No matter who you plan to vote for I am seeing some things that really disturb me.  One recent development is the new Wikileaks (not Wikipedia) trove of John Podesta showing communications between Democratic operatives and poll agencies in which the Democrats requested ways to manipulate polls by oversampling certain groups and under-sampling others.  A manual was even written on how to do this oversampling.  Then of course some publications use the over-sampled poll and show Hillary Clinton ahead by 12 points instead of the more likely +3 to -2 points.  This tactic might backfire, but it is also reprehensible as it is a blatant attempt to deceive people.

Another thing that disturbs me is the apparent utter disdain by liberals (that is, true liberals) for the “common man” as well as for Christians.  Of course this does not apply to all individuals labeled as political liberals, but mainly to the political leaders and their operatives at or near the top of party organizations.  But unfortunately that is still quite a few people, and influential ones at that.

Moreover, if the recent spate of e-mails and other sources are reliable, I am disturbed by the extreme immoral, at beast amoral, attitude and actions of true liberal elites.  Perhaps that immorality or amorality is attributable to in part to their disdain for religion, particularly Christianity, about which, I must add, they show a remarkable ignorance.

I might mention many other “ethical lapses” (an unfortunate and weak phrase), but these examples suffice.

Have we seen all this before?  Arguably, yes, at least in part and to some extent, these actions and attitudes have occurred before in our history and the history of mankind.  We should expect nothing less than this from sinful human beings.  But it seems particularly strong today, at this moment in American history.  Maybe it is just more public.  But at any rate, it seems to exist.  Some historians have argued that such developments, while not new to mankind, do play a role in the decline and fall of civilizations or nations.  This is also difficult to discern, as historical trends can be multi-causal.  But it is worth thinking about.  It is difficult to imagine any nation being sustainable, let alone flourishing, in the long run, when moral rot sets in at the top.

This “politically based immorality” is not at all to relieve failures in individual-personal morality.  We have seen that too, in liberals and conservatives, and unknowns (maybe I am referring to Donald Trump here?).  Personal immorality is very much as problematic as political-public immorality.  In the long run, decline in personal morality also can destroy a nation’s fabric.

This blog is not intended to doomsay, and sometimes Christians have been far too quick to say the sky is falling.  I wish to emphasize again that we have seen barbaric actions and thinking before in history.  And humans have survived—by the grace of God I add.  But nations may or may not survive such long-term declines, if that is what in fact we are seeing.  Actions have consequences, as Richard Weaver’s famous book argued.

Let me say this in closing.  After this election becomes history, Christians and other fellow travelers who agree on this, must begin to emphasize once again and to begin a movement to change institutions to bring back virtue into the political realm.  Both public virtue and private virtue both must be stressed.  Our rhetoric on this issue has to be forceful.  Our actions to bring change in the right direction also have to be emphatic.  We need to begin to stress this to our local party leaders (party committees for example), to our state party leaders, to our politicians, to our bureaucrats, to all, in print, social media, radio, television ads (why not fund some ad campaigns for virtue), and in our churches.  We  need to talk to our friends, relative and neighbors about true virtue in the political realm.  It needs to begin November 9, no matter who wins.

To conclude, I am well aware that my exhortations may well be in vain, and unrealistic.  I am also aware that a call to political virtue is no ultimate substitute for real, inward change in the minds and hearts of individuals, which can only occur as people turn sincerely to Jesus Christ.  That would be the best solution in the interim before the Second Coming.  But in the meantime, we have a duty to the “welfare of the city” (Isaiah) to offer real aid to all those around us, whether they are part of the Kingdom of God or not.