Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
Bought and Paid For: How Money Hijacks American Democracy

Bought and Paid For: How Money Hijacks American Democracy

Last updated on: August 12, 2024 at 12:16 am by Rob Dalrymple

Bought and Paid For: How Money Hijacks American Democracy 2024-08-08T08:44:16-08:00 Rob Dalrymple

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Cori Bush was an outspoken opponent of the war on Gaza. AIPAC spent $8 million to make sure she wasn’t re-elected
Courtesy Forbes

The question is simple: Should we allow our democratic process to be determined by money?

Last month, I wrote about the hijacking of American democracy. One primary means this hijacking occurs is with money. Whether it be corporate dollars or powerful lobbies (often, these two go together), the power of money to influence elections is quite evident.

In that post, I noted that AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is one of the most powerful lobbies in American politics. In June of this year, AIPAC spent $14 million to help unseat incumbent NYC representative Jamaal Bowman.

Well, last week, AIPAC spent another $8 million to unseat Cori Bush of Missouri. Bush, like Bowman, was an outspoken opponent of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Regardless of your position on Israel and Gaza, this should send shockwaves through every American for at least two reasons.

First, it is evident that our “democratic” system can be bought and paid for.

Second, in these instances, our democratic system is being bought and paid for by a special interest group acting on behalf of a foreign entity. In other words, these elections were paid for not to advance America’s interests but the interests of a foreign nation.

This is neither democratic nor American.

One might say that what happens in Israel is in America’s best interest. Many leading political scientists in the US would dispute this.

But, this is superfluous. The question is: Do we really want a system that allows foreign special interest groups to determine our elections?

The irony is that many were up in arms when Russia was alleged to have interfered with the 2016.

Why are we not up in arms now?

For further discussion of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, we have a series of Introductory videos on Israel-Palestine on the Determinetruth YouTube page (don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for auto-updates on upcoming livestreams)

For further discussion on the present war on Israel-Gaza, we have a series of livestreams on the Determinetruth YouTube page (don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for auto-updates on upcoming livestreams)

Our goal is to keep these posts free of charge. I do not intend ever to hide them behind a paywall. I can only do this if those of you who have been blessed by them and can afford to give ($5, $10, $25, or more/month) do so. You can give a tax-deductible contribution by following this link.

Please share this post and let others know about determinetruth

If you wish to view this blog on your smartphone through the Determinetruth app download the “tithe.ly church” app and insert “determinetruth” as the church name you wish to follow. Once it is loaded, click on the “blog” icon and it will automatically load.

If you would like Rob to speak at your church or organization in person or via Zoom, please let us know by filling out the contact information on the Contact me tab on this site.

General Christian

Politics and Religion

About Rob Dalrymple

Rob Dalrymple is married to his wife Toni and is the father of four fabulous children, and two grandchildren. He has been teaching and pastoring for over 34 years at colleges, seminaries, and the local church. He has a PhD in biblical interpretation. He is the author of four books (including Follow the Lamb: A Guide to Reading, Understanding, and Applying the Book of Revelation & Understanding the New Testament and the End Times: Why it Matters) as well as numerous articles and other publications. His commentary on the book of Revelation titled, “Revelation: a Love Story” (Cascade Books, July 2024) has just been released. His new book, Land of Contention: Biblical Narratives and the Struggle for the Holy Land, should be out by the Fall of 2024. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

August 5, 2024

What if we loved our neighbors even when we disagree?

Next Post

August 18, 2024 Welcome to Hell: Is torture always wrong?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 000 1 Cor 11:17-34 1 Corinthians 1 John 1 Peter 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 10 Commandments 2 Corinthians 2 John 2 Peter 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy 3 John 666 Abortion Acts 2:42 Ahmaud Arbery AIPAC All Saints Day America antisemitism BDS Beast Betting Bible Bible study Biblical Interpretation Biden Book of Acts Boycott Campus Protests Catholicism Ceasefire Chavez Ravine Christian Nationalism Christian Zionism Christianity Today Christmas Church Colossians Communion Convict Leasing Covid-19 Craig Blaising creation Crucifixion Daoud Nassar Deception Deconstruction Democracy Devotional guide Discipleship Easter Eden Education Election End-times Ephesians Eschatology Ethnic Cleansing Evangelicalism Evangelicals Evolution Fall Famine Fascism FIFA Freedom of Speech Galatians Gary Burge Gaza Gaza; Genocide; Boycott Genesis Genocide George Floyd Global Warming God's will Gospel Gospel of John Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Gospel of Matthew Government Grace Great Prostitute Hamas Harris healthcare Hebrews HeGetsUs Holy Spirit Holy Week Honor Father and Mother ICJ Immigration Indigenous peoples day Iran Israel Israel Palestine Itamar Ben Gvir James Jesus Joel Willits Jude Just war Justice Kamala Harris Kingdom Of God Kings and Queens land of Israel Law (OT) Lazarus Les Miserable LGBTQ+ Love Luke Mahmoud Khalil Man of Lawlessness Mark Mark of the Beast Marriage Martin Luther King Jr Mercy Mexican Repatriation Military-Industrial-Complex Ministry Mission Money NAFTA Nakba Netanyahu New Creation New Testament Nicaragua Nicodemus Non Violence Occupation Pacifism Palestine Parable Paul Peace Pentecost Peonage Philemon Philippians Politics Poor Power Prayer Pride Month Priests Pro-life Propaganda Prophesy Prophet Qatar Queen Elizabeth Racism Reconstruction Redemption Reformation Resurrection Revelation Roe v Wade Romans Romans 13:1-7 Rome Russia Sabbath Samaritan Seals Sermon Settlements Slavery Spiritual gifts Taxes Tent of Nations Terrorism The Beast Theology Titus Torture Trump truth Ukraine Uncategorized Veteran's Day War Warsaw Ghetto wealth Wedding Women World Cup 2022 Worldview Worship Wrath Yemen Zionism

Select a Month September 2026 May 2026 February 2026 November 2025 October 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 March 2018 September 2017 July 2017 May 2017 November 2016 October 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What order did the four beasts that rose from the sea in Daniel's vision appear?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Leopard, bear, lion with eagle's wings, terrifying beast with iron teeth Lion with eagle's wings, bear, leopard, terrifying beast with iron teeth Bear, lion with eagle's wings, terrifying beast with iron teeth, leopard Terrifying beast with iron teeth, lion with eagle's wings, leopard, bear

Support this
Column