More Reflections on the 2020 Elections
Further thoughts – political and spiritual – on the current stalemate in the US:
Those who know me and this site will know that above all else I am a Christian – a Christ follower. But I am also, and secondarily, a conservative – politically, socially, and culturally. So my Christian beliefs and convictions are first and foremost in my life, followed by my various social and political views.
People should also know – as I have often said – that while everything is political, politics is not everything. That is, all aspects of life – including religion – will be impacted to some extent by politics. But politics is not the main game in town, and most of our problems are ultimately more than political in nature. At bottom they are spiritual, moral and cultural – and roughly in that order.
So politics will not save us, nor will any political leader save us. Only Jesus saves. But still, God created civil government and the political realm, so we must engage in that sphere as best we can, seeking to be salt and light there as everywhere else.
With all this as a backdrop, let me offer a few more thoughts on the US elections which are still at a standstill. As mentioned in my earlier pieces, it might be weeks yet before we do get final and more certain counts, with various court cases needing to be attended to.
A good amount of the holdup concerns alleged voting irregularities and possible fraud – perhaps even widespread fraud. Various things can be said about this. It is one thing if the American people did legitimately vote in Biden and Harris, and vote out Trump and Pence. It is quite another thing if it happens in part with the help of fraud and corruption.
At the moment three major lawsuits have been filed by Trump targeting Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. They are not about stopping the counting of votes as such. They are about halting any illegal votes being counted. That is the real matter at hand here.
Another thing to be said is that the Democrats have spent the past four years challenging the 2016 election results. They STILL do not accept it. So it is a bit rich of them to claim that Republicans are now somehow warring against the Democratic process by asking legitimate questions about possible voting fraud and the like.
Some folks think that the election is basically decided with no real questions or concerns, so we should just hand it all over to Biden and just get on with life. Or at best they say that in a democracy we must just go along with the election results and not seek to make a big stink about whatever the outcome is.
I had one friend say some things along those lines, so the following paragraphs provide the gist of what I said in response to him:
That some bits of fraud in elections have always been there is not in doubt – but that is not really the issue here. What is the issue is the possibility of deeper, more widespread corruption, voter fraud, ballot harvesting, and so on. If so, then to just say we should accept democratic elections and that is the end of the matter is not going to get us very far.
When half the voting population suspects there may have been genuine and systemic fraud going on, it does no good to effectively say, ‘just suck it up and better luck next time’. A democracy will NOT hold if large portions of the population believe some real and wide-ranging fraud has been occurring. Nor should the populace just sit back and pretend it does not really matter.
At the very least, proper and thorough investigations into alleged fraud must take place before anyone is declared to be the winner, and longer-term reform projects are needed to clean up a voting system that has long been rather dysfunctional.
I concluded that comment with a short quote from an important article by Douglas Wilson. That brand-new piece is also worth quoting from here. It is entitled, “The Authority of a Fraudulent Election.” He starts it this way:
I will begin by saying that there is a sharp difference between saying “not my president,” on the one hand, and “not our president” on the other. It is very easy for individualistic Americans to sport a bumper sticker that says, “Don’t Blame Me. I Voted for the Other Guy.” That is not how a democratic republic makes decisions. We have an established constitutional mechanism that determines how we as a nation decide to go this way or that. And when 40% of the people don’t want to go in a particular direction, they wind up going in that direction anyway. If five people in the family want to eat at Panda Express, and one guy is holding out for Chili’s, almond chicken it is.
And so it is not possible for one man to “opt out” because of his deep-seated disagreements. He voted no, and voted with intensity, and that doesn’t matter. And neither is it possible for one state to “just say no.” When Nixon swept 49 states over McGovern in 1972, a bumper sticker appeared later which said, “Don’t Blame Me. I’m From Massachusetts.” But Nixon was still president in Massachusetts as much as he was in Alabama.
Now when the disagreements get to a certain level of inflammation, they cease being mere disagreements and become occasions for war. At least that is what South Carolina thought. They had more than just a mere “disagreement” with Lincoln.
That is why we ought to abide by the results of elections that we don’t like. That is what conservative Americans did, for example, when Bill Clinton was elected, and when Obama was. You don’t like it, not even a little bit, but the country made that decision.
But what do you do when an election is fraudulent, and manifestly so?
The first thing to do is recognize that it is a real possibility. America is not made out of stainless steel. We are susceptible to electoral corruptions, but we are actually well past that point. We have always had cheating in elections. As long as this world is governed by fallen human beings, which it will be until the Lord returns, there will be people who seek to game the system. But their evil deeds will be done at night, and in a culture that still has integrity, we all do whatever we can to suppress voter fraud.
But corruption in policy cannot be isolated and kept there. In other words, at some point corrupt policies will metastasize and will get into all the processes as well. A political party that stands foursquare behind the dismemberment of unborn children is not going to flinch when it comes to the dismemberment of your right to cast your vote in a process with real integrity. And when it gets there, the corruption will be out in the open.
