Newsgroups: rec.music.christian
Subject: Re: TANGENT: God *is* a Republican (was: Hymns)
From: jsteiner@anwsun.phya.utoledo.edu (jason 'Think!' steiner)
Date: 22 Nov 92 17:49:46 EST
Distribution: usa
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4

i would send followups to a more appropriate group, but this -is-
about Christians, has a TANGENT heading & for the life of me, i can't
figure out which of several groups would be most appropriate.

azamora@hexagon.cs.indiana.edu (Tony Zamora) writes:
> dlovely@meaddata.com (David Lovely) writes:
>
> > I was sorry to hear that this poster voted for Clinton.  Clinton 
> > was backup up by the pro-abortion, homosexual, pornography, and 
> > anti-religious, lobbies. 
> >
> > Regardless of your opinion of Bush, how can any true Christian 
> > support a candidate whose views are opposite of what he or she 
> > believes?

first of all, i think the point here is not Christian goals, but
the way we try to -get- to those goals. we're going to have to
make compromises when we vote. that's what politics is all about.
in this group we've at least got the advantage of starting from the 
same place.

> An important thing for everyone to realize is that many Christians 
> can't support either party in good conscience.

if you can't support something in good conscience then it's time to
look for or create alternatives. those who don't vote their conscience
deserve what they get.

> The Republican party is pro-life but then turns around and opposes 
> a family leave bill that would guarantee that pregnant women can 
> take time off work to have the baby without losing their job.

is pro-leave an inherently "Christian" stance? it is probably more so
than the others you mention. i'm just not sure about what is "Christian"
about forcing employers to do something they may not be able to afford,
harming other employees in the process.

> It opposes gun-control.  

gun control does not work. if you like i'll dig up as many statistics 
as you like. for now, i'll just say a few words: New York, Washington 
DC, California, Mexico. on the other hand, relaxation of gun 
regulations has repeatedly been followed by -decreased- crime.

> It is pro-capital punishment.

so is the Bible.

> It has also resisted raising the minimum wage, and has a lousy 
> record on urban development and low-income housing.

the Bible tells -us- to -give- to the poor, not to enact taxes to 
steal from those who have more than we do to give to the poor. yes, 
we render to Caesar. there's no need to give him more than he already 
has just so he can continue to screw up. charity is -our- responsibility, 
not the government's.

> It advocates irresponsible use of the environment.

so do many typically liberal/Democrat causes. i'll send you an article
about some of the environmental abuses Greenpeace has perpetrated.
most, if not all, of the "weighty environmental issues" are scares
perpetrated by lobbyists who are simply power hungry. i don't see any
reasons why Christians should support them.

> The aggressive Republican policies on deregulation led to greed, 
> individualism, and gross excesses like the savings and loan 
> scandal.

BIG NEWS: HUMANS ARE GREEDY. and government won't stop that. in fact,
the S&L scandal was caused by greed in -government-. most, if not
all of the people responsible were Democrats. (as are the 95 of the
top 100 spenders in congress.)

> The Reagan administration took America into the largest debt ever 
> (with most of the money going to military programs), resulting in 
> our nation having no fiscal leverage  to deal with economic 
> problems now.

wrong. -most- of the money went to Democrat instigated entitlements
and pork. Regan & Bush's primary mistakes were in giving in to the
Democrat-controlled congress. can you say $1.83:$1? but then again,
they wouldn't have been reelected had they not given in to the
representatives of a greedy -people-.

> The Bible talks about more than just homosexuality and abortion.  
> It also talks about justice, fiscal responsibility, and taking 
> care of the poor.

but never does it talk about doing such from a governmental standpoint.
government will -never- solve our problems. individuals living like
Christ will.

> The Republican party is only in line with Christian beliefs on some 
> issues.  As  I mentioned above, it fails miserably on other 
> Christian beliefs.

exactly. neither do the Democrats, UWS, or the Libertarians. the 
question is which will do the best job of managing our government, and
let Christians live as Christians should. 

> > Before casting your next ballot, ask yourself: "Does this 
> > candidate's positions support my beliefs and values?"  Let me 
> > tell you, Clinton definately did NOT support mine, so I did NOT 
> > vote for him!!
> 
> None of the candidates wholly supported mine, so I had a very hard 
> time.

one of the candidates supported all but 1 of mine, so i voted for him.

jason

ObMusic for our current government & those who voted them in: 

	Head like a hole
	black as your soul
	I'd rather die
	than give you control

	Bow down before the one you serve
	You're going to get what you deserve

	You know who you are.
		-Nine Inch Nails, HLAH

--
`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`
`,`      "We are errant knaves, all; believe none of us." - Hamlet      `,`
`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,` jsteiner@anwsun.phya.utoledo.edu ,`,`,`