I would have removed it myself. But that’s not how I roll. I’m not like some president-elects who kick dissenting press off their planes. 😉
I do truly believe what I posted above. I hope I am wrong, but I see Obama and his crowd having an agenda that runs much deeper than the presidency. I don’t know how much he will accomplish, but the potential for harm here is just as great as the potential for good. It’s not personal against him; I see it as something our country has been headed for for a long time. It’s not his fault, he merely stands at the head of a movement that has been coming and now has finally had its day. I think it is extremely possible that a civil war could be around the corner, or another revolution.
I don’t know how well the country understands that the specific things they voted for are the very things that will be their undoing. That part of the agenda was never hidden for his camp. Obama made it very clear what he intends to do, and the country has voted for it. The very things they want to happen are, I believe, the very things that will lead to less freedoms, and more misery in this country. No one was duped here. Obama will do as he has promised, I am sure of it. And that’s the problem.
I’m not trying to be doom and gloom at all. I just want to be clear about where I stand and how I see what is happening. I feel like an outsider looking on, watching it all unfold. I don’t have to be happy about it, even if I’m not participating in it. But it hasn’t stolen my peace, I’m not weeping and wailing or rending my garments. This is just the way society goes. Even when they come pounding on my door in the dead of night, I have nothing to fear.
Many thought that the Clintons wouldnt’ give up the white house, people think the same about Bush (and we shall see on Jan. 20/21st?) but I’m not sure you’re right about this.
I hope you’re wrong.
Congratulations, America, you have elected an official who does not believe life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is equal for all citizens. Welcome to the new fascism. This will be a brave new world indeed. It’s been a long time coming.
Well that’s one way to interpret it. If you felt this strongly (and your sentence above is among the most extreme I’ve ever seen), you *should* have voted. Otherwise, you truly have no right to criticize who’s in office or to judge him.
Honestly, I didn’t see any way of stopping it. This was America’s decision, not mine, and considering the landslide in PA, my little vote wouldn’t have amounted to a hill of beans anyway. I’m glad I didn’t compromise my own conscience in a futile throw away vote.
I hope I am wrong, but long before Obama came onto the scene, I have been expecting America to choose a path that will hinder and hamper our constitutional freedoms. It’s all about history repeating. What’s happened before, will happen again.
Observing the train wreck does not make one culpable in it, nor does it mean there was anything one could have done to prevent it. America wants it this way. Oh well. I cannot change America’s mind.
And I am not criticizing Obama, nor am I judging him. I am criticizing the American people though. Obama will only do what America asks him to.
I hope so too. I didn’t have nearly as much of a problem when Clinton was elected.
I don’t even know if I can put my finger on *why* since I tried so hard to stay neutral in all of this. Two weeks ago, I could honestly say it didn’t matter to me who won, and that I was happy to support whoever became my president. Even yesterday, I felt the same way. But I just woke up with this knot in my stomach last night.
It’s weird, because it didn’t come as a shock, I have felt certain for the last 6 months that Obama was going to win, so I don’t know why his winning bothers me.
It’s weird.
It is the current administration, the Bush administration, that has ignored the constitution as much as possible. Think Guantanamo. Think wiretapping. Think Cheney’s assertion that he is not susceptible to oversight.
I seriously, seriously doubt that an Obama presidency is going to spit on the constitution as Bush et al have. I feel quite the opposite of you – Obama is far more likely to be supportive of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for ALL than his opponent would have been.
God said to pray for our leaders not that we had to like them. ;-P
I’m still confused as to why you think Christians must abstain from politics. What about David? Solomon? As kings, weren’t they the ultimate politicians? God did not ask them to step down, nor did he of Moses or many others in political positions in the Bible.
Just curious.
I hope you’re right. I agree with you that the Bush administration has been unspeakably evil. Pay attention, though: if Guantanamo is shut down, and all the wiretapping ceases under Obama’s administration, let us all know. I will send him flowers.
If, however, the bad things Bush did continue under Obama (who will have the power to stop them), don’t rationalize it and say it’s OK because Obama’s doing it. I don’t expect you, specifically, to say these things, but there will be many, many folks out there who will. Just watch and see.
No, shredding the constitution is not all right no matter who is doing it.
I think if/when Guantanamo is shut down, you won’t need me to tell you. It will be all over the news.
Frankly, it should already have been shut down. Most Americans don’t approve, yet they ignore us and keep funding it with our own tax dollars. A pretty big slap in the face, right there.
