Here’s a shocker for you on Election Day—this article isn’t about comparing the candidates or stating which person I believe is the right one to lead our country. Shocker, right? Quite frankly, I disagree with everything about this election; however, I believe this situation was necessary for our country. These two represent what our nation has come to. I’m shocked and saddened that this is what it has taken for people to see the dire position our country is in.
Trump represents the constrictive grasp materialism has on America. We have to come to value items instead of relationships. If you do your research, suicide rates have risen by 24 percent over from 1999 to 2014 (New York Times). There are several studies across the world trying to determine if this alarming statistic directly correlates with the rise of materialism. King Soloman warns people about the pain of being engrossed in consumerism: “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless” (New International Version, Ecclesiastes 5:10). It is no shocker that our country is where it is at today.
Clinton has shown a light on corruption and self-gain. Many are willing to throw away anything for power and success. In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Soloman “applied [his] heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven”. Soloman had “seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving under the wind” (English Standard Version, Ecclesiastes 1:13-14). We are now seeing the pain and dissatisfaction of this lifestyle produces.
Neither candidate deserves votes. But here we are, and we have been put in this situation for a reason. Our country has parted with all the morals it was built upon. But we still expect leaders that are respectable and value morals. We want someone that personifies everything we find valuable, but we do not raise our children with these characteristics. At the end of the day, the Lord is the light of the world. We have our hope in a higher Power that has overcome this world: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (New International Version, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
