A break from theological: Some political analysis

With the election coming up, people are wondering who to vote for president. Understanding the process can help you vote in a way that you can make the biggest impact.

First, a little civics. You don't vote for president: you vote for electors that cast their vote at the electoral college. Each state gets electors for each congressman and senator from that state. So Tennesse gets 11 electors. And the 11 electors will vote for whoever gets the majority of the votes for president.

With modern polling techniques, one can know how these electors are going to vote. A look at Real Clear Politics can show you the breakdown by state. Since Tennessee is solid McCain, there is little doubt that McCain will get the states 11 electoral votes. If this does not happen, by the way, Obama would probably win with a landslide victory as Tennessee is currently quite solid.

This leads one to the logical conclusion for voters in Tennessee and other solid states: your vote will have very little effect on the presidential election.

But this does not mean your vote cannot make a difference. A vote for a third party can make a big difference. The major political parties will recognize this because you are the "swing vote" and, in a close race, can make a difference in the outcome. Some of the positions you think are important may be adopted by the major parties to get your vote.

There will be many choices besides the two major parties: Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party, Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party, Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party, and independent Ralph Nader to name some of the other candidates. By voting for a third party, you can vote for someone you really support rather than the lesser-of-two-evils. In a state that already solidly supports a candidate, you can do this without the fear of changing the election, and make a statement with your vote. Research each candidate and, if they represent your views better, vote for that person. Don't waste your vote!

Dr. John W. Robbins

I went to the funeral of Dr. John W. Robbins today. I got to know him when we travelled to Williamsburg with my son's class. Every night, he did a devotional. He was also very knowledgable about history.

Dr. John W. Robbins received his Ph.D. in Political Philosophy from John Hopkins University. He was the author of several books. Since he had cancer, he had time to plan his own funeral, and those of us that attended were given a gift of one of his books: Christ & Civilization.

"Christ and Civilization gives a history from before Christ through the current time. He explains the origin of Western civilization ... in the system of ideas found in the Bible: Christianity. It was the Christian Reformation of the sixteenth century that created Western civilization, and Western civilization is collapsing because Christianity is disappearing in the West."

He will be remembered.

Romans 5:17-21

When I was in 5th grade, someone did something that really upset the teacher. She held the whole class in from recess. I always thought it was unfair that the group was being punished for the actions of the one. So, of course, the story of bothered me.

But, when you read the letter from Paul to the Romans, we find that Christ's gift is an abundant provision of grace.

17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

So the fairness of the condemnation of all because of one man also allows for justification through one for all.

18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

And the law was added to lead those to the realization that we need redemption. Believing we are without sin is not an option under the law.

20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Resurrection of Christ

1 Corinthians 15

1 Co 15:2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

Paul wrote about the importance of the resurrection of Christ and what it meant to believers. Here is a quick summary of chapter 15:

3-4 Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

This is of first importance and is a basis for the rest of the chapter. Some people of Paul's time did not even believe in resurrection. So Paul gives evidence and reasoning for believing:

13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

Why believe in Christ if you do not believe in resurrection? And if the resurrection did not occur, then Paul says we are then found to be false witnesses about God.

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead

And Paul has already provided the evidence by naming names of witnesses and mentioning that more than 500 had seen him, and many were still alive. So even a doubter could ask some of these people if Jesus's resurrection were true, and they could say 'yes'.

32 If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

Paul is saying that if we do not believe in Christ, this is how we should live. (This brings up a question: should we condemn non-believers that live this way?)

"Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Environmental Stewardship, conclusion

To conclude the notes on Environmental Stewardship published by the Acton Institute, they offered some solutions. One was that private property rights, when properly adopted, can lead to a better environment. The aspects of private property must be a legal system that honors exclusitivity, liability, and transferability.

Here are excerpts from the Conclusion of the essay on A Biblical Perspective on Environmental Stewardship:

Patrick Moore, one of the founders of Greenpeace International, said in an interview in the New Scientist in December 1999, "The environmental movement abandoned science and logic somewhere in the mid-1980s ... political activists were using environmental rhetoric to cover up agendas that had more to do with class warfare and anti-corporatism than with the actual science..."

... we ... believe that reason, coupled with a commitment to "do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with ... God" (Mic. 6:8), must ultimately guide environmental policy.

The Case for the Real Jesus

I am currently reading The Case for the Real Jesus by Lee Strobel. It looks at current theories of who Jesus was by interviewing biblical experts. One expert, Michael Licona, makes the case for Jesus' resurrection from the five facts:

1. Jesus was killed by crucifixion
2. Jesus' desciples believed that he rose and appeared to them
3. The conversion of the Church persecutor Paul
4. The conversion of the skeptic James, Jesus' half-brother
5. Jesus' tomb was empty