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According to the Bible one day the world will return to a
monarchy. After the return of the Lord Jesus Christ the world
will be ruled by Him for one thousand years before eternity
begins and even then He will rule. So how good is majority rule
for now, can it compare to what is next.
The idea that the majority shows the will of the people is a
pretty good fix for now but it is not without its faults and
weaknesses. That everyone decides to do something with one will
is not now nor has ever been the promise of a perfect decision,
direction or choice of any kind.
Looking way back in time we might start with the ancient
Israelites who grew restless while roaming the wilderness. Moses
took a bit more time than they expected to go up the mount to
see God, and with a majority voice they decided to make a new
God. Yeah, the old golden calf god, you remember. Moses returned
and heads flew because of this little majority rule blunder.
The picture of people collectively exercising their will to
their own hurt is repeated many times across the historical
panorama. We could peruse many but let us note just a few of the
more familiar ones. Getting a good leader with a whole new way
of viewing things was one of the ideas of the German people not
that long ago, enter Hitler. A wave of popular ascent swept
Chinas youth not that long ago and the world watched in
amazement as they tore every established institution to shreds
and murdered and removed all those who didn?t get into the sweep
of Chairman Mao.
We pride ourselves in America with the safety measures we have
in place to ensure that these kinds of mass hysteria won?t fly
in and wreck our system of government. Specific length of terms
for public officials is one example. That leaves only one
question, how has it been working?
Between 1880 and 1920 America went into a lynch mob mentality.
Crowds of vigilante citizens managed to hang people as if they
were mere Christmas ornaments on trees throughout this land.
More people were lynched here in that short period than in all
the lynching throughout the rest of the world combined, at any
time in history. Churches were established in many of the places
where these hangings took place. Apparently, the Bible teaching
about not following a crowd to do an evil thing was not preached
too very often. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil;
neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to
wrest judgment, Ex 23:2. The will of the majority was no threat
to our government in these lynchings, but it became a very real
threat to many people right under the shadow of the government.
For a much broader example of the failings of the will of the
majority we can jump ahead to the nineteen seventies and
something more familiar. In one moment a confident and eager
majority voted for Mr. Richard Nixon on his second term as
President. In a landslide victory unparalleled in our history
Mr. Nixon sailed into his second term. Only a few short years
later, the same majority angered and fed up, wanted to give Mr.
Nixon his walking papers via the good old American boot in the?
impeachment. This majority may have been the best example in our
history of how wrong a whopping big majority can be.
Twin - public opinion has its history as well. As a lad, I
recall sitting in front of a small black and white television as
newsmen revealed the shocking result of a recent opinion poll.
Public polling, so new that they had to explain to viewers how
they had calculated the result. They said that the people were
asked, who are the three people they trusted the most in their
lives? The shock was that only a few years earlier the answers
were almost totally contraverted. The poll concluded that the
three people Americans trusted the most were first, some close
family member, then their doctors and lastly their ministers or
priests. Previous polls had the order in reverse. I can remember
the lingering doubt this poll left with me, were Americans more
fickle than founded?
Next to the right to vote, Americans pride themselves with their
right to voice their opinion. In fact sometimes people use their
right to vote to express their opinion. Who has not heard
someone say that they cast their votes for former presidential
candidate Ross Perot knowing he had no chance to win. The reason
for this wasted ballot many said was to? state their opinion or
its little pal?to make a statement.
Enter the computer, now we can cast our opinion around instantly
at nearly the speed of light. Daily news shows are calling for
our votes on everything from noted trials to whether we support
euthanizing someone. All too often our opinions are far removed
from the trend or the actual event, but that seems to have no
effect on the outcome. One example would be our opinions on, Roe
V Wade. Americans have been casting their opinions on this
rumbling volcano for decades; the numbers have been crunched
repeatedly in favor of pro life. Like war wounded, these
opinions lie tattered and defeated in the trenches of
indifference. Twins, majority rule and public opinion die a
tragic death alone as liberals ride off to the victory party.
The only thing worse than having an unlearned, prejudiced or
heavily biased opinion is to let our opinion be tainted
by?public opinion! It happens regularly. Go with the flow
opinions as are common to our countrymen as are pop culture
trends that burn for a time and fizzle out just before the
fashions and accessories for each have flooded the market. If a
war doesn?t seem popular anymore we start nay saying before the
dust has settled only because the dust being kicked up at home
is rising faster than the dust of our uncompleted battles. The
offences cited, or the reasons for our battles notwithstanding.
Public opinion also fails to see the larger answer because it is
often not asked the larger question. As an example consider how
many cast their negative opinions on the heap against George
Bush because, hey, where are those weapons of mass destruction?
Little did we notice that right under our noses our forces had
isolated, captured and detained one of the most deadly weapons
of mass destruction to ever plague or threaten any people. That
weapon of mass destruction is?Saddam Hussein.
Now we are being polled as to whether we think prayer should be
allowed to open a session of congress or a sports event. Here is
my opinion. Let?s not stop praying about anything at anytime. We
need all the prayer we can get in this country and at this time.
Oh, and lets not forget to pray for the twins.
About the author:
Rev Bresciani is from New Orleans La and the author of?Hook line
and Sinker or What Has Your Church Been Teaching You,
PublishAmerica 2005 and?An American Prophet and His Message,
Questions and Answers on the Second Coming of Christ, Xulon
Press 2005. His website is http://americanprophet.org
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