The Betrayal of Democracy


   Interesting title eh?  What do you think?  Catchy?  Potent?  Maybe.  I know
pretty well what most people are going to do with it.. They'll absorb it
right away.. thinking that I'm some liberal.. speaking against all the
censorship of freedoms that our country has supposedly given its citizens.
Democracy is lifted high in so many nations.. as the be-all and end-all of
ways to rule a nation.  But is it?
   I already know a little about how Congress and our "lawful" government
reacts.. or has reacted in the past anyway.. towards proponents of any other
ocracy or ism than Democracy.  People who propose Communism get locked away
and tossed.  People who propose many types of rule other than rule by the
majority over all end up more than scorned in this "blessed" country of ours.
But shouldn't this country of freedom allow the freedom to pursue any type of
rule?
   Interesting thought.. dontcha think?  I mean.. should Democracy be a
freedom that is enforced?  Doesn't that mean that a country isn't free to
rule itself its own way, if it doesn't want to embrace Democracy?  Are there
other types of rule that are just as valid?  Or even moreso?  Proponents
against any sort of censorship of freedoms would argue otherwise.  I mean..
that's what the U.S. stands for... That's what all our governments fight for
these days.. well.. many anyway... For the ability to do what is desirable to
oneself.  Isn't that what is always best?
   Ok.. taking that to its extreme always gets people thinking... Not a lot
of people are all that comfortable saying it's ok for serial rapists to go
around doing what *they* enjoy.. and to have the freedom to do it.  Few
people would say that it's ok for serial murderers and other repeat-offender
criminals to enjoy their chosen lifestyle.  Why would anyone want that?
Well.. the criminals sure do.. or they wouldn't be doing it.. right?  And if
the criminals are, God forbid, ever in a majority.. wouldn't they be able to
control our lives and make things horrible for others at their own whims?
   Interesting thought -- criminals in the majority.  D'ya think it could
ever actually happen?  I'll get back to that.
   First off.. let's look at our main question so far... Freedom.  We know
that freedom is a powerful thing.  The freedom to do, unhampered, what makes
us happy is supposedly a God-given unalienable right.  But we've also
determined that just cuz something makes someone happy.. that doesn't mean
that it's good.  So.. where's the line?  What kinds of being happy are worth
fighting for.. and what kinds of happiness aren't valid freedoms?
   That's part of our big dilemma -- determining what is a valid freedom.
People who choose a liberal stance want as much freedom as they can get their
hands on -- often due to improper and even grossly unfair restrictions placed
on them in growing up.  Whereas those who follow a conservative one are quick
to nail down laws to keep people in line... often even restricting people
from freedoms that are truly valid.  These are often such.. out of a feeling
of a lack of control in their lives.. and a desire to nail down anything that
moves, to prevent it from flying in a direction they don't like.  But neither
extreme is a valid extreme.  Truly valid freedom needs to rest on principals
that echo throughout reality.. throughout the human condition.  To do
otherwise is to refuse to acknowledge the basic tenets that make life life.
But how are these determined?
   If I tell you my answer.. I know many of you will scoff immediately.
But.. when you hear it.. ask yourself.. "Am I scoffing because this answer is
truly wrong?  Or am I scoffing because I am too afraid of the consequences of
this answer being right?"
   The answer is simple.. yet complex.  The answer is found by going back..
back to the beginning of our world.. back to the beginning of our universe..
back to the painter of the painting.. the sculptor of the sculpture.. the
conductor of the music we call life.  The answer.. is found.. alone... in
God.

   That's right.  God.  The one.. perfect.. true.. sole.. ruler and creator
of all that we see.  Ok.. that's not entirely true.  God is in charge.. but..
God is not totally in charge yet.  One look at our lives can prove that much.
I mean.. if God were truly the only power in charge.. there would *be* no
suffering.. no pain.. no hardship.. no trouble.. right?  Many people over our
millenia of life on this planet have often questioned when something bad
happens.. and even blamed God for it.  But the God of the Bible is more
loving than that.  The God who created us all has a lot more love in His
eyelash than all of the universe together.  The suffering takes place because
mankind gave up his dominion of this planet.. to the high-traitor himself...
lucifer.. also known as satan.  Mankind.. given a beautiful perfect garden to
live in.. rather than listen to God.. chose to listen to satan.. and it's
been trouble in mega-doses ever since.  Mankind.. rather than trusting God..
chose to trust his own flawed eyesight.. and say, "I want what God said not
to take.. it must be good for me!"  Rather than believe God at His Word,
mankind listened to satan.. and took what he was not prepared for.. what he
was not supposed to have.. and lost out on far more than he could imagine.
   Throughout the centuries.. this choice keeps taking place.  We.. as a
result of that choice in Eden.. are all born with an inborn voice yelling at
us.. even compelling us.. to take things that don't belong to us.. to do what
makes us feel good.. even if it hurts someone else.. to enjoy what is
pleasant for a moment.. even if it destroys all that we've worked for for a
lifetime.  That little voice.. which is not so little.. keeps at us.. and is
so intricately insinued into our hearts that you can't tell where the good
starts and the bad ends.
