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KingJimmy
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Joined: 2003/5/8
Posts: 4419
Charlotte, NC

 America Asks For A King

I came across the following article "America Asks For A King" by Laura Hollis at TownHall.com. I thought this article was very insightful concerning the present political climate in America. I hope you enjoy:


"America Asks For A King" by
Laura Hollis

I am an attorney and professor of law and entrepreneurship, so I usually confine my commentary to matters of public policy, and leave theology to those who have chosen that field of study. But since today is Sunday, I will take the liberty of making an observation with a more Biblical bent.

As one who has taught entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking for nearly ten years, I am distressed by the apparently overwhelming sentiment sweeping Americans that they must now be taken care of. I know from years of studying the matter that a society in which most members are – or can be – entrepreneurial, is a society where upward mobility is the rule; where wealth is created – not just “spread around”; where hope is common currency; where the inevitable problems are viewed as opportunities to find sustainable solutions, and where those solutions are typically new industries, new companies, and new jobs. An entrepreneurial society is a society where most people wish to, and know they can, take care of themselves, their families, and even others in need. Where charity and philanthropy are fellow-travelers with success.

Joe the Plumber’s exposure of Obama’s “spread the wealth” philosophy exploded like a flash fire, not only because that philosophy is utterly anti-American, but because it is shortsighted, and immoral. It is short-sighted, because in an economy that is a bit battered and fragile, what we need are more businesses, more workers, and more wealth creation in the private sector, not more government programs and more people dependent upon them. It is short-sighted because it is a failed business model. And, as we saw with the collapse of major lending institutions a few weeks ago, a failed business model, made larger (or “spread around,” if you prefer) by government, is not just a failure, but a catastrophic failure. So it was with the irresponsible lending practices foisted on American banks by the government, and so it will be with the irresponsible spending and doomed reliance on government largesse that Obama and the Democrats are peddling as salvation.

And the inevitability of its failure is why Obama’s philosophies are not just foolhardy, but immoral. It is immoral to deceive well-meaning people about what you intend to do with their money. It is immoral to take by force from those who produce, give to others who do not, and call it “charity.” It is staggeringly immoral to create an ever-larger class of dependent, helpless people who will be doomed to starve when the unsustainable system you have created collapses. And most of all, it is profoundly immoral to set yourself up as a secular messiah of sorts, assuring people that you will take care of them, eliminate hardship, heal the planet, and hold enemies at bay by the sheer force of your own hypnotic rhetoric.

Obama’s economic and social theories have been debunked and disproven (at great human cost) so many times over the past 100 years that it’s laughable anyone still believes in them. But at least his designs on the country are understandable. Those who crave power will use any tactic, as long as it works.

It’s the fact that it’s working that is inscrutable to me. And this is where the Biblical references come in. Americans’ attitude toward this posturing, self-important, political zealot remind me of the Israelites’ demand for a king, as recounted in the Book of Samuel:


When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do." Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots … He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." (1 Samuel 8:1-22)


The comparisons are telling: Americans are understandably fed up with corruption, greed, and perversion of justice in our leaders. But till now, we have asked for no king, because we could take care of ourselves, and because we have always been a godly people. But look around now – our children languish in failing, crumbling, unsafe, and undisciplined schools, many of which are merely bastions of social experimentation. Our cities are riddled with crime. Our families are devastated by divorce, abuse, illegitimacy, absent fathers, and definitions of “marriage” that fluctuate with the sexual predilections du jour. Our culture – books, films, music – is saturated with violence and perversion that even the smallest child is exposed to. And of course, one cannot forget – the high watermark of freedom and femininity, and the litmus test of liberty for the Left is the unfettered right to kill our own children in our wombs (or leave them to die outside of them).

This is what we, as a nation, have brought ourselves to. These are problems that no amount of social spending will cure, and any promise to do so is a lie, because no amount of money will change people’s hearts. And yet, instead of reaching deep within ourselves to find the solutions, we now whine and mewl for someone to save us.

And here he comes, Barack Obama, on a “righteous wind.”

As with anyone who would be king, Obama will take our money and our property in ever-larger amounts. Our children will be saddled with debt and beholden to a bloated government that will enslave the very people it promised to help. We will be at the mercy of our enemies. And no matter how bleak or desperate our own lives becomes, the leaders in Obama’s government will always thrive; such people always do. Nor is any of this is unique to Obama; it is in the nature of every king, and every government, which is why our government was originally set up to be limited, both to protect us, and to ensure our own self-reliance.

John McCain will not be a perfect President. But it is not necessary for the leader of a free, righteous, and entrepreneurial people to be perfect. I can support John McCain because he asks only that I vote for him, not that I worship him. And I will vote for John McCain on November 4th, not because he would be a better king, but because he does not claim to be one at all.