He looks at some of the worrying signs of fraud and corruption, and then reminds us that
since the time Donald Trump was first elected in 2016, the country has been dragged through one long, sustained, slow-motion coup attempt. It began with the Russian collusion story, coupled with the domestic spying on a campaign by our intelligence agencies, and it culminated in the impeachment circus maximus. This was entirely the result of refusing to accept the results of that election. They didn’t accept that one, so why would they accept this one?
He concludes this way:
We must not do anything on the basis of mere allegations of voter fraud. But we already have enough evidence for the public to draw up an informal indictment in their heads, and to demand that officials from the Justice Department accompany observers from both campaigns to various rooms — in Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, and probably a few others — where everybody watches all the votes being counted and counted fairly.
Unless that happens, we will be in the unfortunate position of rank and file Americans having to say, “not our president.” Not because the election didn’t go our way. Not because our guy didn’t win. Not because we didn’t vote for Biden, but rather because a number of rather ghostly and ethereal personages did.
According to our constitutional framework, elections have authority, especially including the ones that didn’t go our way. But elections that are a juke and a joke are a different matter altogether. A fraudulent election is not a real election. And if it is not a real election, then we have ourselves a full-blown constitutional crisis.
The real votes need to be all out on the table. The bogus votes need to be round filed. The process of counting needs to be observed by workers from both campaigns, lawyers from both campaigns, and men from the Justice Department with stern looks on their faces.
We have to be able to take the results to the bank, and we need to accept those true results, regardless of the outcome. But as things now stand, if a corrupted system declares for Biden, an awful lot of us will be constrained to say, “not our president.” https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/the-authority-of-a-fraudulent-election.html
I finish the way I began. Ultimately what really matters is Jesus Christ and his rightful rule and reign. All other rulers are secondary, temporary and unable to provide any sort of ultimate help, let alone salvation. As such, Trump is not the Messiah, and neither is Biden Satan. But still, good governance is a good thing, and bad governance is not. Righteousness does exalt a nation, as Scripture tells us.
And in my books a Trump win would be far better for America and the world than a Biden win. But whatever the outcome of the election – hopefully after proper investigations are conducted to look at the many allegations being made – believers can live with it.
If Christians can live in hostile nations where persecution is rife, they can live in a Democrat-controlled America – although persecution will undoubtedly increase under a Biden administration. Whoever sits in the White House, Jesus is still Lord. He is still on the throne.
That is the bottom line for all true Christians. With or without Trump in Washington for the next four years, the church of Christ WILL prevail, the Kingdom WILL advance, and Christ WILL be victorious. We always need to keep this in mind.
For more such thoughts on all this that I have found to be quite helpful, this 35-minute video by Michael Brown is well worth watching and sharing: https://www.facebook.com/AskDrBrown/videos/660431998196214
And those who prefer reading to listening will find this article by Brown to be similar and also quite helpful: https://stream.org/god-the-elections-and-4-d-chess/
[1789 words]
Ultimately, America will have to ban mail-in voting, or severely regulate it and curtail it. The current allegations may or may not be correct, but the important things are (a) even if correct, they would be difficult to prove, and (b) the fact that it is possible to make such allegations with any degree of plausibility reduces confidence in the democratic process. Unless changes are made, the next time an election is decided by mail-in votes, the losers will believe the election has been stolen.
Some conservatives might point out the founding fathers threw off Britain for less than what the dems have done the past 20+ years. If so does that mean a 3rd war or independence (the 2nd being the war of 1812) is a viable option for them??? If so should Christians participate??? What is OUR duty when it comes to a fighting, shooting or otherwise, war for America????
I would like to ask your opinion on something. Does the fact that Trump had such large turnouts to his rallies and Biden have so few mean that Democrats are generally political introverts? What are we to make of this?
Well Written
– God’s Will Be Done On Earth
I am a Christian too, and I felt Donald Trump (and particularly Mike Pence as Vice President) was a good result for us.
This video link is of Donald Trump in 1988 – very, very accurate. The Republicans should have played it during this election campaign.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI
There’s a video going around the internet showing a lady sitting at a desk in the counting room , with a pen in her hand , filling out ballot papers and placing them in a tray……… I thought their job was to “count” the ballots , not fill them out ! . No pen is required to count votes……………..highly fraudulant.
No one is going to have any confidence in a system operating like this , regardless of which side of politics you come from. Sad days indeed for fairness and Democracy.
That’s it!
No more ” News” bulletins here, or from overseas again!
Thank you again for a reminder of what global democracy is all about Bill…
Had enough of news channels and social media bias, from now on only reliable well-balanced sources of the truth, like your wonderful Culture Watch articles!
What a waste of time and sanity, and what neglect, of being the fragrance of Jesus, in our local hurting and confused communities!
I am weaning myself off the deadly virus; politic – media – and social self-opinionated IT censoring virtual signaling elitists platforms.
