Answering, "The lesser of evil is still evil whether it
is Bush or Kerry."
Ramesh C. Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard
PART II:
David:
God
appointed a shepherd boy to be king of Israel. David had faith in God
but he faltered when he saw a beautiful woman bathing. Her name was
Bathsheba and he wanted her even though he was married and she was
married. He had her brought to her and had sex with her and later found
out she was pregnant. To hide his sin, he tries to have her husband
Uriah who is in David’s army to sleep with her so when Uriah finds out
she is pregnant, he would think it is his child. Uriah decides not to
because a war was going on. David ran out of options and sent him
deliberately into the front line of battle to be killed.
“One evening David got up from his bed
and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a
woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to
find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of
Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Then David sent messengers to
get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified
herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman
conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant." (2 Samuel
2:5, NIV)
“Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel
and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord's men are
camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink
and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a
thing!" Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I
will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the
next. At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made
him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among
his master's servants; he did not go home. In the morning David wrote a
letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the
front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he
will be struck down and die." (2 Samuel 2:11-15, NIV)
If David
was a leader of the 21st century and what David did came out,
it would be a scandalous event and people would shout to oust him from
the leadership of the kingdom. David was a deceiver who made Uriah drunk
so he would sleep with Bathsheba but it backfired. So as an adulterer he
turned into murderer to hide what he did. God was not pleased with David
and it cost him his first son with Bathsheba. What David did was
definitely evil! God sent the prophet Nathan to address David and his
sin. When Nathan shared with David a story about a ewe lamb and what
happened to it, David became furious. Later, Nathan let David see that
it is he who he was talking about.
“Why did you despise the word of the LORD
by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite
with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the
sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from
your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the
Hittite to be your own.” (2 Samuel 12:9-10, NIV)
David
does repent of his wrong doing later and his life is spared.
“Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have
sinned against the LORD.’” (2 Samuel 12:13)
King
David was seen as doing evil in the sight of the Lord but he was still
given the opportunity to rule the nation after he repented.
Peter:
Peter
denied Jesus three times after spending three years with Jesus and
promising not to deny Him. Peter did not want to get arrested so he
denies Jesus around Jesus’ trial. Jesus knew that was going to happen
even before it happened. Jesus even told Peter what he was going to do
before he did it. Yet, after Peter does it, Jesus does not deny Peter in
the end and Peter becomes a great apostle.
“Peter declared, ‘Even if all
fall away, I will not.’ ’I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered,
‘today--yes, tonight--before the rooster crows twice you
yourself will disown me three times. But Peter insisted emphatically,
‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the
others said the same.” (Mark 14:29-31)
"He began to call down
curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this man you're
talking about." Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then
Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster
crows twice you will disown me three times." And he broke
down and wept.” (Mark 14:71-72, NIV)
Peter
denied Jesus three times but repented! We know he repented because we
have it in the Word of God. It is very possible that Bush or Kerry could
have repented of their wrongdoings too!
"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are
looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is
not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples
and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see
him, just as he told you.'"(Mark 16:6-7, NIV)
I am
amazed every time I read this verse because the angel of the Lord did
not just say, ‘But, go tell his disciples’ which would include
Peter as one of the disciples. Instead, the angel of the Lord
specifically mentions ‘and Peter’ mentioning Peter by name. The
Lord wanted Peter to know that He was being restored even though Peter
denied Jesus.
Deborah:
Deborah,
a prophetess was leading Israel at a time when they were oppressed
because of the evil they had done. Sisera and his army were oppressing
them as a punishment. In their oppression, the Israelites called out to
God and the Lord rescued them. Deborah had prophesized that Sisera would
die by the hands of a woman after the Israelites cried out to the Lord.
“After
Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD.
