I’m fascinated with the shaping of the Republican presidential candidate roundup and the mainstream media’s desperate attempts to gloss their sweethearts and downplay their threats. While this has become expected as a part of our corrupt culture and political system this alone isn’t what fascinates me. But it did lay before me the end of a string I decided to pick up and trace. What I discovered at the end of this string was shocking.
Thanks to Ron Paul my world has been rocked! I come from a Christian background and have been a faithful Republican for many years. I voted for George Bush and supported his campaign. I believed the Republican Party conserves the Constitutional rule of law in which my rights and liberties are protected. I believed they maintain healthy and vibrant fiscal policy for generations to come and that they demonstrate moral and exemplary leadership. In short, I believed I was being a good American as a Republican.
However, my feelings of betrayal have been growing for the past few years. Now I frankly decline when they call asking for monetary donations because I believe the Republican Party has lost it way. I mourn the loss of the representation I used to trust and I’m certain this explains the outcome of our mid-term elections. Even Democrats seemed to gain little out of this swing of power in Congress so they too must be feeling abandoned and without representation as well. What happened to our political parties?
I have been inwardly hungering and thirsting to find answers while watching the presidential incumbent bids take shape. I’m known as an optimist that keeps his feet on the ground but I must confess the front-running Republican line-up worries me greatly. I see no hope in them for the madness to end. None other than Bill Maher beautifully represented my sentiments when he gave the brief recap of the second GOP debate by highlighting the copious stream of fear-mongering and war-mongering from all the candidates, with the highly commendable exception of Rep. Ron Paul from Texas.
It is no surprise to find the string woven into this debate and surfacing when front-running Rudy Giuliani took issue with Congressman Ron Paul over foreign policy in the Middle East. Rudy heard what he wanted to hear in order to take opportunity to grandstand as the “9/11 Mayor” and castigate Ron Paul as a lunatic. I heard the applause of the audience to what was obviously a contortion of Paul’s words. I heard the spin the Republican side of Fox News used to perpetuate this denigration of Ron Paul. I heard how the RNC decision makers were motioning to ban Ron Paul from future debates. Surely this betrayal is tethered to the string we are tracing, but this isn’t the end of it.
What are these Neo-Republicans and their puppet media talking heads trying to hide? Must we live in terror and question nothing? Must we sacrifice our liberties in exchange for protection? Must we borrow hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars from potential enemies or massively inflate our currency to fund the War on Terror? Other than Ron Paul, all of the presidential candidates seem to believe so. What do they truly see at the end of this line of action? Can a terror provoking “War on Terror” ever end? Isn’t it plain to see fighting terror alone molds us into the very terrorists we are fighting? Even now in my effort to call fear-mongers to the carpet do I sound like one myself!
We need to remember that “rewarding” the government by transferring more of our liberties to them, as a response to their failings, will only encourage more of their failings. Failings with even more power over us! Are these failings only with national security and foreign policy or might this apply to other areas like education, health care, fiscal policy, immigration, environment and so on? Giving the government more power is looking for answers in the source of the problem, ourselves. Is it so hard to grasp that the solution was answered by our true patriot founding fathers in doing exactly the opposite by limiting government power as much as possible while fostering the necessary foundation of Godly virtues and individual responsibility to solve things independently as individuals, families, communities, counties and states?
Have we counted the cost of seeking for ourselves “guarantees” of security, of equal-rights regardless of lifestyle choices, of universal health-care, of “no child left behind” education, and so on? Do we want to follow this string of fear and insecurity to the point our freedom is sacrificed upon alters of security and entitlements? When will we clearly discern a human seeking such guarantees from a human is like a snake eating its own tail? This seducing delusion offers more “apparent” power than some individuals can abstain from grasping for and if we succumb to them we are electing the fathers of lies!
Does the string end here with the potential of utter surrender and abolishment of our liberties, thus creating a living hell on earth? No! We are in a day and time now where matters have the potential of being much graver. We now have technology capable of disrupting the biological fabric of this planet to such a degree human life could become extinguished. Thus, we have to own the responsibility of having such power and put well behind us our fears and insecurities by getting what love truly is. We must evolve! Indeed the wages of sin is death. We must recognize that this string we are tracing could be a fuse that is burning towards a detonation of global proportions.
What does this have to do with Judas? Let’s review: The Jews were expecting a messiah to come and liberate them and establish His kingdom upon the earth. Upon His arrival there were only a few who perceived the kingdom He brought was spiritual rather than political. Among His inner circle the apostle Judas believed Jesus should use His power to throw off the Romans and establish a political kingdom. Judas didn’t “get it” and eventually conspired against his Master, thinking to force Him to use His power by betraying Him into the hands of His enemies. In so doing, much to his shock and awe, he facilitated the death of his Master. Judas abandoned the 30 pieces of silver and hung himself realizing he failed to control his Master, the Son of God, by terrorizing Him.
