BuddhistCatholicContemplativeEvangelicalGeneral ChristianHinduJewishLatter-day SaintMuslimNew VisionsProgressive Christian
Beliefs
- Buddhist
- Catholic
- Contemplative
- Evangelical
- General Christian
- Hindu
- Jewish
- Latter-day Saint
- More Voices
- Muslim
- New Visions
- Pagan
- Progressive Christian
Topics
- Religion News
- Food and Religion
- Sports and Religion
- Religious Art
- Religious Music and Entertainment
- Religious Events
- History and Religion
- Style and Religion
- Politics and Religion
- Women in Religion
- Recreation Outdoors and Religion
- Business Finance and Religion
- Careers Workplace and Religion
- Education and Religion
- Family Parenting and Religion
- Health Fitness and Religion
- Home and Religion
- Relationships and Religion
- Technology and Religion
- Travel and Religion
Columnists
- Buddhist Columnists
- Business Finance and Religion Columnists
- Careers Workplace and Religion Columnists
- Catholic Columnists
- Contemplative Columnists
- Education and Religion Columnists
- Evangelists Columnists
- Family Parenting and Religion Columnists
- General Christian Columnists
- Health Fitness and Religion Columnists
- Hindu Columnists
- History and Religion Columnists
- Home and Religion Columnists
- Jewish Columnists
- More Voices Columnists
- Latter Day Columnists
- Muslim Columnists
- New Visions Columnists
- Nonreligious Columnists
- Pagan Columnists
- Politics and Religion Columnists
- Progressive Columnists
- Recreation Outdoors and Religion Columnists
- Relationships and Religion Columnists
- Religion News Columnists
- Religious Art Columnists
- Religious Events Columnists
- Religious Music and Entertainment Columnists
- Sports and Religion Columnists
- Style and Religion Columnists
- Technology and Religion Columnists
- Travel and Religion Columnists
- Women in Religion Columnists
Resource Library
- 2026 Calendar
- Library of World Religions
- The 100 Most Holy Places on Earth
- Patheos Answers
- Podcasts
- Videos
- Faith Leaders Database
- Anglican Episcopalian
- Bahai
- Baptist
- Buddhism
- Christianity
- Confucianism
- Eastern Orthodoxy
- Hinduism
- Holiness and Pentecostal
- ISKCON
- Islam
- Judaism
- Lutheran
- Methodist
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- New Age
- Paganism
- Presbytarian and Reformed
- Protestantism
- Religion Behind the Scenes
- Roman Catholic
- Scientology
- Shia Islam
- Sikhism
- Sufism
- Sunni Islam
- Taoism
- Zen
- See all religions
Research Tools
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support
- Trending:
- Forgiveness
- |
- Marriage
- |
- Consciousness
- |
- Death Penalty
- |
- Election
- |
- Halloween
Mark Meckler
- Home
- Politics and Religion
- Electing Handel in Georgia is Great, Here’s Why It’s Not Enough
Electing Handel in Georgia is Great, Here’s Why It’s Not Enough
Last updated on: June 22, 2017 at 9:36 am by Mark Meckler
Electing Handel in Georgia is Great, Here’s Why It’s Not Enough 2017-06-22T09:36:22-06:00 Mark Meckler
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.

The United States is rich in geographic diversity. What other country has Arizona’s desert, Alaskan ice caps, Mississippi’s swamps, Tennessee’s hills, Florida’s mangrove wetlands, and Michigan’s great lakes? Whatever terrain you like, you can find in America. That’s also true of our vastly different people. Californians are different than New Yorkers, who are different than Texans, who are different than Vermonters. In America, we’re blessed with variety in landscrapes, accents, and – yes – belief systems.
Yes, Americans disagree. Passionate discussion is one of our hallmark characteristics as a nation – our strength. We are not, and have never been a homogenous people. That means from state to state, the differences – in the culture and in governance — can and should be fairly extreme. I actually find it fun to be in the same room as a person from San Francisco and another from Tulsa, just to listen to their differing perspectives.
These differing perspectives were shown starkly when Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s special-election congressional race in the 6th Congressional district. Because the district encompasses many of the northern suburbs of Atlanta, political strategists hailing from all over the nation painted this southern area as a more moderate, sick-of-Trump type of place.
Things can get ugly, however, when people from San Francisco, or New York, or Los Angeles — or more importantly, Washington, DC — start believing they’re morally superior and should impose that moral superiority on everyone else. That’s where we are today. After Handel’s win, people started insulting the voters. David Burge tweeted, “So I gather GA06 has suddenly gone from Enlightened Sunbelt Suburban Panera Voters back to Inbred Reactionary Neo-Confederate Klansmen.” And then, “This just in: cornpone Georgia hicks sell Brooklyn Bridge to visiting California city slickers for $25 million.” Even CNN’s Jake Tapper lamented the “focus on attacking voters,” saying these hot takes come “from folks who love ‘humanity’ but hate people.”
