I have the answer to that question and will share it with you at the end of this article. Now, promise not to cheat by reading ahead.

First, a word from our sponsor – Beliefnet – a “wonderful” website that shares lots of articles from different faith communities. In the past, Beliefnet has done a fairly good job of exploring all viewpoints. I’ve been reading the site off and on for several years, but have decided to dump the service. It is clear to me that the site has been taken over by partisan politics through those who appear to be listening more to men with agendas and checkbooks than to God.

Case in point: Beliefnet recently did a series of articles on the question, Did God raise up George Bush to be the president who would handle the 9-11 crisis? According to a survey of readers, 70% voted no. This is clue number one that something must be up with Beliefnet. Anyone who believes in the infinite power of God understands – at least in reformed tradition – that God is in control and doesn’t make mistakes or goofs. It’s called Sola Gloria. Things don’t happen by chance. The Bible is very clear on that point. God is infinite and almighty and in charge. He is not off creating some parallel universe while letting His little experiment here bubble away in a haphazard fashion.

Clue number two that Beliefnet is a fraud: in the middle of an article explaining in detail why George Bush believes that he was called to be president, an ad for John Kerry and John Edwards has been inserted. Excuse Me? A website that pretends to be offering differing points of view sells a political ad that directly contradicts the arguments being made on behalf of George Bush? This screams of moneychangers in the temple! Do the editors of Beliefnet have no ethics of their own? For Pete’s sake, man! Any two-bit journalist knows you don’t bait and switch. The appearance of conflict of interest should be ringing so loud in the editors’ ears it should be making them deaf. Maybe they are!

It serves a political agenda to overreact to the way evangelicals display and talk about their faith. The newest mainstream mantra appears to be: if any politicians claim to receive any kind of divine guidance, they must be clinically out of their minds. So who is the greater fool – the one who, because of a series of life-changing events that cannot be denied, claims that there is a God, or the one who claims to know enough about the secrets of the entire universe to declare that there can be no God?

We find ourselves asking these kinds of divisive religious questions about Bush versus Kerry. We have religious leaders lining up behind both candidates, using their own sets of glasses tinted by their own religious views. Bush is the killer and the warmonger, while Kerry is the more enlightened traditionalist who opposes the notion of war. Kerry is the vexed soul because he is willing to lay down or compromise his own faith, which disapproves of abortion, while he does nothing toward stopping it. The arguments for and against are tossed about like missiles, in hope of creating the illusion that God is choosing sides in this very human battle.

You do understand that you are being played with, don’t you? Beliefnet is just as guilty as any campaign consultant who looks at religion as a ripe field of hot buttons. People make most of their decisions based on emotion. Toss God Almighty into the mix, and you may be able to cement support, or to drive voters away from the candidate who claims to listen to God.

It all just makes me sick. As with so many things we encounter in life, it is much easier to have someone else make up our minds for us than to invest the time and energy needed to come to our own conclusions with the help of divine guidance. If you don’t believe that God is capable of giving you guidance in the first place, then you’re going to vote for whichever candidate delivers the most for your own special interests, i.e., “What’s in it for me?”

Don’t fault Bush for feeling he has some divine appointment for the Presidency. He isn’t the first President to feel this way. Do the names Washington and Lincoln ring a bell? And don’t fault Kerry for trying to figure out how to display his own faith leanings without betraying the notion of “wearing your faith on your sleeve” that so many liberals find disingenuous.

God is in this election, all right! He’s in it whether Bush gets four more years, or Kerry takes us in a new direction. God will speak to those who follow His teachings through His word, and through prayer and meditation. God will allow or cause those who don’t hear His voice to vote in a manner that, ultimately, will bring about His purpose. Yes, that’s terribly unnerving for non-believers, and extremely comforting for those of us who do believe. After all, that’s the way it really is.

And for whom is God voting? Neither Bush, nor Kerry! God doesn’t need to vote. He already knows the outcome! And I’m just fine with that!

Al Ruechel, Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved

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