"Election Armageddon" coming to America?

Will traditional capitalism prevail, or will America choose to go even further down the dangerous road of socialism? Never before has the country faced such a clear-cut choice.

Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, stated that the upcoming November elections in the United States will be "the most ideological presidential election in American history" and that "the outcome of this contest will profoundly impact the kind of country the U.S. is going to be" ("Election Armageddon," May 7, 2012).

Will traditional capitalism prevail, or will America choose to go even further down the dangerous road of socialism? Never before has the country faced such a clear-cut choice.

Already, nearly 50 percent of the U.S. population resides in a household where at least one person received a benefit check from the government in the first quarter of last year. As the baby-boom generation gets older, percentages like this one are likely to increase substantially (see Phil Izzo, "Half of U.S. Lives in Household Getting Benefits," The Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2012).

To make up the difference, the pressure to increase the tax burden on the already burdened working taxpayer greatly intensifies. And as more people become dependent on the government, the government becomes increasingly more powerful in controlling people's lives.

Mr. Forbes wrote bluntly, "Barack Obama and the extreme left know that if he loses the White House their dream of a government-dominated America à la France and Italy goes with him."

But perhaps even more disturbing is the prospect of further hostility against the Bible by the administration in a second four-year term. Researcher David Barton, an expert on America's religious and constitutional heritage, has catalogued this anti-biblical treatment in detail in an article titled "America's Most Biblically-Hostile U.S. President" (WallBuilders.com, Feb. 29, 2012).

The latest examples consist of "attempts to require Catholics to go against their own doctrines and beliefs." Yet the facts also show that neither Protestants nor Jews have escaped the various slams against the Bible.

It bears remembering that ancient Israel rejected the rule of God Almighty and opted instead for rule by a human king. Following God's directions, the Hebrew prophet Samuel carefully explained to the people the perils in choosing a worldly system of national government (see 1 Samuel 8).

Still the Israelites freely chose it and subsequently suffered all the consequences Samuel indicated would come on them. Today the American people find themselves in the driver's seat. What will their choice be? What road will they take? (Sources: Forbes, WallBuilders.com, The Wall Street Journal. )