Well Super Tuesday has come and gone. There were a few surprises in the results but it would appear that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are now the presumptive favorites to square off in the general election come next November. Trump's entrance into the presidential race nearly a year ago was viewed by many within the establishment and the media - both mainstream and conservative, I might add - as being some type of publicity stunt. But Trump's message began to resonate with the general populace who had grown weary of "politics as usual." Tired of stalemates in Washington. Tired of rhetoric but a lack of action. Tired of promises made but, as soon as the ballots were counted, promises forgotten. Tired of deficit spending. Why can government spend more money that it receives when I cannot? Along came Donald Trump and brought a renewed hope to the general populace. His success has caused a near panic among the Republican establishment who is seeing nearly 30 years of "promise-making, promise-forgetting" being threatened. His success has caused a near panic among media, even among so-called conservative media. This man does not fit the conventional mold. He has no political record that can be scrutinized and then sanitized.
Trump's success has caused a conundrum for Christians, especially those who identify themselves as being evangelical. Trump has never identified himself as being an evangelical, although he has identified himself as being a Christian. Perhaps his definition of Christian might be different than yours or mine, in fact, I am confident that it is. But he did not claim to be an evangelical as had Senator Rubio and Senator Cruz and Dr. Carson. Certainly Trump's lifestyle is not one that many evangelicals would hold up and say to their children, "I want you to become just like Mr. Trump." So there is a problem for many Christians as they ponder the seeming reality of a Trump candidacy. It is not unlike what happened four years ago when many Christians sat-out the election because they could not bring themselves to vote for Romney because he was a Mormon. Well, we know how that election turned out.
As many of you know I love history and politics - I would never want to be a politician, though. But I am fascinated as to why many evangelicals are supporting Trump, including Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas. Perhaps this might be the year that morality is not a litmus test of a candidate. Perhaps this is the year when we need to ask ourselves "who can return America to a sense of greatness again?" and not, "who can overturn Roe v. Wade?" I have visited with friends who have recently retired from active military leadership and they have related to me how unprepared our military truly is. We have a lack of leadership as many of the two and three-star generals have either retired voluntarily or were forced to retire. One shared with me, "Max, I truly believe that if something catastrophic happened, our military is not prepared to respond as it should." Those were alarming words. Yes, I believe we still have the greatest military in the world. And, no I do not believe that our military should respond to every little crisis that develops around the world. But I do want to feel like I and my family are safe if another "Pearl Harbor" or "9/11" happens?
I read recently that this election just might be America's "last hope." So, who am I supporting, you might ask? Right now I tell people that I am basically uncommitted but would lean in Dr. Carson's favor, although I know that he really has no chance to be the nominee. But I have always admired him and his story. Which, by the way, I highly recommend the film version of his life: "Gifted Hands." Powerful story!
Friends, we are teetering on the edge. Let me give you an example of how far we have gone. This is an article, written by Bob Unruh and can be found at www.wnd.com/2016/02/marine-banned-from-daughters-graduation-for-exposing-islamic-indoctrination. The article begins, "U.S. Marine veteran John Kevin Wood and his wife, Melissa, have gone to court asking a judge to overturn a school's decision to banish him from a public school campus because he objected to the Islam indoctrination to which his daughter was subjected. The fight has been going on since 2014, but John Kevin Wood said the issue has become urgent because this is his daughter's last semester and he doesn't want to be deprived of the opportunity to be at her graduation events and ceremony.
"The Thomas More Law Center said on Monday it filed a motion for a preliminary injunction that would overturn the school's ban. The motion for the preliminary injunction that would block the school's ongoing banishment explains the school deprived Wood of meaningful involvement in the direction of his daughter's education because the no-trespass order prevented him from speaking at parent meeting in violation of the First Amendment. The district, the Charles County Public Schools in La Plata, Maryland, also deprived Wood of his constitutional rights 'by giving a principal unfettered discretion to ban him - the father of a student - from school grounds without any hearing or opportunity to defend himself because he brought to light the school's unconstitutional practices.
"The plaintiffs are a Marine Corps veteran John Kevin Wood and his wife, Melissa, who 'refused to allow their teenage daughter to be subjected to Islamic indoctrination and propaganda in her high school world history class.' The lawsuit charged that the defendants' 'curriculum, practices, policies, actions, procedures, and customs promote the Islamic faith by requiring students to profess the five pillars of Islam.' The students, the complaint says, were required to 'write out and confess the shahada, the Islamic profession of faith.'"
I read this article with alarm. I remember when I teach Church History that I spend an entire lesson on Islam and its impact upon the Church. I share with my students the five pillars of Islam, including the shahada: "There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is his messenger." And we discuss the purpose behind each of those five pillars. But I would never consider having my students identify with that shahada statement. If this is espoused in a public school, then in fairness, students should be given the opportunity to memorize the Apostles' Creed, the earliest know credal statement of Christianity, and to memorize the Shema of Judaism. But, of course, that seldom happens. All Christian thought is to be excised from the public arenas. Christian thought is to be reserved for one-hour on Sunday morning. I am reminded of those words of Jesus to His disciples, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first" (John 15:18). Those are good words to keep in mind as we are in the Lenten Season with its focus upon the hatred of the world and organized religion against Jesus Christ. But remember, Easter always follows Good Friday!
Speaking of Easter, before I close this week's blog, I want to highly recommend the movie "Risen." It is very well done. It is the story of a Roman tribune who oversaw the crucifixion of Jesus and then was assigned to guard the tomb where the body of Jesus lay. When Easter Sunday comes, Pilate, Judea's governor, orders this tribune to begin a search for the body of Jesus. From that point on the story becomes almost like a "mystery." The biblical foundation for some of the story comes from the Gospel of John. And, when those foundational stories are shared, they are told very accurately. Warning: the movie was filmed in Spain and on the Island of Malta, thus, what purports to be Galilee looks nothing like Galilee. But, unless you had actually been in Galilee, this might not be annoying to you as it was to me. The actor who plays Peter does a superb job, as does Joseph Fiennes who plays the Roman tribune Clavius. I very seldom attend movies with a biblical theme, but I am glad I saw this one. It reminded me of the reality: Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! Now that is great news for all of us!
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