The Manchurian
Candidate
Boiling Down the Pre-election Debates
for Believers
Jackson Snyder, October 9, 2004
“I can do a better job of protecting America's security because
the [global] test that I was talking about was a test of legitimacy, not
just in the globe, but elsewhere.” –John Kerry on the “global test,”
now apparently expanded to include more than just planet Earth. Now that's
multilateralism. – The Federalist Patriot 4-40
Snyder
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How should
Believers vote in the upcoming Presidential election? Since the candidates are from very similar backgrounds, aren’t
their messages about the same? I
listened to the debates very closely and gleaned their positions on four very
important issues. They are:
(1) the “global test,” (2) abortion on demand, (3) unlimited
stem cell research & (4) special rights for sodomites.
In
this message, I hope to help you
understand what our candidates believe in from a biblical perspective and
therefore allow you to cast your vote for a candidate that adheres to the
principles that we Believers hold dear.
Jeremiah 29:1. These are
the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the
elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people,
whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2.
This was after King Jeconiah (Jehoiachin), and the queen mother, the
eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had
departed from Jerusalem. 3. The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah
the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah
sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said:
4. "Thus says
Yahweh Sabaoth, the Elohim of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into
exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5. Build houses and live in them; plant gardens
and eat their produce. 6. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take
wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear
sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7.
But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile,
and pray to Yahweh on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find
your welfare. 8. For thus says Yahweh Sabaoth, the Elohim of
Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive
you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream, 9.
for it is a lie which they are prophesying to you in my name; I did
not send them, says Yahweh.
10. “For thus says
Yahweh: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I
will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11.
For I know the plans I have for you, says Yahweh, plans for welfare and
not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12. Then you will call upon me
and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
13. You will seek me and find
me; when you seek me with all your heart, 14. I will be found by you, says
Yahweh, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations
and all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh, and I will bring you
back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” (RSV)
Jeremiah 31:15–17 excerpts
Yahweh spoke to me again, saying: In Ramah there’s bitter weeping – Rachel
weeping for her children and cannot be comforted, for they are gone. But Yahweh says: Don't cry any longer, for I
have heard your prayers and you will see them again; There is hope for your
future: your children will come again to their own land. (TLB)
1 Thessalonians
5:15. See that none render evil for evil;
but ever follow that which is good. 16. Rejoice
evermore. 17. Pray without
ceasing. 18. Give thanks in
everything. 19. Quench not the
Spirit. 20. Despise not
preaching. 21. Test all things;
hold fast that which is good.
22. Abstain
from all appearance of evil. And be 23. entirely
sanctified that our whole spirits and souls and bodies be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Sovereign Yahshua the Anointed One. (exerpts)
Where do you come from?
What’s the land of your origin? Who’re
your forefathers and mothers? From what
batch are you baked? From what mold
cast? We all came over here from
somewhere.
(optional: This
isn’t our first nor last home!
Two hundred years ago, Europe was dominated by Napoleon, whose aim was to conquer the world. He invaded all the sovereign states of Europe, forcing war for decades. The founder of our (Schneider) family was pressed into the Hessian army in 1807 at the age of fifteen, and fought bloody, head-to-head battles against Napoleon’s armies all his working life – and managed to survive. He swore that his children’s children would grow up in a peaceful land. By the time his sons were old enough to be drafted, he took them on a dangerous cross-country trip, where the family boarded a ship for New York. That was around 1850. Our foreparents traversed Ellis Island to Washington County, Pennsylvania – then on to northwest Ohio to a little piece of land in the middle of nowhere – getting there in time for the American civil war. That’s all I know of – 150 years of personal history – very scant information on origins. )
Where were we 150 years ago?
500 years ago? Where were your
kin a thousand years ago? Twenty-five
hundred years? I ask you because,
though you’ve made a home here and some’ve known no other, in the long-term,
you’re really not from ‘round here.
Many of our ancestors were forced here and there, by wars,
persecutions, famines, pestilences, providence. We have little or no idea of where we began. We’re all exiles, some longing for our place
– our own promised land – that dwelling which is to be ours
permanently. “For here have we no continuing city; (and
there’s really no place to go back to, so)
we seek one to come” (Hebrews
13:14). This land is good to us right now because Yahweh is good to us.
A Word to the Exiles in Babylon
Let’s switch to an earlier group of exiles.
Yahweh’s prophecy through Jeremiah to the Judean exiles in
Babylon (chapter 29) takes
us back about twenty-six hundred years.
The Judeans of that day saw their origin in Abraham and could trace
their ancestry back twelve hundred additional years to his loins. They inherited Judea through him, a land
they could keep forever – that is, as long as they observed Yahweh’s Law
of Liberty. But they didn’t observe it forever. The culture of the natives captivated them
and they compromised. And now,
the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, is taking away the brightest, bravest and
best from Judea into the slave camps of Chaldea, wave after wave, thousands by
thousands.
