Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible
The election
Dear Father Paul: I value your advice. Who are you going to vote for in the presidential race? — J.W.
Dear J.W: Sorry. Flattery won’t work. I’m not going to bite on that question. We still have a thing called “the secret ballot” in this country. I will say this though. If you’ve been reading my columns for any length of time (see right to life), you can probably figure it out.
Having said that, I will cast my ballot for president with little, if any, enthusiasm. Both candidates are seriously flawed in my opinion, and, like millions of other Americans, I sadly shake my head and keep asking myself, “Out of 320 million people in America in 2016, are these two the best we could do?”
But it is what it is. An almost bigger issue, to me, is what will happen after the election? Will our new president be a leader who will compromise with the other party and lead America to unity, or will he/she fan the flames of disunity and strife that now rage in our country? The record on this isn’t too good for most recent presidents.
Many say that, “our nation’s severe disunity is a ‘political issue’ and therefore must be dealt with from a political perspective.” I come from another perspective. I am absolutely convinced that the disunity and strife we have in our nation is, at its root, “a spiritual issue” arising from the sin of pride and the attitude of far too many Americans that says, “I am totally right, and others are totally wrong … and therefore, they are the enemy who must be completely discredited whatever the cost!”
Don’t believe me? Try listening for a while to lots of politicians and the pundits in the media. Their cancer of strife and disunity is eating America from the inside out.
Today compromise and deal making are dirty words in politics. Sitting down with the “enemy” from the other party and working out differences is unthinkable … a sign of weakness. I sometimes wonder how many of our party ideologs are married. Well I am, for 51 years. And I learned pretty quickly back in 1965 that I wasn’t going to win every disagreement with Judy. We had to learn to sit down, talk it out and, yes, compromise … or split up. The Founding Fathers knew this simple truth and it is reflected in the U.S. Constitution, signed in 1787. The signers were all men who had firm principles that they argued long and hard to get into the document. Yet, when they realized that they couldn’t get 100 percent of what they wanted, they settled for 80 percent and gave the other side 80 percent. Both were winners, but America was the big winner. We today have a Senate and a House of Representatives as just one example of these selfless men’s willingness to set aside division and unite.
I said earlier that our disunity problems are “spiritual” not just political. This is true because strife and disunity dwell naturally in the hearts of all men and women and only God can administer the antidote. If you don’t believe me, watch a couple of toddlers at play. “Mine!!”(screamed loudly) is the operative word. In fact it is one of the first words we humans learn.
God hates strife and disunity because they hurt his creation — us. The Bible says in I Corinthians 14:33 (KJV) “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace … “
James 3:16 says (NIV) “For when you have envy and strife, there is confusion and every evil work.”
Jesus himself issues a warning to countries that insist on strife and disunity. In Mark 3:24 (NIV) Jesus says, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” Think about it. According to Jesus, division, disunity and strife will ultimately destroy America, and future generations will live in an impoverished, lawless third world country.
God himself gives us his solution in the Holy Bible. If you love God and love America, and really do care where America is headed, I urge you to look up, then read, then do, what it says we should do in the Old Testament Book of II Chronicles 7:14. If you don’t have a Bible, just Google it. Or, you can do nothing. It’s up to you.
Do you have a question? Send your question to me at [email protected] and I will try to answer your question in the paper.
Father Paul Massey is pastor emeritus of Church of the Holy Cross Charismatic Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, Georgia. The church is now looking for a few more lonely and hurting people. See www.holycrosschurch.wordpress.com for service times, directions and more information.
