By Eugene Gauerke

This year’s typically negative political campaigns support Winston Churchill’s observation that, “Democracy is the worst form of government  – except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time in this world of sin and woe.”

Even though most candidates of our major political parties receive less than stellar grades in moral character, I’m optimistic because the power of whoever wins is limited.

Twenty-four of the fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence declaring “That all Men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights,” had seminary or Bible school degrees. Later, they wisely divided and limited the authority of government between the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

John Adams, second president of the United States, said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”

Good government comes down to the daily faith and law-abiding conduct of all citizens. It’s certainly helpful when elected officials are guided by a moral compass as well.

I live in bucolic Waupaca County, Wisconsin with 52,000 other residents. 98% of the inhabitants are white and 97% speak English. There are approximately 80 churches in the county. Compared to large cities, with gangs and ethnic tensions, one would think we have few problems.

The truth is, we have a sheriff’s department with 106 employees and a yearly budget of over 11 million dollars. A dozen other communities in the county have police departments with seventy additional officers costing several more millions of dollars. In addition, we have state police, game wardens, a district attorney’s office, courts, human services, and many businesses with their own security systems and personnel.

Without police and courts, local officials report there would be absolute chaos in the county, thievery and assaults would be rampant. Presidents can wield considerable influence but no president of any political party in Washington is going to solve the problems in Waupaca County – or any community in the world.

Russian author, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, stated in 1978, “All moral and spiritual limitations … have slowly been discarded in the West. He warned, “We have placed too much hope in political and social reforms, only to find out that we were being deprived of our most precious possession, our spiritual life.”

Horace Mann, known as the “Father of Public Schools,” predicted over one hundred years ago that the day was not far away when there would be no need for prisons and police officers because public education would reach the masses and eliminate all wrongs.

Education is essential, but it cannot change the human heart. Jesus said, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.”  – Matthew 15:19. The natural heart thinks of itself first. Psychiatrists call this egocentricity. The church refers to it as sin. The spiritual heart thinks of God first and others second. The human heart being transformed into a spiritual heart is sometimes referred to as being born again.

If we neglect our spiritual underpinnings, we won’t be able to hire enough reputable police officers to protect life and property in our nation, to say nothing of supplying troops to help police the world.

The French statesman, Alexis de Tocqueville, made this observation about the workings of democracy in America in the 1800’s:

I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and ample rivers,
And it was not there.
I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile fields and boundless forests,
And it was not there.
I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her rich mines and vast world commerce,
And it was not there.
I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her public school systems and her institutions of learning,
And it was not there.
I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her democratic congress and her matchless constitution,
And it was not there.
Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.

Evaluate the issues and ideas without regard to candidates or political parties when you vote this year. You might be disappointed with the results but we are all winners in a nation where we have he opportunity to worship, to work for change and to cast a vote or our nation’s leader every four years. Remember, there would be no need for elections if only perfect people could run for office. And there would be no need for elections if only people without sin could cast a ballot.

No matter the outcome of this year’s election, our greatest hope lies in the truth that God sovereignly appoints leaders throughout the world for His purposes and to His glory.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.    – Romans 13:1