The masses of Judeans in exile are restless in their slavery,
awaiting a negotiated political solution that never will come. Some are committing terrorist acts in
retribution. Others fuel the fires by
prophesying that Yahweh is going to rain flame upon their captors and save
them. The conditions are very bad; the
treatment in captivity is brutal; the slave labor is taxing. Some would do anything to get out quickly.
Back in Judea, the king had imprisoned Jeremiah before he
himself was captured. Maybe this is why
Jeremiah wasn’t taken away with the elite.
He’s out of jail now and prophesying freely from Jerusalem. Yahweh gives him a word of knowledge for
those in exile. He writes it in a
letter and sends it by the courier of the new puppet-king, Zedekiah, straight
into the hands of the dreaded Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. By sending his missive to Nebuchadnezzar,
you’d think it’d never get to the exiles.
But THE WORD was so revolutionary and so surprising, that Nebuchadnezzar
let it go forth to the Jews in the camps.
Surprise! Yahweh tells
the captives to settle in – seek the welfare of the city of their exile
– pray for it – make it theirs.
Why? Because, Yahweh says,
however the city of your exile prospers, you will likewise prosper; “In the welfare of the city, you’ll find your welfare” (Jeremiah
29:7). Yahweh also gives the exiles a smart warning: “Don’t allow yourself to be deceived by the prophets over
there – don’t listen to their dreams. I
didn’t send them.” Finally,
there’s a promise: “I have plans for you – good
plans. I give you hope for the
future. I’ll visit you in seventy
years. You’ll seek me and find me. I’ll restore your fortunes and send you
home.”
The prophecy came to pass – yet after the seventy years, most
second-generation exiles were so entrenched and comfortable in the paganism of
the politics, culture and prosperity of Babylon, that they were too
bemired in sin to go back to where they belonged. Yet when the change came and Yahweh’s promise was fulfilled, the
courageous and faithful went back to Judea to joyfully rebuild from the ruins
up.
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Babylon 5
Today we’re involved with Babylon – the same Babylon of the
Bible. Iraq is Babylon, and
Saddam Hussein considers himself the “New Nebuchadnezzar.” Like Nebuchadnezzar, Saddam’s intension has
always been to follow in Nebuchadnezzar’s footsteps: to conquer the same area as Nebuchadnezzar – build rich palaces
like him – spend billions on weapons of mass destruction like him. Saddam, the neo- Nebuchadnezzar, is
personally responsible for millions of deaths.
Like Nebuchadnezzar – he’s a Pale Horse of Apocalypse – he rides,
and hundreds of thousands die.
Fortunately for millions more, Saddam rides no more.
Our involvement in his demise has cast hundreds of thousands of
exiles into Babylon – soldiers mostly, but also contractors, engineers,
laborers, even the curious. These
exiles have gone forth into danger by their own free will to help rebuild for
the folks who’ve cowered to neo-Nebuchadnezzar for twenty-five
years. Those who’ve gone, have gone of
their own accord, knowing the dangers – from rebels and insurgents – being
fully aware that they could lose their lives.
But most, when their sentence in exile is over, will return home better
for having had the experience. Indeed,
for the latter exiles of today as well as the former, Yahweh says, “I have plans for you – good plans. I give you hope for the future.”
Surely Yahweh’s saying this to Babylon now – “I have plans for you – good plans. I give you hope for the future. The acceptable year has arrived.” The vast majority of the Iraqi populace
believes there’s hope now that the dictator’s gone. They believe in their president and look forward to free
elections in January, just as the Afghans had their first ever free elections
yesterday (October 9, 2004). These are wonderful privileges of Yahweh’s
favor. “I have
plans for you – good plans,” He reiterates.
(By the way,
these insurgents we constantly hear of who are fighting against freedom
in Iraq come from outside Iraq – from Syria, Libya, Jordan and Saudi
Arabia. The insurgents are not
Iraqis. They’re people of ill
will from outside who’ve come in to spread panic. They’ll stop at almost nothing to cause the deaths of as
many innocents as possible. Both
presidential candidates agree – they must all, and I quote, “be killed.”)
We Are Exiles
Like Moses said, “I am a stranger in a strange land.” We are strangers in a strange land. This world is not our home. We have no continuing city here, but what we
have, we’re commended to take care of until Yahweh comes. Like the Judeans in exile, we’re to “see to
the welfare of the city; because in it we’ll find our welfare.” We’ve settled here, and now, until He comes
and sets all aright and send us home, we’re to be faithful to his precepts,
fulfilling his commandments in the hope that when his visitation is realized,
we’ll be found to have been worthy trustees.
