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US Elections:: Whom do you Vote?
- Mr. Don Hicks

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God bless the United States Navy. Many a sailor will no doubt remember a training scenario oft times referred to as 'Save the Buttercup.' The purpose behind the 'Buttercup' training was to instill an element of realism that might one day be encountered when a crewmember finds himself on a sinking ship, perhaps a thousand miles from the nearest land. The Buttercup is essentially a huge empty water tank that looks like the inside of a ship's sleeping and work areas. The metal bulkheads (walls) have holes in them as if ravaged by war, and as the sailors make their way through the Buttercup, thousands of gallons of water begin gushing in through those holes. The mission of the small group of trainees is to 'Save the Buttercup' by stopping the flood of water pouring in and around them. The trick is to get with it fast and use every means available to save the Buttercup or else, within a matter of minutes, the students will find themselves waist deep in water. The water usually reaches near that depth by the end of the exercise when it is pumped out and the Buttercup chamber is made ready for the next group of would-be rescuers. Little did I know at the time that the exercise was rigged, because no matter how hard we tried by using our best teamwork, patches, and pumps, there was no way to save the Buttercup. At best, we could only slow down the inevitable. The water continued to pour in until the stressful training was called to a halt. It was not until later that our team of participants realized the true purpose behind the training, which was to reinforce the understanding that in a life and death emergency at sea, the sailor had better be prepared for anything, or the alternative is sink with his ship and soon all aboard may die. OK, but how does the Buttercup training touch reality in the 2004 elections? 'Save the Buttercup,' be it the Democratic or Republican Party, may be the hope and battle cry of many of my esteemed Christian commentators. However, recent history confirms that such wholehearted effort is doomed to allow the torrent of societal ills to continue flooding in through the bulkhead of civil government restraints. The ramification of 200 years of eliminating a Christian worldview in Western thought has caused a social and political threat to drown us all. No matter how hard one tries by using the best party-teamwork, legislative-patches, and judicial-pumps, there is no way to save our pluralistic 'Buttercup' as its unbridled waters continue to rise until we find ourselves chin deep in an ocean of Humanism. We have identified the problem, but is there a solution? Let's look at a crazy scenario. Say I have decided to support a man who wants to be President or Senator or Governor. However, no one has ever heard of this person. As more than one Christian commentator or “those in the know,” have said, character doesn’t win elections and neither do “third party candidates.” Well, because my candidate has neither name recognition nor money nor the influence to gain either, I am reprimanded as not being “prudent” with my vote. Okay, okay! Obviously, the issue is settled. My candidate cannot win so he should get out of the way as not to distract from the much-needed votes for someone who has a greater chance at winning. “Go with the flow...voting for the lesser of two evils is only semantics.” Should I really vote for the lesser of two evils...again? The people for whom this article is intended already know better. I may be preaching to the choir here unless there is some kind of denial going on or fantasy about 'saving the Buttercup.' Thinking men and women agree that democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of civil government because the tyranny of the majority always opens the flood gate to fiscal and moral anarchy, which soon leads to one kind of dictatorship or another. Isn’t it time to stand up and be counted as one who refuses to release the rudder of our Constitutional REPUBLIC? The Constitution of the United States gives its people the means to navigate through the shipwrecking seas in which we have found ourselves in today's culture. How can I justify my third-party vote? What if that 'big bad John Kerry' wins? Oh no, his ideology is going to get me and I have got to do everything in my power to stop Mr. Kerry. Does this mean that ultimately pragmatism becomes lord over necessity, no matter what the standards and platform held by the potential “winning candidate?” Unfortunately, this kind of political placating and head in the sand fundamentalism are what got our nation in this mess in the first place. YO...Mr. and Mrs. Christian, it is time to come to life, to rise from the dead and to obey God as His people again and not because the Constitution of the United States is a redemptive document that holds all the answers. Rather, because without a self-governing people to uphold our nation’s founding principles, the Constitution may soon become little more than a last will and testament to what we once were. Confrontation can hurt, especially when you say to yourself, 'Who is this guy who thinks he can judge my heart? I will vote as I see fit.' Instead, you might ask yourself if it is 'ok' that during the last century our nation witnessed the Constitution of the United States becoming just as relative and ineffectual to politicians and judges as the adulterous embrace of anti-Decalogue and escapist theology, which has usurped the majority of the churches. That is, in the name of 'unity' and 'love' (or 'laws of political science'), it is 'ok' to second-guess the reality of our responsibility as God’s people and sidestep confronting our culture with truth. Face it, is this where we find the real reason for our nation’s faltering? For those who have ears to hear, does God's Word still speak and renew hearts, making disciples willing to obey and fulfill responsibilities as ambassadors of Christ's Kingdom? Oh, please, my dear Christian friend, it is time for us to stop playing 'church' and awaken from our various phases of self-centered delusions. Why? Because we do not have to pray that God will hold back His judgment upon our 21st Century America. The judgment is here. When a Humanist majority makes the rules, and a civil government such as ours legislates the 'factory' style murder of its own unborn children, the wrath of God is poised on us as a people already. Extra! Extra! Read all about it in the news headlines of the not so distant future... or open your Bible and read all 68 verses of Deuteronomy Chapter 28 and read those same news headlines today. Nothing but the facts in this news report, brought to you by the God who is, “... the same yesterday, today and forever.” We should praise and thank God, for any political leader He so ordains to be elected to office in today's culture. Perhaps that elected official may be used as a means to awaken such an unrighteous nation as we are. Do I need to start picking at that wound? I think not. Let’s face it, unless, “we the people” repent and turn from our wicked ways there is really no way to predict how God may continue to establish His perfect plan in history regardless of our nation. (Deut. 8:20; Psalm 9:17) I clearly understand my Humanist neighbor rationalizing the 'laws of political science,' as a standard for ridiculing the “puniness” of the Constitution Party and its presidential nominee but woe unto you, Mr. Christian political pundit heavy-hitter. You are going down with the ship, no matter how masterful your arguments or astute your observations about the best chances to win an election let alone a culture. This election is not about believing in miracles to win, it is about what it has always been about, simply believing the promise of God's Word. (Rev. 2:26) 'Save the Buttercup'? Go for it, my third party naysayer. However, I refuse to exit another voting booth with blood on my hands. As for me, and my house, we will vote to stop the madness and we will win the day no matter who is elected, because our vote of conscience is in submission to our Creator. We will vote Peroutka-Baldwin and the Constitution Party.

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