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Ecclesiastes
11:1 "Cast thy bread upon the waters, for
you will find it after many days."
It has been
stated that this is one of the most important elections in the history
of the United States. I am not so sure I agree with this, but I do
believe that it is very important, not just for the people of the United
States but for the world community as well. The influence of this
country is far-reaching and the values that conceived this idea of the
United States has in the past, been a model for others throughout the
world .... freedom and equality are values for everyone. Our
currency is printed with "IN GOD WE
TRUST"
as a reminder to all of us to trust God. But to "trust
God" makes a great demand on us to align ourselves with the
qualities of God ... to see ourselves as "One Nation Under
God" ... makes another demand. We will never "win the
peace" as long as we divide ourselves from each other and from
the world.
We have entered into a time of divisiveness in the world ... an "us
against them" mentality that creates certain struggle and strife
... and this divisiveness is visible within the United States itself.
There are those who would deny equality to others through their own
blindness of Truth. We have religious zealots who ignore the
deaths of over a thousand of our citizens in the war in Iraq and yet
urge people to vote on single issues like same-sex marriage. I
received an email message this morning from a group called
"OneMillionMoms" that sent out a list of all the politicians
who "voted for the homosexuals" ... I am certain that this
same mentality would have sent out a list back in the 60's of those who
"voted for the Negroes" ... or those who "voted for
women's rights" ... this consciousness of hate and divisiveness
will always find its enemy ... and its friends ... who will be next on
the list of OneMillionMoms? ... and who are these moms anyway ...
everything I have seen from this organization is from men!! On
their website they state they are part of the American Family
Association: "AFA exists to motivate and equip citizens to
change the culture to reflect Biblical truth." ... in other words,
their interpretation of Biblical truth as filtered through the mind of
the conservative theocrat, Donald Wildmon. This tax-exempt organization
goes the limit on political endorsements and political action.
Someone should remind Donald Wildmon that "hate
is not a family value" ... and not all families are
Christian ... and the best family value is "love
God and love your neighbor as yourself." Last
Sunday many Catholic churches put a note in their bulletins to
"vote and remember that you are Catholic" ... does this mean
that Catholics should all vote for Kerry since he is Catholic? ... most
Catholics either ignored the note or were confused by it.
The
Master Mind Jesus taught "consciousness" ... and the
"consciousness" of America is just about to be revealed to the
world as never before. This has been one of the ugliest political
campaign years this country has experienced on almost every level of
political office; president, senators, congress and even state
governors. I cannot remember when God and religion has been so
often used in politics in such mean-spirited ways. This is no
different than the people who used the Bible to scare people in the past
and to divide people by race and nationality. If we allow this to
be acceptable behavior from our politicians then we must be prepared to
find it as acceptable on every level of our lives.
Who we vote for is a very personal
decision and each of us is very capable of making this decision ...
let's not vote from fear, but from faith ... we believe in God and that
He Is Good ... let us never allow fear to diminish our Faith in the
Infinite Power and Presence of the Almighty!
And
So It Is!
Maximum Love,
Rev.
Hank Bates
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