Friday, August 1, 2008

Presidential Elections vs. the Kingdom of God

By Rick Pearcey

A renowned pastor apparently cares little about the 2008 presidential election because such things have "nothing to do with the kingdom of God."

And yet Jesus said, "Love thy neighbor" (Matt. 22: 39).

Now, if you "love thy neighbor," do you not also care somewhat about the neighborhood of thy neighbor? It may therefore be a matter of godly and humane concern who is elected President, not just of the "neighborhood," as it were, but also of the country.

For if the King of the kingdom of God says "love thy neighbor" is important, and this love includes compassion about the real-world impact of concepts, practices, and leaders on the lives of our neighbors, is it not part of the kingdom of God to care somewhat about who is elected President?

Yes it is. This is part of the Total Truth of what it means to be a compassionate human being alive to fellowship with the Creator and newness of life, across the whole of life, in relation to our neighbors.

This is one of many reasons presidential elections matter not just now, but also in eternity.

_______________
Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).

Congratulations, Rush -- Now Shut Up

By Rick Pearcey

In today's Examiner:

As Rush Limbaugh and his estimated 20 million daily listeners celebrate the talk radio titan’s 20th anniversary on the air, Democratic leaders in Congress are moving to turn his mike off.

Their weapon is restoration of the so-called Fairness Doctrine. Even folks who would rather have a root canal than listen to Rush’s daily pronouncements should hope they don’t succeed. If they do bring back this bureaucratic relic from the days of Harry Truman, it won’t be just Rush’s voice that will be muted, it will be free and open political debate in general that will suffer.

Question: Where's the "off switch" for Congress? In the old days of freedom, we had the Constitution.

_______________
Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report (articles).