What Did We Get for Our Money?

My guess is the last thing you want to read about is another article about politics, especially after last year’s brutal campaign cycle. It was ugly to say the least. But with the recent inauguration of President Obama, I couldn’t help but think, what did we get for our money.

The 2012 Presidential campaign broke every record imaginable. Published reports stated that over $2 billion was spent on the election race. And if you included the races for the Senate and the House, that number swelled to over $7 billion. That’s a lot of money.

So what did we get? Same President. The Senate is still under Democratic control, and the House of Representatives is still controlled by the Republicans. Basically, nothing has changed. In other words, all that money was spent for nothing. Maybe we should have just skipped the elections.

Could that money have been used for something more constructive? What really upsets me is that I know many good-intentioned Christians who wrote significant checks to candidates whom they believed would restore traditional morals and values to our society. They believed we could once again become a “Christian” nation.

I suppose I have to ask this question: Is it possible to make America a Christian nation through the ballet box? Can we elect candidates who can go to Washington and wave a magic wand and create legislation that makes us moral. Even Rush Limbaugh stated a few days after the election that for the first time he had doubts that it was possible to restore America through politics.

Limbaugh wondered if perhaps there was something more significantly wrong with our country. He pointed to the culture as a source of our problems. I think he’s on to something. But what he failed to realize is that this has nothing to do with politics or culture. It’s a spiritual battle. Ultimately, it will always come down to our relationship with God and whether or not we’re willing to put Him first or to put ourselves first. That’s the real battle. It will always be an individual choice, not a societal one. When people turn their hearts toward God and care more about their neighbors than themselves, then, and only then, will we see the kind of change we all want to see.

No amount of money spent on politics can make this become a reality for morality is a spiritual matter