No it didn’t.
I remember taking my car, years ago, to a company that proudly displayed their Christian faith and the owners were very kind and genuine. They would tell me they were praying for me. They were the nicest people. There’s a problem, though; my car always had the same or a similar problem after I got it back from them. They never fixed my car correctly. After speaking with many in the area I was in, I heard the same stories. They just were not very good at fixing cars. But they were GREAT people.
Well, when I needed my car fixed, I was more concerned about my car being fixed than if they were praying for me. As coarse as that may sound, I need my car to work properly so I can do what God called ME to do.
In contrast, I also used to take my car, many years ago, to a guy that was incredibly rude. Not friendly at all. The first two signs you saw when you walked in were, “No Refunds!” and “I shoot every third salesman and the second one just left.” But my car was in perfect shape when I got it back. I hated that he retired. It IS possible to separate business from personal convictions. If the business is good at what they do, they’ll get my business.
Our country is now at the point where it is being run like a business. As it should be. And in this business, citizens get to vote on who runs the company. I’ve been told I can’t vote for Biden because he wants to take my guns. I’ve been told I can’t vote for Trump because he has no compassion. I’ve been told I can’t vote for Jo because she has no shot of winning. I’ve been told I can’t vote for Kanye or it will take votes away from Trump… or it will take votes away from Biden. I’ve been told Trump is a liar. I’ve been told Biden is a liar.
So what do I do? How can I make sense of all this? Well, I have to use process of elimination. First, let’s look only at what we KNOW. I know that politicians lie. All of them. I can’t recall the last time a politician told the truth consistently. I know that occasionally, they pander to the religious right to gain a vote but would never normally show up and contribute on a weekly basis to an actual church. As a Christian, if I’m looking for someone that will represent that part of my ideals, I’ll be looking a very long time. Politicians don’t represent Christians. They represent people that they want to vote for them. And that’s where their allegiance ends. They’re looking for the vote, and once they get it, they move on to do exactly what they wanted to do in the first place, regardless of what you think.
So if I know that they all lie and I know that they don’t represent my Christian values, then how can I possibly choose who to vote for? Well, first, let consider what we CAN’T do. We can’t choose someone based on what they say. We just established that they all lie. Pretending to have compassion, or even having actual compassion doesn’t make them good at a job either. It’s makes them a good person. And my car still won’t work. I can’t listen to words of compassion and empathy and decide that’s good enough, because when I try to start my car, it won’t start. At that point, empathy and compassion aren’t getting the job done.
The real answer if painfully simple, yet seemingly unattainable by mainstream society. I must look ONLY at what they DO. Then I can decide if I agree with what they do or don’t do and see if it’s working… when I get my car back, does it now work? Because what they say is all hot air anyway. Biden thinks he’s running against George Bush for Senate and denied saying he won’t ban fracking. Trump boasts that his handling of Covid has gone perfectly. We all know those things aren’t true. So what have they done?
One thing that keeps coming up for Biden is the 1994 crime bill. So when Biden went to fix the car, the result of his work as a “United States mechanic” caused a large number of black people to no longer be able to “drive their car”, per se.
In contrast, Trump gave those same people a new car. He put in place the FIRST STEP act. This act did a few key things. It made smaller crimes have lesser sentences; Minimum sentences for first time criminals were lowered, money was saved from the prisoners being released and that money was allocated to transition programs and even more money was added to transition programs. On top of that, he made the plan retroactive.
Immediately, two things happened: non-violent, non-threatening, and first-time offenders were released from prison. The next thing that happened was prison recidivism changed dramatically. In 2019, incarceration dropped in 33 states. Basically, the car that left Biden’s shop still broken, was moved to Trump’s shop and not only got fixed but was improved to a better condition than it was in before.
He still doesn’t represent Christians. He still boasts too much, to the point of lying. He still says and tweets very insensitive and crass things. But if you need your car fixed, are you taking it to the guy that feels bad for you and prays for you and hands you back a broken car, or are taking it to the guy that isn’t super friendly but gets your car in brand new shape?
Stay Classy GP!
Grainger