We are taught in our churches “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) The context here is the world, upon which we have a vested interest in human life continuing here everlastingly. Christians believe the crucifixion of Jesus was necessary in order to save the world from sin and my shocking realization and argument here is there are as few Christians today who know how this act will save the world as Jews who knew why He came in the first place. We need those who know to lead us.
Jesus demonstrated willingness to die rather than make selfish use of the power He possessed. He stands as a prime example to the world of what meekness really is. Having great power yet refraining from abusing it. Jesus demonstrated numerous times He possessed sufficient power to assemble all the elements of the earth to back Him in whatever conquest of glory He desired. But instead He left a few simple teachings to be taken to all the earth and offered Himself as a sacrifice! Perhaps only now in our need can we see how profound His example and His simple teachings were and how they can save our world so that we may enjoy life everlastingly on earth as humankind.
Herein do we learn what Christ meant when He said “the meek shall inherit the earth”. Was He telling us if we burn the fuse too far there won’t be an earth left sufficient to inhabit? Might He be saying we should be willing to die if necessary such that life on earth may continue everlastingly? Aren’t there many who teach us He died so that we wouldn’t actually have to, but that we must have faith as He did? Is it not true that even though He died that He rose again? If you are Christian then you believe He did and it’s time all Christians start putting stock in their own beliefs and follow His teachings.
How is it the Christian Right appears so adamant about the need for us to exert all our might and power in the world to kill and forcefully silence our enemies? How is it we can justify ourselves imposing “freedom” and “democracy” at the point of a gun? How is it the War on Terror has become such an important feature in our daily life? I submit there is a Judas afoot, who believes the answer is force and control with power and might. Just as Judas was willing to sacrifice his own Master to advance his agenda, based on his sincere yet deluded belief that it would answer the world’s problems, we have a repeat of history in the making unless we all, especially our Judas faction, wise up quickly.
Do we have the right to usurp God’s authority and take it upon ourselves to execute any sort of vengeance upon our brothers and sisters in this world? Last I checked the tool of vengeance has never been wholesale delegated to humankind. As I see things now, if we sow vengeance in the world it is going to come back to us greatly multiplied. The Law of the Harvest is very real and we would do well to heed it carefully and let vengeance be God’s and God’s alone. When, as prophesy foretells, Christ comes again with power and great glory to take vengeance upon the wicked, who will be in His crosshairs? Who does God despise most? Hypocrites! Let us search ourselves and root this out while we can.
In searching ourselves let us consider: Who is our government’s master? We are! This begs the question: Was 9/11 and other catalyzing events carefully “managed” terrorism by a Judas faction in our government? We may never know if it was that or worse but we all can have the Judas element in our nature and it behooves each one of us to simply “get” the principles Christ brought us and live them whether we darken the door of a church or not. Yes, these principles fly in the face of conventional wisdom and our fallen nature but they are precious and eternal and I am very ashamed to admit many of my Christian brothers and sisters appear to be among the poorest examples on this earth at living them, myself included. It’s no wonder Christians have incurred the ire of many good people on this planet because too many of us just don’t “get it” and live them.
Let’s review what the Christ brought us and charged us with:
· Blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
· Blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
· Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
· Blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.
· Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
· Blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
· Blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
· Blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
· Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake; for ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.
· I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.
· I give unto you to be the light of this people. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
· Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good.
Are we a light on a hill and a beacon of temperance and meekness in the world or are we as salt that has lost its savor ripened to be trodden under the foot of men? Can’t we turn catalyzing events like 9/11 into opportunities to shine our light rather than claim such “changes everything”? These principles never change! Can we say of ourselves that we are Christians if rather than be true to His teachings and example we turn into fearful and hateful terrorists ourselves? Are Christians to be bullies who resort to the strength of their own arm as if there is no just God in Heaven watching over us?
Would the world populace at large be embittered towards us… For being peacemakers? For being meek? For demonstrating a hunger and a thirst to understand others and to listen to them? For being merciful? No! Of course not. It’s high time we quench the burning fuse and dismiss the self-appointed well-intended globalist do-gooders trying to force us to submit to their elitist agenda by terrorizing us, by compromising us, by infesting us, by poisoning us, by seducing us, by shaming us, by enslaving us, by amusing us, by angering us, by perverting us, by fearing us, by dividing us and so on.
With Ron Paul as president, we can have hope again to be a beacon of light and truth so that our lives and freedom, coupled with Godly virtue and individual responsibility, will continue on earth. I’m so grateful to him for awakening the true Spirit of Christ in me.
This is my prayer to the Father for America, in Jesus Christ’s name, Amen.
Jason L Wharton