Absalom used to whisper in the ears of the people of Israel.

2 Samuel 15:2-6:

Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, "From what city are you?" And when he said, "Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel," Absalom would say to him, "See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you." Then Absalom would say, "Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice." And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

It seems that Absalom could have been the first great politician. Whispering in the nation’s ear and convincing them that things are not alright and that if he were in charge, they would be better. Smooth words, but little substance.

Hmmm. Sounds familiar.s

I was driving today and the back of the car in front of me was sporting a “Yes We Did” Obama sticker. For the first time, I noticed something strange.

This poster bears some eerie similarities to other political posters from history. They all seem to feature a picture of the noble, benevolent leader. No, I’m not calling Obama a communist, per se. Though I don’t think he’s too far off some times. But what I will say is that through a series of slippery situations, the German people elected Hitler (well, sort of anyway). We’re not immune to being convinced that we want to give up our liberties.

I read an article this morning about a doctor in Florida who is so angered by the health-care bill that he put up a sign in his office window that tells patients that if they voted for Obama, they should seek care “elsewhere”.

Reading the comments on the Digg submission (where I first found the article), it’s clear that people (at least on the internet) are outraged. And at first, I was somewhat dismayed at that as well. No, I don’t agree with the health-care bill. And I didn’t vote for Obama, and I certainly won’t vote for him in 2012. But, my opinion of someone wouldn’t change if I discovered they did vote for him.

But, after thinking about it some more, I think it’s crucial that the doctor leaves that sign in his window. He’s upset and should be. The bill is going to have huge (largely negative) affects on his practice and his patients.

You see, there are evidently some who would appear to be gearing up to take the matter to court. But why? Provided he isn’t actually turning anyone away, and isn’t quizzing  them (which he says he is not), then he is will within his rights to free-speech and he shouldn’t be bullied out of using them when he feels it’s right.

I think it’s easy for us to forget all about our rights when we don’t agree with how someone else is using them. Do I like the way Richard Dawkins talks about God? Certainly not. But I feel no impulse whatsoever to silence him. Those are the principles our nation was founded on. And what we don’t often realize is that if we attempt to stifle other people’s rights when we don’t like what they’re doing with them, it won’t be long before our rights are taken away too.

Just sayin’. Sorry for the political rant.

I’m really not even the slightest bit political. At least not over most things. But there is one thing that I feel pretty confident about, and that’s that I don’t like the government telling me what not to do when the only person at risk is me.

Usery-like tobacco tax, gay marriage, marijuana  and my seatbelt are all things, among others, that I think the government ought to get its slimy little (huge) nose out of. As a child, the concept of freedom seems huge. As an adult, it’s easy to see how the word is convoluted—and probably doesn’t mean what it used to.

Well, there’s one thing I have to applaud our government for. The liquidation of millions of dollars worth of tainted trailers left over from Hurricane Katrina.

If you don’t know much about the debacle (and frankly, I’m not completely in the know either), there are all these trailers that FEMA bought to house Katrina victims. It was a sloppy production, and quality control was almost non-existent. A huge number of the trailers had ‘unsafe’ levels of formaldehyde (though the only ones testing for it are FEMA). Hundreds of thousands of people got sick. It was a series of bad decisions, eventually covered up by more bad decisions.

Well, for years now, millions of tax dollars have been going toward storing these defective units. But finally, the government has agreed to sell most of the units at a mass auction for pennies on the dollar.

Now, it seems to me that opponent’s main complaint, besides the more theoretical speculations that fly about, is that it is unfair to the consumer who may purchase these units. What if someone bought a tainted unit and got sick? Wait. Hello? There’s a big huge ‘unsafe’ sticker on the outside! Now, forgive me if I’m wrong, but if you’re worried about formaldehyde shouldn’t you weigh the risks yourself? I mean, I can eat McDonalds every day if I want and no one will stop me. But If I did that, you think I’d live more than another 30 years? Probably not.

So, the FEMA sale of these trailers is a complicated topic. Sure, they could just destroy them and be done with it. But, if people want to buy them, the government shouldn’t get in their way. Nor should they get in the way of two dudes who want to get married or a college graduate who wants to smoke pot. It’s just not that complicated.

Freedom to make good decisions, but not bad ones is not freedom. Amongst a lot of complicated situations, I think that is really quite simple. Let the government stay small and our own decision making power stay big. That’s my two cents. The trailers are pretty cheap, maybe you can take it and buy one.

Originally posted here, at DesiringGod.org. Worth reposting. Worth thinking about. Worth considering the idiocy of prizing social progress and political reform above human life.

I would have to consider myself quite the impressive liar if anyone was convinced I cared much about Earth Day. Or really environmental concerns at all. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not out to kill the world. I’m just not spending twenty-five dollars on a bag of rice to make sure it didn’t spend an extra three hours on a truck.

I don’t litter and I prefer to carpool whenever possible. I don’t like the idea of the world getting hotter and the penguins putting on sunscreen. But I’m also not dropping any money into the little “save the rainforests” bucket at the grocery store. I don’t know. I suppose I can’t pretend to care about something if deep down I simply don’t.

So, I suppose here is my solute to the Earth:

Way to go Earth. Good job putting up with our crap. I’ll keep recycling what I can and best of luck dealing with what I can’t. I hope there’s no hard feelings. Talk to you again next year.

I would suppose if the Earth were a cognoscente being that could hear and understand these words, it would be quite offended. I wonder how Christmas’ respective cognoscente being feels when the millions think this very same thing on his day—every day?

I read a text argument between two Christians a couple days ago. They were debating Obama’s stimulus plan. After a number of retorts, one of them said, "Jesus wouldn’t be a republican!". Although it may not have been her intent, it sounded as if she was claiming that he would be a Democrat instead.

But Jesus’ wouldn’t be either.

It reminded me of the passage in Joshua just before the Israelites go up and defeat Jericho. Joshua sees an angel of the Lord standing a ways off. This was their interaction in Joshua 5:13-14:

"When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold. a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" And he said, "No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come."

Most scholars agree that the man Joshua spoke to was Jesus, and here from his very own lips we see him disregard both political options. "Are you for us, or for our enemies?" He disregards both and simply says, "No".

Why is this? Because God only sides with man inasmuch as man has sided with God. God is on his own side. Think about it, God would fight for the Israelites, provided they were following him in obedience. Only two chapters later in Joshua 7, God brings Israel’s defeat at Ai because they failed to obey him.

So the question of whether or not Jesus would be a Republican or a Democrat is moot. He would be neither. The better question is whether Republicans or Democrats are on God’s side. And, because God’s side entails much more than what we do but also our motives and affections, it can conclusively be said that neither Democrat nor Republican side altogether with him.

For the politically minded Christian, this is crucial to remember. We are Christians first and foremost, and any other personal traits second.