Dear John & Doves,
 
Like many of you, I have been observing what is popularly called the increased "polarization" taking place in American society.
 
Polarization is often spoken of as a bad thing, (*usually by those who are liberal and/or left of center) because it is believed by many that increasing divisions among various segments of society cause unrest, an inability to reach any consensus on major issues of the day, compromise becomes increasingly difficult, and the pitch made to the public is just a refined version of those famous words uttered by the crackhead Rodney King, who said "can't we all just get along"?
 
Go along to get along. Don't make waves. Try walking in their shoes. Don't judge, lest you be judged. The allure of such thinking often masquerades as being based on Christian principles.  Indeed, many times the spirit of 'compromise' hijacks the words and the terms which define Christianity, twists them around, and by the time the process of 'compromise' is completed, anyone refusing to "go along to get along" ends up being painted as "un-Christian". This is a prime example of the Devil using what should our own exclusive weapons against us.
 
Consider the whole homosexual marriage issue. Homosexuals hijacked the word "gay" and turned a word that was once as innocent as a child, into the definitive word now used to present their depraved lifestyle in a more positive light. And now, after decades of infecting society with their perverted lifestyle (both literally and figuratively!), they want the institution of marriage, originally created and defined by God Almighty Himself as being a sacred bond between a man and a woman ONLY, to be twisted into THEIR preferred definition, which in reality is no definition at all. It was not, and is not an exaggeration when opponents of homosexual marriage pointed out that by making such depraved relationships legal, that it would open the door to other depraved relationships being given legal sanction, i.e. marriage between adults and minors, which will encourage increased exploitation of children by both heterosexual perverts and their homosexual counterparts, polygamous marriages including more than one woman, or more than one man, basically a legal, ongoing group orgy, even incest and bestiality have a chance of gaining, if not actual legal sanction, increased social acceptance.
 
Consider the issue of abortion.  After the infamous Roe vs Wade decision of more than 30 years ago, abortion has become as shameful a stain upon American society as slavery in the pre-Civil War years.  Millions upon millions of unborn children have been murdered, and continue to be murdered in their wombs, and the carnage is justified by wrapping it in the clever label of "Pro-Choice", as if the babies being killed are actually given a choice.  Those who oppose abortion in all of it's evil forms are painted as extremists, militants, indeed - such people have been described as 'domestic terrorists'.  It has been a colossal (and mostly successful) effort by women (and their male enablers) who want the absolute liberty to eliminate any unborn child within them as they would eliminate a yeast infection, they view an unwanted pregnancy no differently than an unwelcome parasite in their digestive tract. Kill it, wipe it out, flush it out of their bodies, and be done with it, without the slightest regret or sense of remorse. And the price for such unrestricted freedom of action has been an across the board denunciation of the original concept of Motherhood, the idea that a mother (and father of course) should consider an unborn child that is developing within the womb of the woman to be not only an extension of themselves, but a Blessing upon their marriage by God Himself.  While there have been some welcome developments in recent years which seek to limit abortion (as opposed to allowing abortion to be as freely available as a fast-food drive thru window), until abortion is limited to cases of rape, incest or a true danger to the continued life of the mother, abortion will continue to be a pox upon all of us.
 
(Now some will point to the exceptions I have listed as being 'murder' as well, but prior to Roe vs Wade, those WERE the general exceptions to what was a wholesale prohibition on abortion procedures in most of the 50 U.S. States, and such procedures were conducted rarely, and when they were, by medical doctors in hospitals - not in discreetly labeled residences in the middle of normal, everyday neighborhoods across America, and such procedures were not performed without a great deal of consideration beforehand.)
 
So after homosexual marriage, abortion, what other societal anomalies embrace the whole "go along to get along" philosophy?
 
