HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 2024

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

This is how I feel this year. In spite of health issues and other challenges, God has been good, God is good, and God will always be good. We can count on His continued help and blessings!

A few things I’m thankful for: a loving wife; a wonderful family; good friends; life and health; the comfort of God’s Word; soothing Christian music.

Wait, there’s more: heat in the cold weather; healthy food for energy; a nice house for shelter; a reliable car to drive, a comfortable bed.

Also: excellent restaurants in which to dine; dependable doctors when treatments are needed; drugstores nearby for medications; meds themselves – some lifesaving; a hospital right here in town.

In addition: paved roads; natural gas; electricity; fresh running water; city sanitary service; street lights; friendly neighbors.

Plus: a Bible teaching church; a men’s Bible study; an unending supply of Spiritual teachers on the internet; enlightening books galore; uplifting symphonies.

Furthermore: computers; cell phones; televisions; airplanes; trains; stoves, refrigerators; lights; clothing; shoes.

Additionally: a beautiful world – just a glimpse of Heaven; the perfect atmosphere; the water cycle – including snow; the colorful flowers; the variety of animals; the seasons; the days and nights.

Most important: the gift of Everlasting Life through faith in Christ; the promise of an eternal home; the joy and peace of being in God’s presence; the reunion with those who have gone on before – and being with them forever!

ELECTORAL COLLEGE BENEFITS

The 2024 Presidential Election brought attention once again to the Electoral College. The losing party often berates it as unfair, but it was actually a fantastic idea by the founding fathers. The Heritage Foundation explains it far better than this author can. The following is from Heritage.org:

When the Framers drafted the Constitution in 1787, they could not have predicted the many changes and advances that our society has undergone since the 18th Century. However, through their genius and foresight, they designed an electoral system that has the ability to adapt to modern-day America and work even better than they could have anticipated. Below are some of the many benefits of the Electoral College.

PRESERVES FEDERALISM. The Electoral College preserves the principles of federalism that are essential to our constitutional republic. The U.S. is a large country made up of people from very different regions and cultures, and federalism is an important way of preserving the differences that make us unique while uniting us behind one common federal government.

ENCOURAGES BROAD COALITION BUILDING AND MODERATION. The Electoral College prevents presidential candidates from winning an election by focusing solely on high-population urban centers and dense media markets, forcing them to seek the support of a larger cross-section of the American electorate. This addresses the Founders’ fears of a “tyranny of the majority,” which has the potential to marginalize sizeable portions of the population, particularly in rural and more remote areas of the country.

PROMOTES LEGITIMACY OF ELECTION OUTCOMES. The Electoral College increases the legitimacy and certainty of elections by magnifying the margin of victory, thereby diminishing the value of contentious recounts and providing a demonstrable election outcome and a mandate to govern. Since 1900, 17 out of 29 presidential elections have been decided by 200 or more electoral votes.

A MECHANISM FOR STABLE ELECTIONS. The Electoral College makes elections more stable, and less likely to trigger contentious recounts. Every state has different procedural rules for the administration of elections, including how recounts are triggered and conducted and how provisional ballots are counted.

DISCOURAGES VOTER FRAUD. While no system can completely eliminate the risk of individuals trying to cheat the system, the Electoral College minimizes the incentives for voter fraud because the system isolates the impact of stolen votes. Under the current system, stolen votes only affect the outcome of one state rather than the national outcome. 

Let us pray that the Constitution and the Electoral College stay intact in every future election for many more generations.