My Thoughts on our Recent Election

Ten days out and I'm ready to post my thoughts on the recent election.

1. Congratulations to Barrack Obama. He ran an excellent campaign in defeating both Hillary Clinton and John McCain. He has demonstrated himself to be a capable leader who is able to inspire with his vision and to organize in such a way to achieve that vision.

2. Although race was rarely mentioned before the election, its about all the media could talk about after the election. I can only imagine the pride most African-American's felt as they saw Obama elected to the highest office in the land. Obviously, this is a wonderful thing for our country. For many young black men, they now have a role model of a man who is faithful to his wife and children, who valued his education and who worked hard to get where he is today. This is quite a contrast to the destructive role models most young blacks have seen in rap stars and professional athletes. And it contrasts nicely with former black leaders who fomented anger, bitterness and a victim mentality in their followers -- destructive attitudes that appeal to our lower nature. Let's hope that Obama's election helps inspire a whole new generation of black men to rise up and achieve their potential.

3. Obama has promised to "change Washington" and to bring our country together. Of course, this is exactly what George W. Bush promised to do eight years ago and we see how well that worked out. Obama is not going to be any more successful. Our country is deeply divided in ways that are not superficial nor easily glossed over. There really is a deeper battle for our culture and what happens in our elections is a result of that war -- it is not the cause of it. Obama is our duly elected president and, as such, he deserves our respect. But he should not expect us to abandon our principles nor to be silent when he proposes policies that violate those principles.

4. I am NOT optimistic about our short-term future. I'm not sure what Obama will do on the "big issues" like the economy, but I expect that within days of taking office, significant changes will be made concerning abortion (e.g. funding them with tax-payer money, striking down all restrictions on abortion, etc) and gay rights (e.g. hate-crime legislation that will make it illegal to speak against homosexuality). Within six to nine months, basic freedoms that we have taken for granted may well be at risk (freedom to say certain things, certain economic freedoms, etc.). And as far as that "big issue," the economy, I think it is going to go from bad to worse no matter what Obama does, but it will be even worse if Obama passes his agenda.

5. The Republicans broke trust with their base constituency and, once again, paid a heavy price for doing so. Conservative Republicans never have trusted John McCain and, thus, a vote for McCain was really a vote against Obama. I knew a lot of people who voted for McCain, but very few who were excited about him and its hard to win an election if you don't have your base constituency out there excited about you. Republicans must learn that they win elections when they unashamedly articulate conservative principles and lose when they appeal to the "moderates" who have no convictions.

6. For evangelical Christians, Sarah Palin was the bright spot of this campaign. She was loved by conservatives for the exact same reason she was hated by the mainstream media. She had enough backbone to stand for her principles and she didn't feel a need to apologize to those who disagreed with her. She exuded confidence in her positions and abilities. She was not afraid to expose her opponents. Thus, she drew crowds of thousands and nearly matched Obama in "star power." I can't remember the last time I saw a candidate so unfairly vilified by the press and, to me, the reason is simple: this successful lady gave birth in a very public way to a baby that elitist feminists believe should have been aborted, thus demonstrating that these "women's groups" aren't really"pro-choice," they are simply advocates for abortion. Because Sarah Palin didn't abort her Down Syndrome baby, she needed to be destroyed. We who believe every life is a gift from God should honor her for this very reason.

7. While the election of Barrack Obama and an overwhelmingly Democrat Congress and Senate is obviously bad news for conservative evangelicals, the nation once again strongly rejected the concept of "gay marriage." Even in liberal California where almost all of the state's leading government and business leaders came out in favor of gay marriage, the churches (evangelical, Catholic and Mormon) joined together and led the people to make an overwhelming statement that marriage is to be between a man and a woman. This is a huge issue that merits significant comment, therefore, I'll end it here and make Gay Marriage the topic of my next blog.

Comments

[Nathan R.]

Thanks, Pastor Short! I appreciate your thoughts. Blogging takes quite the time commitment, and I thank you for doing so. It gives me a chance to read your opinions in a flexible, nonthreatening, yet timely fashion. God bless! -Nathan (from KU years ago:))

[Peter]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for sharring your thoughts on the election. I was very surprised when I heard that California voted down gay marriage. I am curious to know your opinion on another matter pertaining to the election. I spoke with a few critics of Sarah Pallin. The women I talked shared the concern that she had not done a great job raising some of her children and that she ought to be focused on them instead of politics. They thought it would be bad for her family and that she had not demonstrated herself capable of running her family and being involved in politics at the same time. I also saw on the news coverage that the polls had shown that a significantly higher percentage of women were voting for obama than of men. I'm curious why that is. Is it because men are more prone to be hateful and racist (a trend I've observed among friends when I was in highschool) or is it because women had less confidence in Pallin? Perhaps there is a completely different explanation. My observation from conversations was that women were much more critical of Sarah than men.

[Hope]

Thank you, Tom, and thanks to Sen. McCain, too--both of you haved led us by example in showing us how to graciously concede defeat and show respect for the Office of the President, no matter who occupies it.

[Mike]

Really, Tom, you're afraid you'll even lose your current freedom to say certain things under obama? Really? Of all the fallacious premises, you've exercised a new low. Say, you wouldn't happen to have any supporting evidence, would you? Evidence is one of those things which can come in handy with things like negative political arguments banking on fears.

[Tom]

I expect Obama and the Democrats in Congress to pass legislation against "hate crimes." They have already attempted to do this and Bush did not go along with it. This legislation is similar to legislation already passed in Europe and Canada where people have been fined for calling homosexuality a sin. One man in Canada was even convicted for simply taking out an ad in the newspaper that did nothing but quote Bible verses on homosexuality. Yes, it is coming to America soon. Many of our campuses are already enacting "speech codes" which prohibit saying something that might offend or be considered "harassing" to someone else.

[Brendan]

I think Tom has hit the nail right on the head. It won't be to long before Christians will be jailed for the Gospel in America. I have heard many other evangelists that are on the front lines that see this coming. One of whom is a former law enforcement officer of 20 years. And to clarify, it's not because of Obama specifically that this will occur. As Tom said originally, this election is the result of what is already happening in society. And to be honest, a part of me looks forward to that day when Christians are persecuted in America. Historically, God has used the persecution of the saints to spread the Gospel even further. As my pastor said this morning, the blood of martyred Christians flows down and covers the ground, and becomes fertilizer for the Gospel. The signs are all around us. If you haven't been preparing, it's time to start doing so.

[mike]

So you're relying on a slippery slope fallacy based on un-cited, flimsy-at-best examples from other countries. Do you have any evidence of failed legislation that suggests fines for "calling homosexuality a sin? or evidence to suggest the previously attempted legislation would do more than prevent what we can agreeably consider harassment?

I'd like to mention that this is just one of MANY disagreements I have with your logic.

[Greg Terra]

Tom,

As usual you hit the nail on the head with your pre and post-election blog comments. Unlike Bill Clinton who is liberal but is more interested in advancing his own interest, Obama is a 'true believer' and will not only seek to implement everything you said, but also use his power to fight homeschooling, crisis pregnancy centers, gun rights, etc. Our nation will soon accelerate down the 'slippery slope' at a rate we've never seen before. But hey, if you run into any legal troubles in Texas you know who to call right? We'll see you in the spring. Keep up the good work.

Greg Terra
Austin, TX