Current Events & Trends: "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.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: July - August 2012
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
