Our Better Angels? 

   Incoming President Abraham Lincoln hoped to avoid civil war by calling on "the better angels of our nature."  

   Marvin Olasky views these "lovely words" as problematic. "Given original sin," he says, "our nature does not have better angels. No, we need to pray for God's common grace, the kind that doesn't give us heaven, but keeps us from turning earth into hell." 

   "In 1770," he continues, "Pastor Samuel Cooke preached that 'the true fear of God only is sufficient to control the lusts of men ... the lust of dominion ... to suppress pride, the the source of wanton and capricious power.'" 

   "In 1790, Pastor Daniel Jones preached to Massachusetts politicians, 'The eyes of God are upon you in your public capacity. He observes what attention you pay to the concerns of the public ... and the cause of virtue and religion. Guard against pride. Lay aside party considerations and private designs. Then you will be blessed.'" 

   Well...approximately $9.4 billion was raised for all national races this year. This includes $1.1 billion New Yorker Michael Bloomberg alone spent to influence voting in Florida.    

   No telling how much this spending will "bless" many thousands of elite people in and out of government for years to come.

   Sorry to be frowny face on a Sunday. We're thinking, the U.S. is about as corrupt as any nation. We just don't poison our political opponents. 

   And this outlook doesn't even take into account widespread voter fraud, real or suspected.  

   As millions of "Christians" abandoned their "faith," virtue and religion declined as well. What else would we expect? 

        Jimmy