Joe Bowyer
People who aspire to be Christians have certain unshakable beliefs. One of those beliefs is that God blesses those who follow Him. That doesn’t mean we always get what we want. My Janie didn’t get the miracle I prayed for, but I know she is in a beautiful place waiting for me. If it were not so, then Christianity would be a lie. All of the evidence, however, points to the existence of God, so it is my belief that Christians are betting on the winning horse.
The founding fathers placed their money on the same horse, and no one can deny that America has been blessed. If you walk the Capitol grounds and look at the monuments we have created to our great leaders, you will see references to Christianity everywhere. It is hard for me to believe God hasn’t helped America, because throughout history you can see the close calls America has survived.
Another thing Christians believe is that God is like any other father who loves his children. He believes in punishing those who disobey. If you study the Bible you will find many examples of His punishment. The Jews, it seems, needed reminding from time to time that they were expected to obey His rules. It’s all there in the Book. Obey and be blessed, disobey and be chastised. There were always consequences to His people’s actions whether good or bad.
Old geezers like me have seen what is happening in our country, and we are dismayed at many of the things that have transpired. For instance, millions of Christians stood by while Madelyn Murray O’Hare succeeded in having prayer and the Ten Commandments removed from our schools and courts. Where were the tea parties then? Perhaps we were naïve enough to believe our government would do the right thing and stop her madness, but we were wrong. As time passes, our honorable(?) leaders in Washington seem intent on moving our country further and further from the influences of the Bible. Does anyone think showers of blessings will rain down on us as long as we pursue one goal after another that God frowns on? It wouldn’t surprise me to see our capitol go up in a cloud of fire and brimstone some day at the rate we are going. They are taking corruption to a new level.
The administration that occupies Washington at present would seem to be intent on destroying America by spending, and I’m not saying the last administration did it any good. It is obvious that our country is bankrupt even as you read this article. Each man woman and child in America, according to the bean counters, has a $45,000 debt hanging over their head. There is no way it can be paid. We can’t even pay off our credit cards! Does this mean the present administration is slowing spending? No, it’s full steam ahead, and that spending freeze is a hoax. According to what they say, spending is already up about 25 percent, so they could freeze it for a long time without any benefit. Does anyone believe the only way we can be destroyed is by an invading army? If so, watch what happens when America defaults on its loans. Which entitlements do you suppose they will throw out the window first so they can pay the interest? Medicare? Medicaid? Social Security? Welfare? Something will have to go, or taxes will have to rise. (Like a skyrocket! Hide your pocketbook!)
They keep saying the economy is picking up. How can it pick up? The jobs it took us decades to develop were decimated by NAFTA and WTO. The people who take our money in the form of taxes have sold us down the river. If we don’t get some jobs back in this country our economy will pick up when Hell freezes over. You can’t put people back to work on jobs that have disappeared. Do you want to know where jobs are being created today? In the government, that’s where, and any temporary job the government creates in the private sector pertaining to work on infrastructure will cost taxpayers many times what it will pay out in wages and taxes. At best we can expect a long, long time recovering from this depression, because we have to build the base of our wealth again from scratch.
The people on Wall Street who got most of the money from the stimulus don’t create wealth. They only manipulate markets so they can make money. Real wealth will come when American workers are making a weekly paycheck and paying taxes. It is time to remove the financial advantages of companies moving overseas, and stop the massive imports of cheap goods from China and points east. It should have been done long ago, and it’s time for welfare to go only to the people who deserve it. We must cut the waste and fraud in our government. It is time for us to be educated in the way we vote, and remove worthless, crooked politicians from office no matter what party they belong to. If we vote them in and they don’t do their job right, throw their cans out in the next election. It might be a good time to demand term limits. We have to get rid of career politicians who are only interested in holding office for the good of their party.
I don’t think God likes our country any more, because of our immorality and our continuing attack on Christianity, and if He doesn’t, most of us haven’t the slightest idea of the trouble we are in.
• Joe Bowyer is a columnist for the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached through the newspaper at ptnews@pharostribune.com.