Like the exiled Judeans, we’re commanded not to listen to speakers of
falsehood or be led astray in sinful cultural fads. On the contrary, we’re to
(excerpts) 1
Thessalonians 5:15. See that none render evil for evil; but ever follow that
which is good. 16. Rejoice
evermore. 17. Pray without
ceasing. 18. Give thanks in
everything. 19. Quench not the
Spirit. 20. Despise not
preaching. 21. Test all things;
hold fast that which is good.
22. Abstain
from all appearance of evil. And be 23. entirely
sanctified that our whole spirits and souls and bodies be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Sovereign Yahshua the Anointed One.
Didn’t those in exile who heeded Jeremiah’s prophecy hold out to
the end? And were they rewarded in the
end for their faithfulness? Why yes,
abundantly. Likewise, we should not
only hold out, but be active in doing whatever we can to preserve our adopted
land for Yahweh, his Kingdom, his Cause and his Ordinances. We’re in covenant with the heavenly Kingdom
and we are the King’s ambassadors.
Election Issues
We ambassadors have a tremendous opportunity right now that
entails a heavy responsibility. I’m
talking about electing a president for the Babylon of Our Exile. Many are telling us this is the most important
election for sixty years – some say for the entire history of our country. Our privilege of voting shouldn’t be taken
lightly, as the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before.
I agree with those who say that if we don’t take the war on
terror to the terrorists, they’ll bring it here. We have a responsibility to Yahweh and the land of exile we
inhabit to stay as safe as we can and follow his teaching and way of
life as closely as we can. This
goes also for our responsibility as citizens.
We must, for Yahweh’s sake and our own, approach our responsibility
responsibly. That means knowing
what’s at stake in this election.
Prophetically speaking, the following issues should be of utmost
concern for believers when electing officials on November 2nd: (1)
the degree of foreign control over American resources, (2) abortion on demand
and (3) stem cell research. (A fourth would be
(4) special rights for homosexuals. No
time, though. See Thirteen Arguments for Same Sex Marriage.) I
hope you paid close attention to the “debates” between the presidential
candidates in the last weeks. Let’s get
us past the performances and on to the substance. Let me share what I heard the candidates say in regards to these
three vital Christian issues in the debates.
(1) Sovereignty
One candidate believes that our armed forces, environment and
legal process should be, in part, under the command of foreign powers –
that the United Nations should be able to command our military, that the Kyoto
Treaty Alliance should be able to dictate our environmental policies, and that
the World Court should be able to try our citizens. Who wants Manchuria telling America what to do? That’s why I call this candidate The
Manchurian Candidate.
America’s already a part of a world system of evil – and
citizens of hostile countries own so much of American land, especially
farmland. Many people already think the
United Nations, as corrupt an enterprise as it is, should be telling us where
to go and when. Many people already
think Kyoto, Japan ought to be informing us just how many cars we’re to put on
the road or how much paper we’re allowed to manufacture. Many people already concede that European
courts should be allowed to try our citizens for crimes real or imagined, or
that we should pay close attention to what Europe wants us to do.
Yahweh’s people remember that the King of Judah gave so much
influence over to Babylon that Judah was simply swallowed up. How much influence must we give to Manchuria
before they swallow us up? How diluted
must our way of life become before we realize it’s lost? How much power would Yahweh want us to
concede – to heathens? Yes, the one I
call the Manchurian candidate admitted that a global alliance would have to
give us Americans permission to go forward in our plans for the future.
But the other candidate made it clear that he and his
cabinet are firmly for American sovereignty in all these matters and
firmly against any form of globalism that takes power and rights away
from the American people.
(2) Abortion
The Manchurian candidate, in answer to a question about a
child’s right to life, made it perfectly clear Friday night (October
8, 2004) that he was a proponent of
abortion-on-demand, including late-term, partial birth abortions – the type in
which healthy babies’ heads are pulled from the womb and stabbed with a pair of
scissors before the body’s brought completely out. This candidate, in answer to the religious lady, said something
like, “Religion is an important part of my life, but I believe primarily in
science and in upholding the law.” In
other words, if science says so, even your half-born baby’s nothing more than a
blob of tissue – a bloated tumor – inhuman until it’s feet come out of the
womb. When the feet are out, he or she
goes from being a tumor to becoming a person.
This candidate made it clear that he has no respect for the life of
babies. Nor does he respect science,
which contradicts him in regards to the origin of human life. He should’ve said, “Religion is an important
part of my life, but I believe primarily in my political party’s
murderous platform.” Then he’d have
been more truthful to the public on the subject at hand and we could’ve made a
more informed choice.
In our country, about 4,500 children are murdered on abortion
tables every single day. Our
preconceived notions tell us that these babies’ mothers are black and poor. But the vast majority of aborted babies’
mothers are white, middle-class and killing out of convenience rather than
need. Abortion is a multi-billion
dollar industry. It’s by and large hired
killing. Now you know. Yet certain people don’t abort babies when
each baby means another welfare check.