So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who
reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in
Harosheth Haggoyim. Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had
cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the
LORD for help. (Judges 4:1-3, NIV)
Deborah
speaks to the Israelites, "The LORD , the God of
Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali
and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the
commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the
Kishon River and give him into your hands.'" (Judges 4:6-7, NIV)
Sisera
did die by the hands of a woman when his army got defeated and he fled
on foot to take refuge in a tent.
I
believe God gave Saddam Hussein into the hands of the allies who went to
war in Iraq to rescue many of the oppressed Iraqis and give them
freedom. When Saddam’s army started to fall, Saddam fled and hid in a
hole but he was caught later.
As
Deborah was the leader of the Israelites, Bush has been the leader of
the U.S who with guidance went into War in Iraq to rescue the oppressed
Iraqis.
As I
look at leaders from Scripture and the evil they did in the sight of the
Lord, it could be easy to think how they could be given authority to
still be leaders. Yet, the Lord used them.
As I
think about Bush and Kerry, I know both of them have done evil according
to Biblical standards. But in comparison, I believe Kerry supporting
abortion and gay marriage is more evil than what Bush maybe accused of.
Evil is evil but there are degrees of evil. Even when leaders commit an
evil, it is not hard to think that they do not go to the Lord and repent
of it.
No one
is good and since no one is good, all are evil. As humans, no one likes
to think of themselves as evil or those they support. Yet what is evil
is not defined by humans but by the Lord. So when it comes to voting for
the lesser of evil, I choose Bush
If the Lord used fallible humans and
those who committed evil to accomplish his work, is it not conceivable
to think that God can still use people who are thought of as evil to
accomplish his work when they repent of their wrongdoing?
Does not God want abortion to be
outlawed?
Does not God want Gay marriages to be
outlawed?
There
are other issues too but I believe these two issues as I have written in
two past articles are the core issues that will determine how this
nation will be judged. Again, this however does not mean other issues
such as care for the poor, etc mentioned in those articles are not
important or God does not care for them!
I
believe the Lord wants to use His children to pick the leaders who will
be for the life of the unborn and against gay marriage and other issues
will fall in place as they seek the Lord. This is the way I see it and
this is my take from studying Scripture and applying it to politics.
I believe that Bush is a strong Christian
and does repent of his wrongdoings. Since Bush wants to protect the
unborn, protect the sanctity of marriage, and many other things that
will make America stronger, would you join me in giving your vote to
Bush?
Even
among pastors, church leaders, Christian musicians, etc God’s grace is
shown when they have sinned whether it is engaging in the evil of
pornography, having an adulterous affair, etc. I have heard
inspirational stories of God’s grace and restoration even after what
some church leaders felt was the evil done by them. Yet, the Lord in His
mercy restored them using others to restore them back to leadership once
the leaders repented.
Should we not show mercy to our leaders
as we seek the Lord in prayer?
I
believe our leaders should be shown mercy whoever it is whether it is
Bush or Kerry if they have repented and want to do right. I believe Bush
wants to do right and promote a culture of life. As stated before
abortion and gay marriage are the two crucial issues for me! Kerry wants
abortion to be legal and not have a Federal Marriage Amendment.
I
believe as followers of Christ, we have an obligation to choose our
leaders as we seek the Lord in prayer and give our vote. Whether they
are Democrats or Republicans, it bothers me when they are Pro-Choice and
for Gay Marriage.
We have
a presidential candidate who is against those and we have an opportunity
to put him in office again even though he happens to be a Republican. I
don’t think along party lines but along crucial moral issues such as
abortion and gay marriage.
Will you take the vote the Lord has given
you and choose a leader for this nation?
If all
followers of Christ have the mentality that both candidates are evil and
so we should not vote for any of them, it won’t nullify the elections.
The election will still take place and we would still get a president
but it could be a president who supports the slaughter of the unborn by
his unwillingness to fight for the unborn and his indirect support of
Gay Marriage by not supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment.
That is
why as I trust the Lord, I am voting for Bush among other reasons stated
in the previous two articles I have written!
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