How about drugs?  Marijuana use is being increasingly decriminalized, made equivalent to having an open container of alcohol and subject to a fine instead of jail time, cocaine, heroin, 'designer' drug use continues to run rampant, but unless and until such drug use impacts the drug user in such a way as to make them unable to do their job, or to live up to their family responsibilities, there is little impetus from any quarter to encourage such drug abusers to give up their habits.  Ditto for the 'officially' legal substance of alcohol.
 
And how do those who oppose homosexual marriage, who oppose abortion, who oppose the drug and alcohol culture, (just to mention those three scourges upon society) how are such people defined and labeled?
 
They are labeled as 'intolerant'. As 'close minded'. As 'inflexible'. As 'unable to compromise'. I'm sure you can think of many other labels that have been bandied about by our increasingly immoral culture as they continue to sweep aside as many moral conventions and restrictions as possible. Their goal?  A completely hedonistic, amoral society, purged of all Godly foundations, and they have been generally successful because they present their deadly fruit under the guise of increasing personal 'freedoms'. And naturally, anyone who stands in their way is portrayed as someone who is "against" freedom, against personal choice, against that all encompassing term, "progress".  To them, it is preferable, indeed it is *mandatory* to eliminate all concepts of right and wrong, to make what was once called "situation ethics" the law of the land, each person "a law unto one's self", in other words - infinite shades of gray, and nothing is considered "totally right" or "totally wrong" because our society is always willing (indeed, they are *eager*) to find extenuating circumstances, mitigating factors, any number of insignificant issues which result in the diluting of the entire "right and wrong" concept which was handed down to humanity by God Himself.
 
Yes indeed, "polarization" is something to battle, something to campaign *against*. Because polarization forces people to choose sides, to make choices, to take a position. Now if you will, try to visualize how Time is advancing. We have all been watching prophetic events unfold for years, and there is general agreement that we are at the very threshold of apocalyptic events which have been precisely forecast in the Bible. Our exact point on the prophetic timeline is not certain - but we can be sure that events are accelerating and that it is unlikely that we will see any sort of prophetic respite from how history is unfolding before us.
 
So picture yourself standing in the middle of a two lane highway.  No traffic to worry about, it's just you. Look at how the highway stretches off into the distance, and your eyes are somewhat deceived by the way the highway appears to narrow down to a point just before it vanishes. But for the purposes of this example, imagine that the highway actually narrows down more and more until the pavement completely disappears, and the shoulders of the highway on the right and left eventually run into each other. Now, imagine the shoulder on your left as being completely black. Picture the shoulder on the right as being completely white. Now picture the highway that you stand upon as being gray.
 
There is your example of what is happening in our society today. That comfortable 'gray area', where the majority of people choose to live, is becoming more and more limited in area, it is being narrowed down because of the expansion of the left and right shoulders, the 'black' shoulder, representing evil and all things negative, and the 'white' shoulder, representing all things good and Godly, those forces are headed for an ultimate confrontation and showdown, and the inevitable result is that God Almighty will prevail, but not before all of those souls who have been residing in the 'gray' area have been forced to choose between: a.) the appealing and seductive arguments of the Devil, using the concepts of 'freedom' and 'choice' and 'liberty' to lure people into his camp. Some will choose such evil out of a desire to "just go along to get along", they don't want trouble, they just want the freedom to "do their own thing", and that is what Satan has championed for thousands of years. The liberty to be a true 'free agent', to "do as thou wilt" without fear of penalty, without the fear of any consequences, no matter what their choice in any "situational ethics" position might be.
 
Now other more discerning souls will choose b.), which is to finally allow the blinders upon their eyes to be removed, to recognize that the true Creator and God of all the universe is the Sovereign Lord Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Such people (who I sadly predict will be fewer in number than the ones who will choose this temporal world and it's pleasures over the Kingdom of God) will lose everything they ever had, everything they ever gained from their comfortable lives in the gray area, in that patch of lukewarm pavement neither totally evil, or totally good. But by choosing correctly, by rejecting the Evil which would seek to devour them body and soul, they will save their souls, though they may well lose their physical lives, as foretold in Scripture.
 
