george w. bush has been reelected.

my reaction has been as predicted: apathetic at best. (i must remind you before i delving into this rant that if Kerry had been elected, my reaction would be apathetic just the same.)

i do not mind people saying that the lord's will has been done. i do not mind people praising him for it. i don't mind even doing so myself.

i DO mind the fact that these people would not be doing the same if the president's opponent (i will not mention his name for fear of someone looking over my shoulder, seeing it, and excommunicating me from christian fellowship) had won. is their faith so small that they cannot believe god can work through someone whom they do not like, someone who, in their eyes, is not a christian (or perhaps even the antichrist!)? for if they quote that all things come together for good, that god is sovereign, that authority is put in place by god himself, can they not believe the same would hold true if a democrat would be elected?

i DO mind the blatant disgust for the opponent openly expressed from the mouths of these christians. at the very least, it is disrespectful to those who may, unbeknownst to them, hold different opinions. moreso, it is a complete defiance of christlikeness and a poor example to those around them. perhaps i say this with ease because i prefer to keep my thoughts quietly to myself. but perhaps this does in fact fall under an example of being "quick to listen and slow to speak."

i DO mind those who complain about the bias of news networks, simply because they disagree with that bias. they have clearly expressed that they do not mind, and in fact prefer, a biased news source, as long as the bias leans towards their own opinions. if you complain about the bias of a news networks, avoid hypocrisy by seeking a news source that has none, neither liberal nor conservative. impossible? then watch both and sort through the facts intelligently and open-mindedly.

CNN reports moral values were a priority in this election. great! but how many of those moral-minded-people were remembering that morality should include more than a stance on abortion and gay marriage? does morality not also include treatment of the poor, in both our nation and abroad? does it not include caring for our environment? just war? finances? so on and so forth? i do not mean to say that bush's policies do not reflect morality in these areas; i do mean to say we must keep these in mind when deciding on morality. (i do not remember how many verses are found in the bible dealing with the treatment of the poor, but i do remember they are much more in number than the one single direct reference to abortion [which is questionable, at that].)

the evangelicals have shown up in record numbers, and for this i am glad! good citizenship (which includes voting) should be part of christian living, part of our witness in this dark world. but sloppy thinking (leading to aforementioned post-election sloppy actions) may hurt our witness more than help. one woman shared she is already praying for a godly leader to turn our nation around, be it bush or someone else. amen! BUT it is first the church's job, the christian's job, to turn our nation around, one person at a time. handing that job over to government and legislation is simply laziness.

there's more, but we'll leave it at that.

may the words of this rant and rave be those of thought-out truth, and not those of my often cynical and rebellious spirit.