Well, it goes back to "Render unto Caesar..."
The American political system relies on the people. If you ever want to understand that, I suggest reading Orwell's
1984. The only way that the system works correctly is when the people vigilantly maintain their officeholders irregardless of party affiliation. This is not the politically correct statement to make, but this is exactly why suffrage was originally only granted to males. The idea was that you maintained a homogeneous society where views might differ by a bit, but not by that much. I have no issue with expanding suffrage because females et. al. should have those rights. Unfortunately, this expanded the rights to a new breed of immigrant that we've begun to see in earnest only in the past few decades. Like it or not, most new immigrants have been raised in this new social-communistic system of government. They've been conditioned well and they believe it works in spite of their own flight from their native land where it was instituted and clearly did not work. It's the easy way to achieve the American dream. Obviously, this doesn't work with the supply and demand of Capitalism. Communism and Socialism were created specifically to address this need by some intellectuals, but have failed miserably in their most overt forms. Unfortunately, we've bred a new class that thinks there were good ideas in Communism/Socialism and that they still can be combined with Capitalism to create a fair system.
Simultaneously, some of the self-labeled "intellectuals" and "academics" began espousing their own ideas based on new concepts of Utopian government. What they want you to think is like any grand of-the-world strategy; everything will be fixed for you. On the surface you have some "benevolent" folks who simply want to help the poor. The problem is, they themselves don't necessarily care or desire to do it. (Otherwise, they might donate their own time and salary as opposed to pushing legislation to force others to do it.) If you ever watch, there's always another end. Ironically, these great minds that do nothing but theorize in classroom environments continue to be highly paid (think tenure, etc.) by the same institution that they are apart of and desire to see expand. Similarly, the politicians that think this always draw up new groups of constituents by appealing to frankly: 1) The academics, 2) The minorities, and 3) New immigrants that can vote.
In recent history, the first two have sufficed for BOTH (read that) parties. The Republicans, in 2000 and 2004, eked out a victory with the Hispanic vote and the Democrats relied heavily on the academically-conditioned students and minorities in 2008. Curiously, key discussions with each past presidential candidate have revolved around immigration. Guess what? These goons must find a way to counter the core American population which does not like where things are going. Each year the number of voters who don't vote is shrinking, but they hide this with waves of new voters who they motivate to do the same by providing lots of carrots and no sticks.
So by rendering unto Caesar, Christians should be active. Like most American, Western, and Christian nations, we tend to desire to be left alone. We'll tolerate unfavorable and political circumstances because there are more important things in life. Unfortunately, the Socialists/Communists out there have interpreted this as weakness and even possibly assent. If you look at the current political landscape, you have politicians who think they're such the social saviors that they are free to use any method around to bring about what the people "really need" to get their lives in order. In most cases, the Representative Democracy has broken down at the Representative part. We elect these leaders and they think they have a mandate (to use a political buzzword) to implement things as they see fit. The folks think that by getting elected, the people support everything they want done. When you have widespread disagreement with a policy, they dismiss it as false. "How could anyone oppose their benevolent agenda with only your best interests at heart?" is what they ask.
I think Christians absolutely must stand up. Biblically speaking, we've turned our cheeks (you only have two) and allowed our religion and races to be insulted. We've handed the government our cloaks on top of what we already give them. We STILL rush to give people in need more money than any nation on Earth. America is still a Christian nation, but just like the Israel that many are descended from, the powers at be are separating themselves from God. It shows in our schools and in our lives. We have as much as we've ever had, but we're still not happy!
I have a treasured picture with a verse that sits on my bookshelf. I look at it everyday:
II Chronicles 7:14
if my people who are called by my name g humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
We are to always be Christian, never placing aside our faith and that includes in the political arena. If an atheist can be a politician, a Christian darn well can be as well!
PS: Let me just throw in here that contrary to I'm sure some assertions that will be made somewhere, this is not a racially or ethnically motivated hate statement. You have a right to live in the country you desire, and if you want to come here and experience the true American dream (like I've seen and know many who've done it), then you're always welcome here. Just don't try and come change the system for your betterment at the expense of those that already live here and have run things pretty well now for a couple hundred years.
