Thideology news of the day

NOW do you believe the government has gotten too large and intrusive?

Bumper sticker of the day:

Bidding for votes

American politics has long been dominated by politicians who’ve perfected the art of bidding for votes with promises of more and more government “solutions” and “services.” Of course we are the ones who pay the tab for those “solutions” and “services,” which makes it easy for them to be generous. But, too many Americans have become comfortable with the idea of being cared for by bloated bureaucracies and, so, the bidding usually works. Both the Democrat and Republican nominees for president are engaged in the bidding with promises that will continue to grow an already overgrown federal government. But Barack Obama has just upped his bid in a very frightening manner.

Obama wants to federalize education. That’s right. He wants to secure the federal monopoly on education once and for all.

This idea is so bad it almost defies description. I’ve pointed out time and time again on this website the political and economic reasons for opposing this sort of thing (you can read my thoughts on the subject here and here). I’ve pointed out that this is exactly the kind of total control Hitler sought to establish in Germany. I’ve even pointed out the biblical reasons for opposing such a thing and discussed why Christian parents ought to be outraged when anyone proposes removing the responsibility of education further away from the family.

Politicians make speeches about “change.” But they only advocate policies that would continue the trend of ever-growing government which has dominated our country for the better part of a century. Change would mean less government control. It would mean inserting market forces into education. It would mean separating education from government. I don’t think it will ever happen, but it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one with this dream.

Christians: Just another “voting block”

Barack Obama is courting the votes of evangelicals who were so instrumental in electing George W. Bush to two terms as president. And why shouldn’t he? Over the past several years we’ve shown ourselves to be quite susceptible to manipulation. We’ve abandoned the gospel of Jesus Christ and embraced a social gospel more consistent with our increasingly humanistic worldview. We see nothing wrong with the state taking over the role God intended for the church. And we even look to our government for some measure of salvation.

May God wake us up and show us that the Church does not belong to us — it belongs to Him — and it’s not for sale.

It’s already been purchased with the precious blood of our Lord.