Burning River

Election Day, 2014 has finally arrived and we can breathe a sigh of relief: the obnoxious political ads will now stop. We civil people are compelled to “give respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (Romans 13:7). But this negative political campaigning leads one to despise the whole lot of them, and with disgust for the current status quo, long for some better utopia where there is very little or no government.

This excellent, wonderfully drinkable pale ale from Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland has a colorful label depicting one of my favorite history lessons. The Cuyahoga River of the late 1960s was so polluted it caught fire and burned out of control. Now, thanks to laws and government control, it flows fresh and clean. The lesson of that burning river is this: no one else in Ohio last century was motivated enough to care for pure water and a healthy environment. It took an active, honorable government to regulate corporations and punish wrong doers (1 Peter 2:14).

It’s maddening how our government is so flawed by corruption and inefficiency, overreaching into our lives in one area, abandoning judicial responsibilities in other areas. It’s horrible government. . . . It’s the best government history has produced. So cheers, even to the Democrats. And special cheers to the winners of today’s elections.

Our Congressman Steve King addresses his constituency.