I didn’t write for quite a while because we were on vacation in Florida.  I’ve thought of lots of things to write about over the past few weeks, so I’ll share with you today some of those thoughts.

 One of the subjects that has been on my mind a lot lately is politics.  This is probably because of the upcoming election and the news, signs, stickers, etc. that surround us.  Nevertheless, I have been paying attention this year, much more so than in past years, to the opinions that are expressed in the media.

 Do not be fooled ladies, our newspapers, our television news programs, and our radio talk show hosts are not unbiased.  They are human beings and they have opinions, and in most cases, they have agendas to push.

 I took a journalism class in college, and besides the basics of journalism, I learned something that has really helped me become more aware of the agendas that are being pushed on me.   A journalist is not supposed to share his or her opinions in a direct manner.  In other words, he or she should not be writing in a newspaper article, “I think that we should all vote for so and so.”  A journalist, however, is allowed to gather whatever opinions or facts back up his or her own opinions, only report on those, and leave out the rest. 

 Just flip through the channels during the news hour.  I think every local news station here in Portland is extremely liberal, and I would guess the same for most major cities.  Just watch—and listen.  Most clips about President Bush are either brief or negative.  Most clips about Senator Kerry are longer, and much more positive.  Watch for yourself, and see—and think again, if you thought that you were listening to an unbiased, friendly news station.

 Be careful who you think is conservative, also.  Even “conservative” talk-show hosts and television stars do not necessarily match up to God’s view of conservative.  Please hold up what you hear or read to what God’s Word has to say.  Oprah seems to be conservative to some—yet she believes all religions are one, that shacking up with a boyfriend is alright, etc.  Dr. Laura preaches morality, so she must be conservative right?  Not exactly—she often tells people that it is alright to get a divorce as long as they do not have any children (look in your Bible—what would God say about this?).  I have also heard Dr. Laura defend both sides of the homosexual debate.  Dr. Phil seems conservative though, doesn’t he?  He even claims to attend church.  But Dr. Phil condemns spanking, approves homosexuality, etc.  Be careful. 

 My bet is that if you watch very much television, you’re probably leaning towards voting for Kerry.  I challenge you (ALL of you!) to turn off your televisions and just study the facts.  Go to each candidate’s website (I will provide links at the bottom) and find out what issues they stand for or are against.  Study those issues in Scripture.  Abortion, war, peace, taxes, laws, etc.  Go to www.BibleGateway.com to type in any key word and search for it in the Bible.  I also challenge you to really look at what each candidate is saying.  Is there any meat in their words?  For example, if they say “I’m going to make America a better place,” what do they mean by that?  And how does their voting record back that up?  Please be informed about the man you choose to vote for.  A man who speaks of ideals and does not go into details about how those ideals are going to be made real will make a great dreamer, but a poor commander in chief.          

 Our media is driven by Hollywood, and Hollywood is extremely liberal.  This is the only way they can survive.  If the people in Hollywood were conservative, they could no longer get away with the blatant sin in their own lives—divorce, abortion, drugs, multiple marriages, out-of-wedlock babies, adultery, homosexuality and more.  These people have to be liberal in order to not condemn their own lifestyles.  They tolerate everything, anything is ok (except for setting moral standards—that, of course, is not ok), people can marry or divorce whoever they want, even someone of the same sex.  They have babies; they kill babies through abortion…It is all very sad, and I know God is frowning down upon it all—so why do we as a society look to these people as role models?

 Maybe it is because we’re lazy….Do you think?  Isn’t it easier to sit on the couch and just listen to what other people have to say?  Isn’t it easier to just not have to think about it, and to just go with the flow?

 This morning I was telling my husband about a fiction story that I remember reading as a freshman in high school.  In the story, the government did not want people to become great thinkers, so they implanted devices in each person’s ears.  These devices would randomly start beeping every few minutes or so, and the people would then lose their train of thought.  As I told my husband about this, he said to me “we don’t need devices like that, we have TV.”…..

It is so true ladies.  I challenge you to turn off your TVs and THINK!!!  Do not be like sheep, just following the ones in front of you and being led to the slaughter.  Be wise, study your path, and make choices based on facts, not on other people’s opinions.

Here are the candidate’s websites that I promised I’d link you to:

George W. Bush                     http://www.georgewbush.com/

John Kerry                              http://www.johnkerry.com/index.html