Politics – Ughhh!

I watched the State of the Union with some friends last night. I was struck by the lack of civility offered the President by many Democrats. In fact the entire room seemed divided. The Republicans were rising to their feet wildly cheering and applauding and the Democrats were sitting sullenly shaking their heads, hissing and sometimes booing, even upon hearing some really good news about the progress being made in the battle on terrorism, and that our country is recovering from 911, and our economy is dramatically improving.



One thing that politicians should all be required to do is read the book, How to win friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. If you have not read it, the answer to how to win friends and influence people is to give people what they want. The book is a great study about mankind and what drives them. The bottom line is that the overwhelming majority of people are obsessed with themselves and only themselves and in order to get along, one must serve them up what they desire. Politicians obviously understand this to a point. They receive obscene amounts of money from donors who want things, (special interests groups), and in our country that is how political campaigns are financed. Politicians lives revolve around touting programs for the black, the poor, the Hispanics, the elderly, attorneys, unions, environmentalists, business owners, something for everyone who votes and all the better if they will vote in a block. Unfortunately they are right to a point. Bill Clinton was a master at having professional pollsters conduct a poll and then he would conduct policy accordingly, telling each group what they wanted to hear.



I believe that the point that politicians most often miss is understanding that what people really want is civility. Most any advertising agency will tell you that people do not like to see ads that slam the competition. They want to hear advertisers talk about their products not their competitors. Most folks dread the political season worse than the flu season because all day and night through all forms of media we are pounded by negative advertising and commentary as politician after politician dutifully recites their party ideology and mantra like trained parrots tearing into their opponents like pit bulldogs. They are fueled by an often biased media that also does not understand that people are sick and tired of negative news. They refuse to report good news because they mistakenly think that people crave to hear the worst about our country and leadership. Gone are the days of being polite and respecting different opinions and finding common ground. It is my way or the highway thinking that is polarizing our country. Could it lead to another civil war? Scoff if you like, but it is dangerous for people with such opposite views to be totally devoid of civility.



The Bible tells us that the greatest command is to love God with all of our heart and soul and second is to love each other in the same manner. Unfortunately I am of the opinion that hardcore Democrats and Republicans HATE each other whether they are Christians or not. They each represent about 30% of their party and that is approximately 60% of our country. Only 40% are centrists and that is not a majority. How can we succeed as a country with a majority like that? We cannot and that is why we need to elect Godly men and women and ask them to adhere to Gods greatest commands. We also need to follow the word of God and do so in our daily lives and arch-conservatives and arch-liberals should try to be a little more civil even if we disagree on what is best for this great country.





1 Peter 2:1

Therefore laying aside all

malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy,

and all evil speaking,

as newborn babes, desire the

pure milk of the word, that you may

grow thereby,

if indeed you have tasted that

the Lord is gracious.



How well do you know the Bible?

We are told to abide in faith, hope, and love.

Which is greatest?

Faith
Hope
Love

1 Cor.13:1-13





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