Neither McCain nor Obama is a king who will save us; we must turn instead to the only One who can.


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Jimmy H

 2008/10/28 18:00Profile
InHisGrace
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Joined: 2008/10/27
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 Re: America Asks For A King

This article say it all .....


Jesus is the only King of Kings and Lord of Lords

 2008/10/28 18:50Profile
crsschk
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Re: America Asks For A King

Thought this was a very telling article and couldn't get the correlations out of my mind. The sense of a dependance created upon handouts and a sense of being owed something.

[i] For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.[/i] 2Th 3:10

The correlation to the present prosperity juggernaut which preached in it's plainest terms is something for nothing and faith as presumption, an unspoken obligation upon God to fulfill a promise never given.

If you fail, the expectation is that someone is supposed to come bail you out. It seems it is charity in reverse, an abuse of what used to be a sense of responsibility. It seems to have permeated the entire culture and many Christan's have bought into the ideal.

Quote:
This is what we, as a nation, have brought ourselves to. These are problems that no amount of social spending will cure, and any promise to do so is a lie, because no amount of money will change people’s hearts. And yet, instead of reaching deep within ourselves to find the solutions, we now whine and mewl for someone to save us.



The original correlation to Samuel and asking for a king is remarkable.

[i]As one who has taught entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking for nearly ten years, I am distressed by the apparently overwhelming sentiment sweeping Americans that they must now be taken care of.[/i]




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Mike Balog

 2008/10/31 23:29Profile
ginnyrose
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Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
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 Re:

I often think how the USA government has taken over the role of the church's function in society and made a big mess of it.

Consider education: it used to be the local church operated the schools. And see what mess the feds have made by taking over this job.

How about the medical? the church women used to go out and render assistance to the ill. Now you have health care commercialized and out of reach of many hard-working folks who now have to look for alternative methods of healing.

How about social services? Mike talked about it - the federal government had created a dependency by the handout of goods with no responsibility attached to its acquisition.

How about behaviour modification? Haul people off to the psychologists, psychiatrist, drug them...And many theologians promoted doctrines that dismiss the fact that Salvation does change lives which downplay the importance of the Gospel to change man.

Perhaps it would do the American people good if this manmade god would flat on his face, like Dagon...would we be ready for it? Maybe I will have to go hide my head in the sand...

ginnyrose


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Sandra Miller

 2008/11/1 0:10Profile
KingJimmy
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Charlotte, NC

 Re:

Indeed, I thought it was quite remarkable. Of course, the correlation is not perfect, as we have never been a theocracy.

However, the heart of this story here has to do with the heart and disposition of the people, and it seems people in all ages are always looking for a Messiah of sorts. We seem to have a "Messianic disposition" in us by nature. But sadly, when that disposition goes unfulfilled, false Messiah's appear to take that place.


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Jimmy H

 2008/11/1 0:11Profile
ChrisJD
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Joined: 2006/2/11
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 Re: America Asks For A King

Hi everyone,



I too have thought about this passage from Samuel and feel like it relates very much to us today. So much so that I've distributed literature in that regard.



But, I was wondering if I could make a few comments about something from the article that is important to me at least.





"An entrepreneurial society is a society where most people wish to, and know they can, take care of themselves, their families, and even others in need. [b]Where charity and philanthropy are fellow-travelers with success[/b]."(emphasis added)



When I read this, I was reminded how the children of Israel were instructed in the Law to not oppress one another and to treat one another fairly, even to the point where they were not to lend money on intrest to one of their own people(Ex 22:25).




"And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buyest [i]aught[/i] of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not oppress one another:"

- Leviticus 25:14(KJV)



And I think about this, to say that, when I hear the calls for social justice in politics, or when I hear it in the voices and attitudes of people that I talk to on the street, I don't despise them for it, at least I don't want to. I try, or perhaps am trying, to take it as a reminder that there are alot of things which are important to God. Not just, for instance, our sexual morality.


Maybe that is something that we can be reminded of in this election time also.




And too, I was reminded how, when the children of Israel came out of slavery in Egypt, they often wanted to return. The author of the article said this in the qoute that I selected:


"An entrepreneurial society is a society where most people wish to, and know they can, take care of themselves, their families..."


But coming out of slavery is hard. I live in the black community. I've lived around black people, have had them as my friends, all my life. My wife is black. I don't know that there is such a general confidence in the black community that they can take care of their familes. When black people were freed from slavery in this country, they were not delivered into lands with houses they did not build and wells they did not dig and feilds they did not plant. Neither was their property returned to them in a year of Jubilee? But for [b]centuries[/b] in this county they have been sorely oppressed.


