‘BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST,’ BY REMBRANDT. ‘YOU HAVE BEEN WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES, AND FOUND WANTING.’
The Bible tells the story of Belshazzar, the very last king of Babylon, who held a great feast for a thousand of his lords during which he commanded his servants to bring the sacred vessels which had been pillaged from God’s holy temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords could drink from them.
In the midst of the unholy revelry, a disembodied hand materialized and wrote upon a wall: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
It was a message to Belshazzar.
“God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it. You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; Your kingdom has been divided…”
America is today ruled by a president who defies God, much as Belshazzar did. And for faithful Christ followers who remain undecided how they will vote on Election Day, let us offer ten reasons why they absolutely should not cast their ballots for Barack Obama:
I. The president refuses to acknowledge America’s Christian origins. During a state visit to Turkey, Mr. Obama told his Muslim hosts, “We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation.” That amounted to a repudiation of the nation’s founders, almost all of whom were devoted Christ followers.
II. The president has undermined the institution of marriage – which heretofore was known as “holy matrimony” – by embracing same-sex marriage. His position defies the Word of God, which unequivocally states, “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.”
III. The president is complicit in the slaughter of more than 4.5 million unborn children during his watch, having sold his soul to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading abortion provider. The president even supports late-term abortion and, worst still, the withholding of physician care for babies that actually survive attempted abortion.
IV. The president has said nothing, and done nothing, about the religious oppression, the violent attacks, upon Christian minorities in Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. The attacks have increased more than 300 percent over the past 10 years.
V. The president only pretends to be a friend of Israel, the birthplace of Christianity. During last year’s G-20 Summit in Canne, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told Mr. Obama that he couldn’t bear Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Sarkozy called “a liar.” The president concurred. “You’re fed up?” he said. “I have to deal with him everyday.”
VI. The president gave his imprimatur to a decision to remove any reference to “God” in the Democratic Party Platform, and any declaration of Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel (a designation disputed by Islamists who refuse to accept Israel’s right to exist). He reversed course only after a great public outcry.
VII. The president is hostile to religious freedom as evidence by the argument his administration made before the Supreme Court that church employees can claim workplace discrimination when their beliefs or conduct are contrary to the tenets of their faith-based employers.
VIII. The president’s health care reform mandates the insurers provide contraceptives on demand for single women – like Sandra Fluke – which amounts to tacit approval of sexual promiscuity.
IX. The president takes spiritual counsel from radical pastors like Jeremiah Wright and Joseph Lowery. Rev. Wright, who married Barack and Michelle Obama, infamously stated that, instead of singing “God Bless America,” blacks should sing “God Damn America.” Rev. Lowry, who spoke at Obama’s inauguration, just recently said, when he was a young civil rights activist, he would say “all white folks are going to hell.” Then he mellowed “and just said most of them are.” Now, he said, he is back to where he was.
X. The president professes himself a man of faith but has managed to attend Sunday church services not even a tenth as many times as he has stolen away from the White House to play golf.
