Key Text:
Mar 10:19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. (KJV)
Mar 10:19 You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and your mother. (MKJV, Modern King James Version)
MY COMMENT:
Media Bias
One of the major ways the general public has been defrauded in the USA is by biased, unbalanced, media reporting of the news. Most major news outlets have been and continue to be negatively biased against President Trump. Presenting opinion as though it were news is an abuse of the First Amendment protection of the public press. The founders of this country wanted a free press that would keep an eye on the government to ensure it remained within the limits imposed by the provisions of the Constitution.
Agenda-driven Propaganda Presented as News
Now the press spews a constant stream of propaganda. Unfortunately, most readers, hearers, and viewers are unable to tell the difference between truth and propaganda, between fact and opinion. I think the best way to learn how to discern the difference is to read more widely by reading actual books on the issues of the day as well as our past history. Even public libraries are largely biased in the books they acquire for their collections. The Bible is a proven must-read resource to learn the truth required to protect yourself from brainwashing and propaganda. Years ago, I had the benefit of receiving a liberal arts education which introduced me to a wide variety of subjects to learn about. That is in contrast to education today where students must (or ought to) concentrate on majoring in fields of study that will prepare them to earn a living upon graduation.
Failure to address and solve low reading achievement
From what I read and what I hear on the news, students at all levels of education are being defrauded of a good and proper education. It would appear that many students are just passed on to the next grade in elementary school even when they have not reached the standards of achievement, such as grade level reading comprehension. Today (2-22-26) I listened to a program on WJR in Detroit where it was claimed that over one third of students drop out of school during the ninth grade. These students read on a third to fourth grade level. That is very upsetting to me because I have solved that problem by carefully devising and testing my Language Enrichment Program for over 40 years on hundreds of students who successfully raised their reading achievement by two or more years in less than one school semester. In terms of the actual time it takes to complete the program, that represents 24 to 75 clock hours to work all the way through.
My program is available on Amazon for $20 in book form or $10 in the Kindle book digital format. I would think that parents of younger children and older students themselves would be eager to benefit from this program. Teachers who want to help their students be more successful in school would want this program. Pastors and youth leaders concerned that children, youth, and adults in their congregation learn to read better so they can read the Bible with greater understanding ought to take advantage of this proven resource. That would be a wonderful church ministry. I did just that for the children who lived in the neighborhood of Military Avenue Presbyterian Church in southwest Detroit.
Not helping students and parents and other adults develop improved reading comprehension and inference skills is to defraud them of the ability to lead much better lives.
Failure to faithfully exercise our right to vote
Christians, especially Bible-believing Christians, often fail to vote in such large numbers that this has actually determined election outcomes in very bad ways.
Failure to vote means that you have actually supported those who are voting against what you as a Christian ought to support. Not voting is to vote for the devil.
Your vote counts! Be sure to always exercise that right, especially including mid-term elections.
Making the mistake of supporting the wrong values
The “hot button” issue for many Christians is the abortion issue. For the most part, Democrats support abortion while most Republicans are against it.
Border security–Democrats currently against it, Republicans for it.
Illegal immigration–Democrats for it, Republicans against it.
Removing illegal immigrants–Democrats against, Republicans favor. Illegal immigrants have already violated this nation’s laws by crossing our borders. Many illegal immigrants have violent criminal histories and should be sent back to the nation from which they came.
Military–Democrats favor a weak military; Republicans favor a strong military.
Election security–Democrats against it, Republicans for it.
Who can vote–Democrats want everyone here to vote, Republicans citizens only.
Voter ID–Democrats against, Republicans for. The real reason to be against voter ID is to make it possible to cheat.
Voting period–Democrats favor long period; Republicans favor single day to vote.
Voting deadline–Democrats favor flexible deadline; Republicans favor strict deadline.
Voter rolls–Democrats allow more votes than registered voters, Republicans demand strict pruning of voter rolls so dead people can’t vote.
Ballot format–Democrats favor electronic votes, Republicans favor paper ballots with confirmed signature.
Counting ballots–Democrats favor extended period, Republicans favor hand counting completed on the same day.
DEI–Democrats favor, Republicans disfavor.
Be careful not to support the flawed thinking that supports DEI because it allegedly benefits the poor and needy or supports tutoring programs to assist students who have fallen behind in academic progress. DEI–Diversity, Equity, Inclusion is a hard left coverup designed to make everyone part of a group rather than seeing each person as an individual. DEI aims to eliminate qualifying for college entrance based on individual competence and merit by granting special privilege to favored groups. DEI is against qualification based upon proven merit.
Defunding Police–Democrats favor, Republicans against.
Socialism–Democrats favor, Republicans against.
Marxism–Democrats favor, Republicans against.
Israel–Democrats against, Republican for.
Hyde Amendment–Democrats for, Republicans against. The Hyde Amendment forbids Pastors from taking sides politically from the pulpit. This represents an unconstitutional restriction upon free speech. Historically, the pulpits were the source of support for the founding of this country and later for its preservation. No government has the right to place a gag order on pastors! The Bible has much to say that relates to what we would call political issues today. As an aside, private schools and churches must learn to be free from federal government control by not accepting even one penny of assistance in any form, even indirectly.
Jim Crow Laws and Policies–Democrats always for, Republicans always against. Learn your history! The KKK was comprised of Democrats. It was a Democrat Governor who tried to block a young black child from entering an all-white school.
Riots, violence, property destruction–Democrats support, Republicans against.
Green Energy and Climate Change: Democrats believe in, Republicans who understand science do not.
CONCLUSION
Anyone who has managed to read all of the above ought to get the point! Do not contribute to the increasing lawlessness in this country by failing to vote for the only side that even remotely supports values taught in the Bible, values consistent with the values supported by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the first Ten Amendments to the Constitution. To do otherwise is to defraud everyone here now and those who will follow us of the blessings of liberty and freedom.