And where they somehow treated generally as equals by white Christians? Even 50 or 60 years ago? The sin of hatred and racisim among white people against those who are black, even by professing Christians, in America, is a disgusting and vile evil. Especially if it is among people that profess faith in Christ.



We do not live in a cookie cutter world where everyone knows and believes they can succeed.



The children of Israel were told to remember that they themselves were once slaves in Egypt and to treat others with that in mind(Lev 19:34).



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Christopher Joel Dandrow

 2008/11/1 9:23Profile
RobertW
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Joined: 2004/2/12
Posts: 4636
St. Joseph, Missouri

 Re:

Quote:
Mike's: The correlation to the present prosperity juggernaut which preached in it's plainest terms is something for nothing and faith as presumption, an unspoken obligation upon God to fulfill a promise never given.



This is a remarkable statement. It concerns me that man is bent on serving Mammon or serving Mammon in the name of serving the one true God. At the end of the day it is a mixture of covetousness and laziness. The world has been looking for a 'messiah' that would usher in such a 'god' and accompanying moral ethic. I think they may have found him and if he be not the one- they will surely look for another.

Why? Because covetousness and laziness rules the day; hard work and contentment are out of style. In short it is saying "I want", but I "want not hard work and if I must presume upon God to get it- I will." I'm reminded:

[color=000066]If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. [i]But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. [/i](I Timothy 6 italics added)[/color]


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Robert Wurtz II

 2008/11/1 18:33Profile
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St. Joseph, Missouri

 Re:

Quote:
And where they somehow treated generally as equals by white Christians? Even 50 or 60 years ago? The sin of hatred and racisim among white people against those who are black, even by professing Christians, in America, is a disgusting and vile evil. Especially if it is among people that profess faith in Christ.



This is very true. We cannot tolerate racism among believers. I think it is true in both directions.

[color=000066]And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation... (Acts 17:26)[/color]

What I have worked to do from an administrative point of view is to encourage others to give their life to Christ and allow Him to direct them. I think the most oppressive aspect of inner city life is a self-destructive impatient mindset that is not willing to allow a functional mode of success to develop- no matter how many people try to counsel or try to help certain ones caught in this.

And I do not believe it is a color thing- I think it is a destructive and defensive sub-culture that assumes the world is their enemy and they have to get theirs no matter how they have to do it. Right now I have 4 young family members in prison and one that is near to it and all of them are white. I have worked hard and helped many of these people financially as well as other areas. But the destructive mindset (that I believe is demonic) overrides and real sense of change. They have the same mindset as many other ethnic groups that have been oppressed, but they have never really been oppressed. They are their own worst enemy. It is almost like they are bent on destruction and they have no one to blame, nor history to cite as the cause. So I am not convinced that the problems that we see carrying on have a historical context otherwise I would not be seeing identical behaviors across multiple ethnic groups with very different histories.






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Robert Wurtz II

 2008/11/1 18:55Profile
ChrisJD
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 Re:

Hi Robert, hope you are well?


Thank you for your thoughts here. I think you raised some great points.




"I think it is a destructive and defensive sub-culture that assumes the world is their enemy and they have to get theirs no matter how they have to do it."


I know what you mean and had my own experience of this when I was younger, doing destructive things that I had no reason to do. But, I'm not sure that because some white people identify themsevles with that same mentality in order to justify their own evil inclinations, that this means there are not genuine social and historical roots to the problems that black people have in our society.


This seems like cutting off the foot of a newborn child, calling him a worthless cripple all of his life, and then latter, when he becomes an adult, giving him a prosthesis and saying 'now why can't you sprint like the rest of us'.


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Christopher Joel Dandrow

 2008/11/1 23:08Profile
HeartSong
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 Re:

I have become convinced that there is something special about the black people in the eyes of God - primarily from all of the persecution that they have experienced.

My brother in law is black. When I talk to him, it is as if we are on different planets - I think this is due to differing viewpoints - a different way of seeing. I do not think that there is anyone that I know that has a larger heart, and maybe this is where the difference comes in - and also, this may be one of the reasons for their persecution. They have a largeness of heart that makes them vulnerable - and if bitterness sets in, it is a large bitterness.

From what I have seen, and from sermons that I have heard (primarily Art Katz), God blesses the coming together of things that are opposite - as is black and white, male and female, young and old. These are the places that Satan seeks to implant a dividing wedge, for in these divisions he can wreck much havoc.

God has me focused on black and white lately. Black is the absence of color. White is the combination of all color. Grey is not a color in and of itself, but only a combination of black and white. Black absorbs light. White reflects light...

 2008/11/2 0:22Profile





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