A small group of people, the so-called cultural, coastal elite — have come to the conclusion that the rest of us are “deplorable,” and must be silenced or eliminated. If it can’t be done via elections, it’s fine to do it in other ways.
What comes of that approach is not pretty. In Handel’s neighborhood, envelopes containing white powder were sent to warn potential voters that she’s a fascist. And after the Democrats 2016 smashing electoral defeat, things haven’t been too great either. In Indiana, a car opened fire on a truck which was bearing a Make America Great Again flag. The Congressional baseball game was postponed when a gunman tried to kill as many Republicans as he could. In Manhattan, a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, depicts a Donald Trump character being stabbed to death in every performance. On campuses all over America, violent protests erupt when conservatives try to peacefully share their views.
This is what the left has wrought in America. Fascism requires that enemies be vilified and ultimately dehumanized so that they may be silenced and ultimately “eliminated.” This is not hyperbole, it’s just history. The rising fascism on the left is historically dangerous and leads inevitably to violence. Those on the left supporting groups like Black Lives Matter, Antifa, Occupy, and other leftist criminals ought to take a serious look at what they’re supporting. They should also think twice about supporting people in positions of authority who invoke the words, “Hitler,” “Nazis,” “Racists,” and every form of “phobe,” against the President, conservatives, Republicans, and Christians. At some point, there will be no turning back. We’re close to that point.
If you want to know where this all leads, I’d point you to Kurt Schlichter’s book, People’s Republic, and the prequel, Indian Wars which chronicles an America divided and at war with itself. But even if our future is not that extreme, it’s inarguable that our nation is growing more divided every day. These books should serve as a serious warning to any student of history or prognosticator on the future. We are walking, and now running, a dark path. We don’t have to go this way, but this is the way of the left throughout history. The left is trying to use force to put its preferred version of the future upon every American. The left is trying to silence dissent. The left is weaponizing the press, the government and social pressure against Republicans and conservatives. And yes, the left is actually fomenting violence against their political enemies. This is the way of the left historically, and this is the way of fascism.
Here’s the thing. Americans won’t be silenced, and we won’t be eliminated. We will fight, in the culture, politically, and otherwise if the leftists and fascists continue their attack. But there’s a better way.
Federalism allows us to believe different things, and live different lives, while still being a unified nation. Both liberals and conservatives should embrace it, in order to survive. To do so, we must join together to take the power away from an overbearing government in Washington DC. Our Founders gave us the ability to do this, by using Article V to call a Convention of States and limit the power of the federal government. The fundamental dividing faultlines of our time are all erupting because we’re allowing the decisions that affect our lives to be made in DC. Whether those decisions are made by the Trump Administration or the Obama Administration is not relevant. Most of them should not be made in DC at all. Important decisions that affect our lives shouldn’t be made in DC, whether it be by Congress, the President, the Supreme Court or a bunch of unelected bureaucrats. It is historically wrong, it is morally wrong. Fundamentally, Americans don’t like it.
It’s great that Republicans have been winning elections, but the pendulum always swings back. Instead of turning to DC by electing better people, we should return to our roots and allow the people, at home, in the states to decide. You and me, your neighbors and mine, should be deciding most of these issues. Just as New Mexico is different than Hawaii, our states and our laws can be different too. One size fits all governance, flowing from DC, is turning our nation into a powder keg. It has to stop.
We can stop it with a Convention of States now before things escalate into a full blown civil war. Why not try a Convention of States first?
Image Credit: Richard Lacey on Flickr
Browse Our Archives
Select a Category Uncategorized
Select a Month July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016
Follow Us!
TAKE THE
Religious Wisdom Quiz
Who was Melchizedek?
Select your answer to see how you score.
A prophet A Roman official An angel A priest and king
Related posts from Mark Meckler
New Harvard Study Says Trigger Warnings Should Come...
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez Photographed Carrying...
Top Tennessee Dem Party Official Calls Trump Voters...
Netflix Hoping to Offer 700 Faith and Family-based...
TRENDING AT PATHEOS Politics and Religion
Christians should care about politics. Here are 4...
How can Christians best engage with politics in a way that shows...
For Abortion "Rights" Advocates - a Compromise
For pro-life conservatives, it’s like a dream come true. For pro-choice feminazis...
Cornerstone Pastor Issues Apology - GOOD
The apology was warranted. The follow-up is essential. A week ago, the...
From a Conservative to Conservatives on President Trump...
I am a conservative, a Republican, and an evangelical Christian, and I...
view all Politics and Religion blogs
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support
- About Us
- 2026 Calendar
- Videos
- Podcasts
- Library of World Religions
- Faith In Media Tracker
- Advertise With Us
- Write for Us
- Privacy Policy
- Terms of Service
- Do Not Sell My Data
- Contact Us
- Radiant Digital
- Manage Newsletter Subscriptions
- Unsubscribe From Notifications
- Sitemap
Copyright 2008-2026, Patheos. All rights reserved.
Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In