But I probably don’t need to tell you that. 🙂
*grin* Well, David and Solomon weren’t Christians, were they? 😉
Under the Law of the Old Covenant, (the Torah) God had called Israel out as His Holy Nation, and Kingdom here on earth. They were simultaneously a physical earthly nation, and his spiritual kingdom representation as well. The Law helped set them apart, and God’s Spirit dwelling among them further made them holy.
But Israel was rebellious. God had not wanted them to have a king– He wanted them to be a theocracy who saw Him as their king, and as needed, He would raise up Judges in times of trouble. Israel got tired of the Judges system, and envious of the nations around them who had “real” kings, not invisible gods leading them, and so they demanded God give them a king too, so they could “be like the other nations.” (I guess they were embarrassed like a collective teenager, and wanted to look “cool.”)
So God gave them Kings, first Saul, who sucked eggs, then David who had his problems, but ultimately rocked, and Solomon and so on and so forth. But the kings were not everything that Israel had hoped they would be. Some were cruel, some taxed them to oblivion, some led them straight into the arms of the Babylonians or whoever was conquering that week. ALL were human and fallible. In fact, they were everything that God had warned them they would be. And ultimately, led to the splitting of Israel into the Northern and Southern kingdoms, and eventually Roman occupation.
When Christ came on the scene, He came to prepare a New Kingdom, and the torch was passing from Israel’s old Law into a New Covenant. Jesus preached His Kingdom more than anything else in all of His speeches and sermons. You could say it was the theme of His ministry. Proclaiming the Kingdom, describing the Kingdom, exhorting His followers to be Kingdom dwellers. Unlike Israel, this Kingdom was not going to be represented by a particular people group in a specific geographic location. This kingdom would be a complete alternative to all of the kingdoms of this world, regardless of politics, governmental systems or geography, because the citizens of this kingdom would be scattered throughout all of them. The were called from all of them to come out from among them and become part of this new Kingdom here on earth; a Kingdom without borders, whose only King is Jesus- a true theocracy.
We obey the rules and laws of the nations in which we find ourselves, but we know that our citizenship lies elsewhere. We are merely passing through– tourists on an extended 70-90 year visit. Jesus’ and His Apostle’s exhortations to be in the world, yet remain separate from it are where I get these ideas of not engaging in the governmental systems. As well, other commands which would be compromised by becoming embroiled ion this world’s affairs or by seeking office also come into play.
The Christians of the first two or three centuries also held this belief, and up until Constantine, worked very hard at not involving themselves in government, based on such teachings from Jesus and His Apostles. In fact, seeking public office was on the official list of “Jobs Christians Cannot Hold.” It was up there with prostitution, being a witch, acting, and being a soldier. All were banned occupations for which they had scriptural reasonings to back them up, because they involved or lead to specific disobedience of Jesus’ commands.
There are two Kingdoms on this earth; all the earthly kingdoms of this world, and the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is upside down to all the ways and wisdom of this world, and our ways do not fit in its systems. We are called out of this world. We are called to remain in it to be ambassadors to this world. But we will not change the world, nor will they accept our ways, and to attempt to legislate them runs antithetical to the task we have been given, which is to be salt and light in the darkness.
Hope that helps! 🙂
Ah. And Constantine was a ruler first, and a Christian second, which is probably why things got muddled in his time.
Thanks for explaining!
No problem! I would like to point out that though he was sympathetic to the Christian cause, and admired them greatly, Constantine never actually became a Christian, unless you want to count a “deathbed confession.”
If he had become a Christian, he probably would have stepped down as Emperor, and most certainly would never have started conquering and going to war in Jesus’ Name (which is how all this started– his vision of the cross going before his armies.) This was completely antithetical to the teachings of the Church up until this point in history– killing in Jesus name or going to war in the name of One who has commanded us to love our enemies and be peaceful is like… wow, similes fail me right now, because the juxtaposition of those things is so extreme! lol
Things got muddled because Constantine started getting involved in how Christian doctrine was formed– he called councils on theology disagreements, started appointing bishops and presbyters to positions of power, and took sides in matters which were really none of his business. The Christians of his day for the first time had a respite from the 300+ years of bloody and brutal persecution, and became lax, basking in the favor of Constantine, and started bickering and fighting amongst themselves. Within less than 100 years, you had Christians for the first time killing brother Christians. The church became married to the state, and power in the church equaled power in the world. They had gotten in bed with the world, and to this day, have not yet gotten out.