   And man is it hungry.  That voice just loves to be fed.  Its appetite for
satisfaction is so ravishing that it drives us all away from our valid and
right commitments.. all to enjoy a *feeling*.. which is almost always
extremely short-lived.. and which destroys us from within.. making us more
and more a slave to itself with each decision we make.  It is a part of us
that no surgeon can sever.. that no medicine can heal.. and that no
psychologist can fix.  There is.. and always has been.. only one righteous
solution -- trust in our Creator.. also known as faith.
   The Bible is well documented as saying that faith is the one way to God.
Abraham was found righteous.. not by what he did with his hands.. but by what
he did with his heart -- something our world has lost a great deal of touch
with.  Jesus makes us righteous.. again.. not by what we do externally.. but
by what we do *internally*.... by trusting that He is truly Who He claimed to
be.. the One perfect Son of the One true God.  By trusting God.. at His
Word.. that God truly sent Jesus.. to pave the way back from our trouble in
Eden.. to truly save mankind from a disease he can't cure.
   But why do so many people not believe?  It's so simple... They simply
don't want to.  The disease of sin is so powerful that.. with satan's help
especially.. people think it is in their own best interest to simply deny
God's righteous standpoint.. and even deny His existence.  But our nation,
especially, is suffering greatly from all that now.  People in droves are
flocking to tempting pleasures that 30-40 years ago were hardly common.  It's
just as Paul said in his letter to the Romans.. When people leave God
behind.. He lets them dishonor themselves through more and more denegrating
acts.. falling further and further from what is good and valid.  But not only
that.. people who forsake God not only fall further and further.. but they
are so confused that they start calling evil things "good" and good things
"evil"!  That is why we have such a confused world.  Our most basic
definitions of life.. pictured in the words "good" and "evil".. "right" and
"wrong".. are no longer cut and dry.  They are mixed up convolutions of
whatever those in power, or those with high popularity, have deemed valid.
   The right thing to do is hardly always the easy thing to do.  The best
things to do are the most committed things to do.  And our nation.. and our
world.. is loaded with lack of commitment these days.  We kill kids.. just
cuz they haven't taken a breath of air yet.  The ones that we *do* allow to
breathe.. are more often than not poorly treated and poorly loved.. so that
*they* grow up hating their upbringers.. just like the parents so
apathetically and selfishly hated them.  We dissolve marriages at the drop of
a hat.. all because things no longer "feel good".  We throw out laws.. laws
that were designed to keep us safe... all in the name of freedom... freedom
to stay uncommitted.
   So how is it with you?  Are you feeling the effects of all this?  Do you
enjoy all that's happening?  Is it any wonder this world is so loaded with
pain and confusion?  The answer is so simple.. but almost nobody truly
embraces it.  And of the ones who start.. even fewer stay with it.  Jesus
said that life with Him wouldn't be any picnic.  He promised that true life..
was not a bowl of cherries.. but a cross... to carry.. and to be nailed upon.
Life was about giving your all for The One who made life possible.. God,
Himself.  It wasn't about worrying about food.. clothing.. or what have you..
it was all about the next life.. and bringing as many as possible into it..
INCLUDING those who hate you.
   But where does this leave Democracy?  I mean.. even a Democracy has to
live to protect itself.. right?  That's the whole problem.  See.. you can't
be a "Democrat" *and* truly be a Christian.  It's just not built into the
framework of life.  True Christians do not depend on justice to make them
happy... They depend on God's supply of His Spirit.. *INSIDE* their hearts..
not inside their pocketbooks.  True Christians will do for God whatever it
takes to get His message out.. even if it means *truly* dying.. nailed to a
tree.  True Christians will take a bullet for their enemies.. why?  Because
that's just what Jesus did for all His enemies... which.. in truth.. were all
of us.
   Yup.  The Bible is clear.. that because of our inborn disease of sin.. we
are actually born *ENEMIES* of God.  This doesn't mean that *everything* we
do is somehow without good.. but it *does* mean that God's desires run
contrary to many of our own.  Without truly being born that second time..
becoming alive in our spirits.. though our trust in God's Son.. we shall
remain God's enemies.  And by choosing not to take the cure *for* our
condition of *being* enemies.. By saying that we are fine the way we are.. we
end up saying God is a liar.. and that we don't need His help.  It is this
reprobate condition that merits Hell -- the choice.. to, when looking upon
ourselves.. refuse what is good in God.. and enjoy what is evil in
ourselves, instead.
   So where do we go from here?  Back to a nation of enemies of God?  Back to
a nation of criminals?  Or do we all humble ourselves.. seek God's face..
turn from all directions that go contrary to God's desires..?  The path is
clear.  The judgement is set.  Jesus promised that few ever find life.  Don't
follow the crowd.. Don't be one of the proud... be one of the few.. and find
life.. before your life is all but a memory.