Please keep me updated Bill(:
Cheers & blessings
Eric Hansen
Thanks Eric. I am certainly not worth relying on for anything, let alone the full scoop on what is happening in the US. But the very moment your comment came in, I was thinking similar thoughts. Up until a few hours ago I was spending every waking moment closely watching the numbers. But I have stopped now, for 2 reasons: one, it was getting too depressing, and two, it was taking my focus and trust off God. So to regain some much need balance, I am not looking much at the counting at the moment.
And a new article on all this will be up in a few moments. Stay tuned.
Thanks, Bill let’s encourage our fellow Christians to do likewise and be reminding ourselves of the Scripture here;
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing, and perfect will”
-Romans 12:2
Easy to overlook, with all the mixed messages there are on offer through 24/7 global news!
Take care to all and stay close to Jesus!
Cheers & blessings
Eric Hansen
Thanks again Eric. And as promised, here is my brand-new article:
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2020/11/07/stand-back-and-get-the-big-picture/
Here is are word that comes to mind regarding Christians who don’t vote and in line with what Bill is saying.
“I wish that you were either hot or cold, but because you are lukewarm I will spew you our of my mouth”, also make your yes are yes or your no are no. As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to be decisive, there is no in between ground.
In regards to Paul Wilson’s concerns about war in America. A prophet I have listened to over in America which has proved to be very accurate in regards to most of what the Lord is showing him has pointed out that there will be civil unrest and violence and protest in some of the cities but he does not believe it is going to turn into are Civil War, only are very few pockets (mostly democratic land) will be affected, most of America will be okay. However if you are in those areas make sure you have extra food and water and lock yourselves up and cover yourselves with the blood of the lamb in prayer and you will be fine, the Lord will protect his own.
If the reports of there being a batch of 23,277 votes that came in together – all for Biden are correct then you would have to question their veracity. You are talking about an entire large town or two medium suburbs with not one vote outside of Biden. Not one invalid vote. Not one write-in. Nothing other than votes for Biden. Even with only one percent chance you would expect around 230 votes for Trump. Even a one in ten thousand chance would leave you with two Trump votes. Effectively in two entire suburbs not even one secret Trump supporter? I know in statistics there is a tendency for clumping but this still appears extreme and beyond reason. I wonder if, even in our corrupt, public-service ACT, whether our electoral commission has ever witnessed anything similar.
What it reminds me of was a young Labor meeting I went to as a teenager where a large proportion of the time was spent discussing how to defraud the vote. It was one of the things that started me on the road to conservative views and Christianity and certainly disenchantment with the corrupt processes and deceit of the left wing of politics. When people are so arrogantly sure of themselves there are no lengths they will not go to – just look at Pol Pot or North Korea and from what I have seen the U.S. system does seem to be particularly prone to abuse.
I have seen on the internet three different claimed prophets saying prior to the election that Trump would win. I have no idea if these claimed prophets are valid but they did seem to have a significant following and I know from personal experience that prophecy can be miraculously correct. In this instance either those three claimed prophets are frauds or the system has been significantly defrauded. I don’t see that there is a moderate, middle road here and perhaps that is part of what God is doing. Perhaps the only reasonable thing to do is to weed out and deal with the corruption. If that does happen I would definitely see God’s hand in this.
Thanks Bill. We will wait to see the drama played out. If the propheta are right this will go to suprme court and Trump will win.
As a Australian Christian, I’ve been disappointed by the results of the election in Queensland, and now (apparently) in the USA. In both elections, the public seemed to choose a political position that was anti-God. The public chose for abortion, euthanasia, and Marxism. I was hopeful for a different choice.
I believe that God is fully in control of these outcomes, and I wonder if these are steps in His plan to bring the World to despair, and draw people to search for Him.
Jennifer Cameron, regarding the small turn out for Biden’s rallies, could it be because those who vote Trump love Trump, but those who vote Biden just hate Trump?
BAZ with all the chicanery going on I can fairly certainly say the PUBLIC did not choose Biden.
As one commentator said recently ‘if you feel trump is Hitler then you will feel justified in stealing the election from him’.
Exactly just like if they feel trump supporters are nazis they will feel justified in beating, maiming, even killing them. when you demonized your opponent so bad that they have become pure evil… well anything is justified in stopping evil. They are now even talking about punishing trump supporter. so far nothing extreme but with the mobs they have on their side I don’t think that will last. They might feel they are purging evil from their country and thus what they do is good, right, noble and to them even godly. (I think I remember something about those who kill you will think they are doing gods work or something to that effect in scripture.)
https://www.facebook.com/Breitbart/videos/392513575493994/
The Republicans have control of the Senate and Conservatives dominate the Supreme Court thanks to President Trump. So President Biden,and that is now almost beyond contention, will have one hand tied behind his back. Thank God. And God bless America. Still the land of the free and home of the brave. I think I will just stand back for a while. It’s all been too stressful both here and there.
Yes, Paul Wilson, the paraphrase you mention (might also apply to Islamist terrorists?) is from John 16:2:
yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.