George Washington had at least four trains of thought with respect to civil government, in his proclamation calling for public thanksgiving and prayer, that Christians do not seem to want to have anything to do with:

1) "Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, ..."

2) "... to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor ..."

3) "... that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions ..."

4) " [and] to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of ... constitutional laws."

As for the Religious Right, they and the Republican Party go together like a horse and carriage.  Or, perhaps, more like a prostitute and a pimp.  As long as they get to feed at the public trough, in return for doing what they are told, the Religious Right is fine with being slapped around from time to time.  Or, perhaps, the union is more like a bad marriage.  If every fours years the husband says the correct "conservative" things in public and smiles, but the rest of the time ignores their requests and breaks his promises, then everything is hunky-dory.  Whatever the analogy, I refuse to 
be a part of it.

Further, the Religious Right is as addicted to socialism as most other groups in America.  They just like theirs to be of the "conservative" variety:  faith based initiatives; neighbor funded schooling (with prayer, of course), and the like.  As Curtis Frazier said:  "we want our socialism, be we want it clean."  (Folks, baptized socialism is still socialism -- and 
this is not what our founders intended.)

Principle and the Constitution just don't seem to have much bearing on the way the Religious Right votes.  If Republicans win, they are happy; if "conservative", but unconstitutional policies are enacted, they are happy; if the U.S. is engaged in undeclared and unconstitutional wars (especially if the they are assured that the modern nation state called Israel is being protected), they are happy.   (Frankly, much of what the Religious Right passes off as patriotism is just plain machismo -- and that includes when the rhetoric comes from feminine men that are failing their families and 
masculine women that run many of them).  The list could go on and on.

Whatever the issue, it seems that for many American Christians, as long as the Republican party is in control, then, by definition, we live in a Christian nation.  All of this taken together does not paint a pretty picture for the outcome of the next elections.  As noted by commentator Chuck Baldwin:
 

"... neocon Republicans such as Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee, and even Rudy Giuliani are all currently receiving fractured support from the Christian Right. However, you can mark this down: the Christian Right (with few exceptions) will eventually coalesce around whoever wins the Republican nomination - no matter who it is. You see,
it's all about political partisanship. Principles are only something we talk about during off-election years.

Sadly, this is what the Christian Right just doesn't get: ninety percent of the time, it doesn't matter to a tinker's dam whether a Republican or Democrat wins the White House. Both parties are mostly dominated and controlled by the same interests. Both major parties carry water for Big Money conglomerates. Both parties are heavily influenced by globalists and internationalists. Neither party has any loyalty to the U.S. Constitution or the principles of liberty."

May our fervent prayer be that American's would heed George Washington's call.  Friends, I am a sinner, saved by grace, by the shed blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  And, I am fallible.  We are all fallible.  So let us pray, too, for our fellow countrymen and our leaders.  May they return to a biblical understanding of God and government.  And, may they be richly blessed by the Almighty, the Lord our God.  And, may they rest knowing that He is in control and may this bring peace to their lives.
 

Jeff Rhine is a resident of Dauphin County and has run as an independent candidate for the Pennsylvania legislature.

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