I do not believe that it is possible to predict with any true certainty, the actual date and time that the Lord Jesus will return for us, but I do believe He WILL return, for He is true to his promises, and His Word never fails.  But in the meantime, as we are faced with decisions be they large or small, our criteria for making those decisions should be "which choice is more likely to advance the cause of Christ, by empowering those already standing 'on the white shoulder' with God?"
 
I would like to close with an observation which I have seen before in the Five Doves forum, an observation I believe to be absolutely valid - it is my belief that the increasing hate that has bellowed forth, directed at President Bush, is unlike any political animosity ever seen in American politics. I am old enough to remember how Lyndon Johnson was vilified during the late 1960's when he increased troop strength in Vietnam to over half a million men, I remember the subversive protests by the Communist fifth columnists calling themselves "peace protesters" as they burned the American Flag.  I recall all too clearly the bombings and riots which were engineered by the extreme left wing, which took countless innocent lives at our universities, in the streets, throughout America.
 
I remember as if it were yesterday the hatred for President Richard Nixon, the marches which took place on a regular basis through Washington D.C., and near the White House, the burning of Nixon in effigy, the widespread institutional hostility towards him throughout the media (limited in those days to ABC, CBS and NBC, and the major newspapers like the New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune, etc.).  I think back to all of that, and yet it pales in comparison to the vicious, almost murderous hatred which we see targeted at George W. Bush each and every day, without fail. This new 21st Century hatred does not sleep, it does not rest, it rages 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I submit that it is absolutely Satanic.
 
Why?  What is it that enrages the Bush-haters so?
 
I submit it is because he has taken a stand. He chooses to stand with God. He has confessed Jesus Christ before men, and therefore Jesus Christ has confessed him before the Father. He has made his choice. It is to reject this world and all of the temporal carnal pleasures it has to offer. And I hasten to add, that President Bush is not perfect. He has made mistakes, and he will continue to make mistakes, but it is my conviction that his heart is right in the Eyes of the Lord.  He has not sought to exalt himself, but he has humbled himself before God many times.  I have heard President Bush state clearly in public "we are all sinners in need of salvation", and I believe he means it.  I do not accept the view of his critics (some of them right here on Five Doves) that because he has referred to Islam as a 'religion of peace', that it means he has compromised his own faith.  He understands all too well, the threat that Islam is to humanity. Believe me, he knows. But were he to stand up tomorow morning and suddenly call for the wholesale arrest and round up of every Muslim in America, to be either jailed, deported or executed, I can nearly guarantee that Articles of Impeachment would be introduced before the end of the day.
 
President Bush is president of ALL the people in America. He is president of all the Christians, all the Jews, all the Muslims, all the Hindus, all the Buddhists, all the Taoists, all the Atheists, indeed - he is president for every citizen, and he is responsible for upholding the Constitution of the United States so that all citizens enjoy equal protection under the laws.
 
Do not misunderstand - I have not agreed with every decision President Bush has made, and I doubt that I will agree with every decision he makes in the future.  But when I compare him with the ranting, raving, bellowing and bellicose Al Gore, and when I compare him with the lying, pompous, billionaire boy toy of Teresa Heinz-Kerry, I can only conclude that God, for whatever his reasons, has chosen to continue to have Mercy upon the United States of America, and George W. Bush is in the White House because quite frankly, God put him there, and that's good enough for me. I will cast my vote with confidence for President Bush in November. I will not waste my vote on a third party fringe candidate with NO chance of winning, just so I can pump up my pride by saying "I voted my conscience". Such a wasted vote might insure that a good Christian man is run out of the Presidency, and replaced with an individual which will usher in a greater age of evil than even the Clinton/Gore years of 1993 to 2001. I hope that others will consider the implications as I have, and do likewise.
 
Regards,
 
John Russell
 
jr9163@hotmail.com