Mississippi’s ignored senate race – do no “evil for evil”

Observing the chaotic politics surrounding practically every issue on and off the ballot is one of the advantages of a missionary’s life being posted in sundry locales around this nation. And it is Mississippi that has collared me for more than a year – a state of endless hospitality, conservative ethics and Southern tenacity. In the face of injustice, Mississippians will stand their ground and rightfully so.

This last year has seen one of the most contentious and injudiciously handled senate races to hit the headlines witnessing the butchery of an honorable candidate at the hands of his own party. Although the race has dwindled in media coverage as passé, the battle to restore lawful process in vote casting and counting is not ended, nor has the sour taste of illegitimate electioneering been washed from the voters’ mouths. As November 4 approaches there is another battle brewing that can, and probably will, demolish the conservative base in this bastion of good moral folk… that of who, if any, candidate to support. The loyal and utterly misused Chris McDaniel supporters, whose majority in the Republican primary was steamrolled by cagey establishment politicos, are in a quandary with the election at hand. In a nutshell, Mississippi has a 50% plus one vote legal standard to be met in a primary or the race bleeds over into a runoff. With a few extra names on the initial ballot, McDaniel, despite a clear lead, was forced into a runoff with incumbent Thad Cochran. No sweat, or it should have been. Instead the republican committee, beholden to the status quo, engineered the illegal crossover voting of Democrats, up to 35,000 of them, in the Republican runoff. All of this was documented but overruled by the state supreme court after first allowing an obviously incorrect ruling that the McDaniel campaign had filed after a deadline, which, according to the easily understood statutes, was applied erroneously. As it now stands, national conservative organizations that stood by McDaniel have withdrawn financial support to address the egregious voter fraud perpetrated by Republicans upon staunch members of their own party, in effect allowing lawlessness to succeed. This is a microcosm of the lawlessness perpetrated on the national stage by the executive branch against the Congress in Washington, D.C. and is a bellwether to our country’s demise.

---

The dilemma at hand is now this: what should Mississippi voters do? Their ballots affect the federal stage, the make-up of the Senate. Here is the conservative, and Christian, conundrum since the great majority of Mississippians claim the Faith. Social media has been alive with some sadly misapplied scripture attempting to justify a decision to vote for the Democrat candidate as retribution for the brazen misdeeds of the state republican committee. Some have referred to Mark 12:17 “And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.” (also Matthew 22: 21, Luke 20:25). How could this possibly have anything to do with casting a vote for a man that stands on DNC platforms such as promoting abortion, same sex marriage, income inequality, ObamaCare, eviscerating religious expression, Common Core, etc., etc., which are wholly opposite of conservative Mississippi that McDaniel represents? No matter what the Democrat candidate says, he is beholden to the party planks and the leader of his party who is none other than Barack Obama. In this light, one should truly consider that what is Caesar’s is the candidate who belongs to the party that peddles empirical government under the direction of a would-be dictator, for that tribute of vote or tax feeds directly into bigger government and strips individual rights which are not Caesar’s. Best remember that this is not the Roman Empire or even a reflection of it, the United States of America is a compound Constitutional Republic and your property is not Caesar’s.

Must be renewed support for McDaniel’s court challenge that will uncover the defrauding of the American voter

The other argument some are denying, in rationalizing a vote for Cochran’s Democrat challenger, is that they do not seek vengeance upon their Republican Party for its treachery when, in fact, that is precisely what they wish to exact. How many of us heard wise guardians tell us not to cut off our nose to spite our face? If one votes for the Democrat only to shame the Cochran campaign, think again. It shames the conservative base by showing how one could turn their back on their values purely for the spitefulness of voting for the challenger, which is a vote for the reinstatement of Harry Reid as Senate leader. And to invoke God as having control of everything after abandoning one’s standards to stand with the party that vociferously “booed” God at their 2012 convention is the height of self-deception. One doesn’t make a purposeful decision against their own beliefs and then stand aside and say God’s in control. Was He allowed control of the hand that marked His opposition’s name? If we give God the glory and the control then we follow His Word: Romans 12:17-21 “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Take responsibility for however you decide to mark your ballot, but don’t lay the results at God’s feet when you had a deliberate choice to make, be it for right or wrong. After this election there must be renewed support for McDaniel’s court challenge that will uncover the defrauding of the American voter before the loss of our nation is nothing more than a footnote to History.