2018 | Week of October 1 | #1275
I confess. I’m not just concerned about the immediate outcome of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation process; I’m concerned about the long-term fallout from this debacle. I’m also concerned about how families are dealing with this since it is so very public, and I’m sure kids have lots of questions about what is going on and why. Further, I’m concerned about how Christians in general are thinking about this situation.
My first concern is the immediate outcome. I don’t know what it will be; I know what I think I want. But we’ll have to wait to see if the FBI investigation confirms or denies any of Dr. Ford’s allegations against Judge Kavanaugh. I think the action point on this concern is two-fold: praying for God’s will and for all involved and contacting our US Senators, Republican Ron Johnson and Democrat Tammy Baldwin, to express whether we as citizens want confirmation or not.
And then my concern about the long-term fallout from this bizarre, in my opinion, usurping of an established confirmation process. This circus has the potential, as many have pointed out, of keeping really good people from running for office at every level of government. Even if it turns out that the FBI investigation fully exonerates Judge Kavanaugh, I’m not sure he can every really clear his name and restore his reputation. Apparently, all it takes today, especially when it comes to sexual assault, is for a woman to make an allegation, regardless of how long ago it happened. Proving the allegation doesn’t seem to be a high priority for different segments of our society. Where does that stop? Politics of personal, character assassination has become so common place at every level. Good people just aren’t interested in subjecting themselves and their families to this. Who can blame them? I believe this approach is carefully calculated by the liberal progressives to stop our good, true-blue conservatives from running for office. While conservatives are generally more careful about such allegations, it seems liberal progressives simply don’t care about truth and don’t care whether they are destroying an individual or an entire family as long as they get what they want. My personal action point on this is to do everything I can to protect and help good candidates who have stuck their necks and names out to run for office.
As for my concern about families dealing with their kids about this issue, I am hopeful parents are willing to talk about this in age-appropriate ways. Like it or not, this matter is providing a teachable moment that parents need to take advantage of. If they don’t, then they are going to allow others to shape how their kids think about what’s going on. Now is the time to talk about how important it is that from young ages on we make wise choices that reflect God’s wisdom, principles and precepts. It’s time to talk about God’s design for our personal purity. It’s time to talk about personal responsibility for what we say and what we allege about others. It’s time to talk about choosing friends and activities. It’s also time to talk about general civility and yes, it’s time to talk about civics.
Finally, my concern about how Christians generally are thinking about this matter. Those with a strong biblical worldview will, I think, be able to put some basic biblical principles in place regarding such things as allegations, evidence and witnesses, and will also be able to assess pretty accurately whether the behavior of the key actors in this drama are truthful or are purposefully deceitful. Scripture tells us to try the spirits, to be discerning. A truly biblical worldview allows us to have compassion for victims, while also thinking clearly and rationally about what we hear and observe. Emotion is the driving force in the Kavanaugh drama—at least from the liberal progressives. Thinking in a Christ-like way is not based on emotion; it’s based on the unchangeable, forever settled, completely inerrant Word of God, that is supposed to be our rule for faith and practice in every area of life, including how we think about situations taking place right now in our culture and in our government.
No matter how this Kavanaugh nomination ends, it will have an impact on our politics and our culture for years to come. That should concern us. As Christians, our concerns in this and everything else, should be viewed through the filter of God’s Word and taken to Him in prayer. In doing so, we can at a minimum help those in our direct sphere of influence and perhaps even impact the larger culture.
This is Julaine Appling for Wisconsin Family Council reminding you the prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
