I wonder about the sanity of our political system and media most of the time. Yesterday a reporter from the Washington Post tweeted that he was looking for any outrageous statements, reversals of opinion, or damaging material on Newt Gingrich. Apparently enough damage has already been done to Sarah Palin, Rick Perry, and Herman Cain, and he and his newspaper are now preparing to move on to the next victims. I’ve already seen the ad where Gingrich and Nancy Pelosi discuss global warming together, an ad that Gingrich said was among the stupidest things he’d ever done; (I agree).
Of course the Obama campaign has already begun the ads depicting Romney as a flip flopper on issues such as abortion, immigration, health care and so forth.
I was wondering this morning what it would be like if I ran for office.
YIKES!
The tabloids would have a field day exploiting my violent past, drugs, alcoholism, sex and criminal issues, and then there are my ever-mounting flip flop issues.
Consider that there was a time when I believed that abortion was a good way to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy.
Now that I’m a believer in Jesus Christ and the Bible, I know that everything is wrong with that approach. Today I firmly believe that abortion is equivalent to murdering an innocent child and that life begins at conception and is defined in the womb. The Bible said John “leapt for joy” in the womb of his mother when Mary entered the room while pregnant with Jesus. It also states that God “formed” and “knows us” in the womb. I can’t imagine it not being a sin to destroy an innocent little child’s life; (a child that God formed, knows, and loves), particularly if the motivation is defined as a convenient way to hide a pregnancy out of wedlock, or avoid parental responsibility.
I suppose I’m a flip flopper like Ronald Reagan and George Bush on that subject.
Too I have mixed emotions about immigration and have changed my mind on that issue. I don’t want people coming into this country illegally and if I were the President I would put a stop to it and secure the borders tight as a drum; however what we should do with the 11 million people that are already here is a thornier issue.
A friend of mine is one of the largest vegetable farmers in the world and he tells me he cannot hire American citizens to pick his vegetables. Without immigrant farm workers he will be out of business and we will be out of vegetables.
Hmmm… If our own citizens won’t do certain jobs, then I suppose if we want to continue to eat affordable vegetables then we need to allow some workers into this country who are willing to perform those tasks.
I say if they have been here for a long while and stayed out of trouble and are currently working hard to support their families give ’em work visas, collect their fair share of taxes, and allow them a path to citizenship including making it mandatory to learn our language. Note I did not say give ’em blanket amnesty and the right to vote, collect welfare, clog up our emergency rooms, schools, and jail systems.
I guess I’m a flip flopper on that issue too, because not that long ago I was of the opinion that after we close the border we should round them all up and ship them back. Rounding innocent people up is what Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini did and it’s wrong. I actually know some very nice families that came here illegally. They attend church, work hard in jobs no one else wants, and are decent law abiding family oriented people. Rounding up drug smugglers and free loaders and shipping them back is not the same as shipping back honest hard-working decent people.
Recently my father came very close to dying. He is 90 years old and suffers from Parkinson’s disease. He was weak, in tremendous pain, and had not eaten anything in a week and the doc’s thought he had a malignant cancer. He was very sick and depressed and praying that the Lord would take him. I was praying for the same thing.
During his darkest hours I was angrily lamenting to one of my sons how euthanasia laws in this country are antiquated and he ought to be able to go to the doc and say, “Hey sawbones, I’m ready to check out of this life; give me a poison pill where I can die comfortably in my sleep tonight”. I went on and on and on making the point that I would not want to live without quality to my life.
My son exhibited patience far beyond his years and when I was done with my rant, he warned me that too many people may want to take that option just because they are feeling bad and/or are depressed at a particular time. He was not in favor of making it too easy to end someone’s life. I should have named him Nostradamus instead of Michael, because that is exactly what happened.
The docs found that dad didn’t have cancer, rather an infection of the liver which they treated with powerful antibiotics and yesterday, three weeks later, he was released from the hospital. He is strong as an ox, feels great, and importantly is in a wonderful mood. He can’t wait to get back to teaching his Sunday school class and participating in a Bible study in his new assisted living home.
We need to stop and think and consider that God just may have some very important remaining tasks for us to accomplish, (such as leading someone to Christ, or being an example of raw courage in dire circumstance), prior to asking for the poison pill, eh?
Dang another flip flop. I guess I’m not suitable for public office, because I do change my mind as more information becomes available to me and as God enlightens me and encourages me to dump long held idiotic beliefs.
I don’t hold it against someone if they change their opinion about certain things. I think that it’s a sign of intelligence and being willing to learn new information and yes admit that we are wrong. In my estimation it is also a sign of becoming a more mature Christian believer.
Did you know that the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit does not inhabit non-Christians? The Holy Spirit is our Christian conscience and part of His responsibility is to convict us of our sins. Without His guidance, sin, even grievous sin, seems okay to the non-believer. There is nothing wrong with getting drunk, having good sex outside of marriage, getting rid of an unwanted pregnancy, cheating on your income taxes, being a racist, watching pornography, banning school prayer, or divorce to many non-Christians. Many people black, white, yellow, red, and brown have flip flopped on all of these issues because of conviction by the Holy Spirit.
I am often lambasted by those who don’t like my views on President Obama. Personally I don’t know how it would be possible for any true believer in the Bible and in Christ to support him with a clear conscience. His views on abortion alone would prevent me from ever supporting him, much less his views on prayer and acknowledging God’s importance to this country.
I don’t know if the Holy Spirit resides in his heart or not, but if He does, this man is not listening to Him on a variety of issues. I pray that he will do so and he too will become a proud flip flopper.
1 Cor. 2:13
When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.