But if they’re so inclined, and if they can afford it, then they abort
it.
This same candidate made it clear that, even if a
fourteen-year-old becomes pregnant, parents need not be informed their child
aborts their grandchild. For him,
no such parental sanction is necessary.
A teenage child in public school must have parental permission to
receive an aspirin from the school infirmary; but no permission is required for
a life-ending medical surgery such as third-trimester abortion. What kind of sense does that make? What does Yahweh think of it? One day, he’ll judge godless leaders of the
death-culture. Our faith is perfectly
clear about right-to-life, is it not? “You will not murder,” commanded the
Almighty.
Yahweh’s power is active in forming a child in the
womb. Yahweh calls individuals from the
womb. Yahweh’s Law sees to it that the
vulnerable, young or old, never want for anything. Would our Savior sanction genocide, no matter what science or
some political party’s platform condones?
Abortion is genocide, plain and simple.
The candidate in question not only condones genocide, but encourages it
with the offer of federal money to help commit it.
The other candidate promised he’d never spend one red cent of
federal money for abortion of any type.
And for four years, he hasn’t.
That’s a promise kept.
(3) Stem Cell Research
Stem cells are cells from the stem of the brain that can be
mutated into any kind of cell.
Scientists can take a stem cell and make it into a skin cell or a liver
cell. Theoretically, a stem cell could
be grown into an entire limb or an eye or some other replacement part. Stem cells could also be grown into a monstrosity. Already we’ve seen monkeys and jellyfish
mixed. The latest clone was of a mouse
from a nose cell. Though stem cell
research could lead to medical breakthroughs, it could also lead to hideous
genetic experimentation a la Dr. Mengele. The problem with doing stem cell research from a believer’s point
of view is that viable stem cells come only from either live or aborted
babies. Did I mention that the abortion
trade is a multi-billion dollar business?
Unlimited stem cell research will certainly make a baby or a baby’s
corpse even more valuable to hundreds of godless Frankensteins all over the
nation.
The Manchurian candidate is 100% behind unlimited stem
cell research because he’s also 100% behind unlimited abortion. Such a combination would certainly open up a
new cottage industry for unscrupulous, godless people – the gestation, birth
and sale of live babies to be used as stem cell victims. The abortion business has a powerful
paraclete in the person of the Manchurian candidate. If he does what he promises, a billion dollar industry in the
trade of human corpses may easily become a trillion dollar industry.
The other candidate has limited stem cell research to only the
strains of cells that are currently in existence today – having already been
harvested from babies aborted during the term of President Clinton. In the last four years, not one baby has
been legally terminated for a few of its cells. One candidate has done more than any previous to stop the
incentives to abort. You must do your
part on Yahweh’s behalf to entirely stop the slaughter of innocents. Two wrongs never make a right, my
friends. Abortion and stem cell
research on the aborted is ghoulish, fascist and indecent in the highest
degree. Don’t cast your vote to be a
part of that.
Vote the Man?
A final note for you who say, I don’t vote for a political
party; I vote for the man. If you think
this, you’re deceiving yourself. The
philosophy behind a party man is his party platform, plain and simple. The political party puts the man or woman
up, supports him, gives him credibility.
When he gets in office, he owes.
He owes not the people, but the party that put him there. When you vote for a man, you’re putting his
party in office.
The Manchurian candidate’s party stands proudly for unlimited
abortion without parental permission, unlimited stem cell research, global
mandating for the action of the United States, one world government and special
rights for homosexuals. And this party
couldn’t have picked a candidate more exemplary of these indecent and ungodly
principles that the Manchurian – so indecent, in fact, is he, and so at odds
with Yahweh’s commandments, that even his own church has refused him
Communion.
Go vote on November 2nd, but vote for the same moral
standard that you expect of yourself, your ministers and your Savior. That would mean NOT stepping in line for the
godless Manchurian or his party. Once
the vote is recorded, you’re done. Once
the mark is applied, it’s indelible.
I Have Plans for You!
Yahweh told the captives to settle in – seek the welfare of
the city of their exile – pray for it – make it theirs. Why?
Because, Yahweh says, however the city of your exile prospers, you will likewise
prosper; “In the welfare of the city, you’ll find
your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7). Yahweh also gives the exiles
a smart warning: “Don’t allow yourself to be deceived
by the prophets over there – don’t listen to their dreams. I didn’t send them.” Yahweh’s laws and instruction are
plain. You are commanded to follow him
in all you do. And you have a promise
from him, a politician from a Kingdom not of this world – a politician who
cannot lie: “I
have plans for you – good plans. I give
you hope for the future. You who
are faithful to my plan – those who seek me with their whole heart will find
me.” Make your choices for candidates and party by
seeking Yahweh’s face in them. That
should make the choice easier.
AMEN.