I was struck first with laughter

and then with horror when I read what someone wrote on the Internet about

the "torture of the ballot."

He wrote, "if you torture

a ballot long enough, you can get it to confess anything!" We then

see on nationwide TV pictures of people in the precinct counting rooms

walking around with stacks of ballots in their hands. We then see the

people holding up ballots to the light to inspect them and to "divine

the intent" of the voter.

We know from countless elections

in this country that in every election there are votes that must be discarded

because it is impossible to know the intent of the voter, because there

is just not enough information left by the voter. I thought it horrifying

that this seems to mean by the Gore people that it is a vote for Gore.

It reminds me the way water

was found in the old days on raw land. You would get a man who was good

at "divining." He was supposed to get a "Y willow"

stick and hold it a certain way and walk the property until the stick

started vibrating and jerking down and pointing toward the ground where

water was supposed to be. After all the election smoke clears, maybe we

can one day label all these intended votes for Gore as the "divined

election."

Joseph Stalin, the infamous

WWII murderer and butcher, made the following statement: "It matters

not who casts the ballots but who counts the ballots." Here is a

man who was the architect of stealing peoples' freedoms, and then brutally

controlling every aspect of their lives.

I love it when Sen. Joe Lieberman

and Vice President Gore get on nationwide television and wrap themselves

in the flag and talk of "how will we tell our children that every

vote counts if we don't count all the votes?" They then turn in the

same breath and want all the overseas military votes without postmarks

thrown out.

In some military areas overseas

the postage is free and no postmark is needed.

As the Gore campaign's chad

wars continue, I'm struck by something. Don't you find it stunning that

the Democrats are eager to go to the Supreme Court to fight for the life

of an unborn chad, but you'll never see them go to the Supreme Court to

fight for the life of an unborn child? If this were not so tragic and

serious, it would be laughable.

What really bothers me the

most in this whole matter is that one half of America has chosen to want

four more years of a presidency that has had more scandal and embarrassment

and has had a greater rise of immorality than any presidency in the history

of America. I strongly believe that if America idly stands by and watches

on nationwide TV the stealing of this election by the daily changing of

the rules, and the continuing torture of the ballots, and the maneuvering

I know some who read this will

say that a minister should stay out of politics and that the church should

refrain from issues like these. The issues before us today are not about

being a Democrat or a Republican or the support of any other party, it

is a contest for the very soul of America.

The church has been at the

forefront of many of the greatest movements in this country. They were

heavily involved in the foundation of this democracy, its laws and universities,

the American Revolution, and in the Civil Rights Movement to name a few.

The church overseas was heavily involved in the Democratic movement in

its stand for democracy against communism in the Cold War, which had a

very large part in bringing down the Berlin wall.

Last night at the Bible study

in our home, we all got on our knees and prayed that if any party or persons

in these elections was doing anything illegal or attempting to push this

election in any direction other than what the true votes indicated, that

the light of the Holy Spirit would illuminate the wrong for all to see.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free!

Watch and pray!

The Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon is

the pastor of His House Community Church (SBC) and a substitute school

teacher in the Fayette County school system, and a former Army chaplain.

The church is currently meeting in the American Legion Log Cabin across

from the fountain on the Square in Fayetteville and will be moving to

a new location near Senoia by Christmas. Prayer line 770-719-2365; e-mail

[email protected].