Wisdom and Perspective

The following is an email I received earlier from a Texan that I thought I should pass along.....

As chairman of the Bastrop County Republican Party, it is fitting
for me to be the first to speak to you, the Republicans of Bastrop
County, regarding our national loss of the Presidency. I am aware
that many of you have reacted with tears, anger, numbness,
disbelief, or a sense of resignment that this is what we deserve. I
endeavor here to speak to those reactions and give direction for the
days ahead.

For those who may read this who do not consider themselves
Republicans, let me first briefly articulate why we feel as we
do. Our present mortification over the election of Barack Obama as
President is based on the conviction that the policies he has
espoused will not work and on fear of the result of implementing
those policies. We are convinced that peace must be secured, and
cannot be won by vacating a present conflict. If we leave a field
of conflict unresolved, that field will only follow us unless we
fully capitulate. We are further convinced that prosperity does not
come through taxation and wealth redistribution. Wealth acquired
without work is squandered, and work not commensurately rewarded is
abandoned. The result therefore is the extension of misery, not the
relieving of it. Look across the globe and across history, and you
will not find the economy that flourishes while penalizing the
productive so as to reward the unproductive. Based on these
convictions, we fear that Mr. Obama's policies will only deepen our
present difficulties.

With these convictions and fears in mind, I turn now to console
you. If you take Scripture at its word as I do, then let me remind
you of these truths:

1. Although we have a duty to vote, it is ultimately God that
establishes our leaders, and we are to submit to them. "Let every
person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is
no authority except from God, and those which exist are established
by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the
ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will received
condemnation upon themselves." Romans 13:1-2 These words were not
spoken by an American Patriot living under the just rule of the
Founding Fathers. They were spoken by the Apostle Paul to the
Christians in Rome living under the vile and corrupt rule of Emperor
Nero. If God has lifted up Mr. Obama to be President, then we can
trust He has a purpose in doing so.

2. We are to pray for those in authority over us. "First of all,
then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and
thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who
are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet
life in all godliness and dignity." 1 Timothy 2:1-2

3. Even if our present distress deepens, God nevertheless provides
for us what we need. "Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall
we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe
ourselves?' For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for
your heavenly Father knows that you need all these tings. But seek
first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall
be added to you." Matthew 6:31-33

If you are a secularist, who puts no confidence in God's Word, then
let me console you with these truths:

1. Liberal policies do not work. Governmental redistribution
relieves economic strain with the least efficiency. In times of
distress, the people will not tolerate failure.

2. The tendency of mankind is toward freedom. Restrict freedom, and
those shackles produce hardship. The cauldron of hardship produces
a love and strain toward freedom. The hotter the cauldron, the more
the shackles are at risk of bursting from the strain toward
freedom. Hardship also produces virtue and vigilance.

3. A Presidential term is only four years. "By the frame of the
government under which we live, this same people have wisely given
their public servants but little power for mischief; and have, with
equal wisdom, provided for the return of that little to their own
hands at very short intervals. While the people retain their virtue
and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme of wickedness or
folly, can very seriously injure the government in the short space
of four years." Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address

With these consolations, let us now consider the future.

First, let us not be bitter or factious. I am tired of the last
eight years of the partisan smearing of President Bush. Let us be
better than our opponents have been and continue to treat the office
and office-holder with dignity and respect.

Second, let us congratulate our fellow African-Americans who without
regard to partisanship, cannot help but view this moment as a
significant milestone in their own storied history among us. Any
public figure makes a valuable contribution to society who inspires
in each of us commoners the notion that we can achieve no matter who
we are or where we come from. On January 1, 1863, the Republican
Party through its President Lincoln emancipated the slaves. May
President Obama's inauguration further emancipate our
African-Americans from the notion that they are in some way held
back in this society.

Third, with dignity, respect, and clarity, let us continue to
advocate for those principles we hold dear: limited government,
fiscal responsibility, return to Constitutional restraints, freedom
of speech, religion and firearms, and a profound respect for
innocent life. If liberal policies fail, as we believe they must by
their nature, the people must be hearing that a viable alternative exists.

Lastly, consider and take to heart the closing words of President
Lincoln's second inaugural address: "With malice toward none, with
charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see
the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up
the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle
and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and
cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Albert L. Ellison, Chairman
Bastrop County Republican Party