So I have decided that I'm going to vote for Dr. Ron Paul in the upcoming presidential primary. In my entire life (all 23 aged years of it) I have never been so impressed and impassioned by a politician as I have by this man. He is known as the “Taxpayer's Best Friend” and “Defender of the Constitution.” Throughout all of his years as a congressman he has never voted to raise taxes and has unswervingly stood up for less government intervention in policy and more of individuals' rights and freedoms.
I can't say that I have been surprised by the responses I get when I ask people, “Who are you voting for in the upcoming election?” Almost universally I am answered with, “Well, I don't really know. I haven't kept up with the candidates. I know that I should care about it, but I don't.” What a slap in the face to the God who gave us the ability to think and act in free agency in this life! The freedoms that are spoken of in our Constitution are God-given and that alone is enough to make them hugely important – worthy enough even for our attention to be turned towards protecting them from time to time.
This apathy towards our rights is no reason for us to be taken off guard though. I mean, we're talking about human rights after all, meaning rights of humans, humans who falter in their attempts to protect their rights much the same as everything else we lay our hands on. Who are we to think that we could actually stand up on our own two feet and defend and uphold a God-given right – a God-created, God-ordained, God-inspired, God-supported, God-granted right? We humans, and due to the politically natured topic of this piece I am referring specifically to those humans who make their home in America, are far too easily tempted by our own greed and laziness to actually uphold something requiring as much discipline and sacrifice as our rights demand.
It saddens me actually to think of the hundreds of thousands, millions even, of men and women from our land who have given up so much in order to serve their country and fellow countrymen. They are the ones who understand that freedom is costly. They have experienced the discipline and sacrifice first hand. And all of us who walk around daily under the blanket of their protection and service throw their efforts to the wayside by arbitrarily voting for the politician with the flashiest ads or most expensive suits rather than becoming involved in the process of actually studying the thoughts and philosophies of the men and women who are running for those offices which will decide how those sacrifices are to be spent.
That is why I got involved in researching the candidates this year and consequently I have been blessed by the discovery of this brilliant man, Ron Paul. Some of the things that stood out to me at first were:
Ron Paul has never voted:
- to raise taxes.
- for an unbalanced budget.
- to raise congressional pay.
- for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
- to increase the power of the executive branch.
Ron Paul has consistently voted:
- against the Iraq war.
- against the Patriot Act.
- against regulating the Internet.
- against the Military Commissions Act.
- against every bill contrary to or prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.
In addition,
- he has never taken a government-paid junket.
- he is not accepting a government-pension.
- he returns a portion of his office budget every year.
- he introduces more useful legislation every year than probably any other member of Congress.
- he is Washington's leading advocate for freedom.
- he was voted the “Taxpayer's Best Friend.”
- he is pro-life, pro-family, and pro-liberty.
- he has a plan for immigration reform.
- he is a proven, dependable conservative who is for smaller government, less spending, less taxation, and more freedom and privacy for the individual.
I urge you to check out www.ronpaul2008.com as well as all of the other candidates' sites to find out more about what is out there and join in the conversation in order to learn all that you can to make a wise and educated decision as you vote for our next president.
2 comments:
Good for you, bro. You're on the right team.
If you want expert libertarian debate, click on my name and meet some of the nicest (and best educated) libertarians out there. I will happily discuss Hayek, Rand and Jefferson (and Paul!) with any honest inquisitor. Free markets WORK, as Rand proved by citing Jefferson's example, for example. :D
"Introduction To Objectivist Epistemology" is a MUST READ for anyone who "values truth". What is truth? How does one know? What tools does one use to acquire knowledge? Why does truth matter?
There are rationally deducible answers to all, and they're in that book. This is, of course, why college philosophy courses refuse to include her.
Anyway, again, glad to see you know what's going on. Be well.
In response to Joshua's comment...
You kind of have a hole in your thinking there (or maybe in your joking there - can't really tell from text about your mood in writing that). God did create you out of his infinite self by design from his infinite wisdom through the history of humanity and the line of progeny stemming from his first created man (Adam), who was in fact created perfectly.
Since that blameless state though, there have been countless degrees of separation in our line due to sin and the many broken qualities of this world (including the scientific observations of gene mutation, shifting, and other random variations from parent to progeny over the years - which, consequently, demonstrates the ridiculousness of the evolutionist who believes that all of those mistakes have made a way for humanity to gain order and complexity rather than the obvious and overly apparent move in the opposite direction).
It is precisely because of those changes that our current status is not as God initially intended for us to be, thus the need of a Savior and Redeemer, who we so graciously have been sent by the hand of our Father/Creator God in the person of Jesus Christ.
All of that to say, it's not God's fault that you are apathetic in your thoughts towards the current presidential election, rather you are to be held solely to blame.
And thanks for the hope in my doing well...I am indeed doing so and hope the same can be said for you!
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