The following is taken from the main body of Episode 5 of my NUCLEAR PASTOR: Critical Mas podcast…

In this podcast we’ll explore the issue of the major U.S. political parties from a Biblical perspective, with those 2 parties being the Republican and Democrat parties.

And we’ll conduct that exploration by defining a topic, comparing that topic to the Scriptures, and then grading both of the major political parties against that topic, giving a grade for each on a scale of 0-10.  Then, at the end when the dust settles, we’ll see if Christians can honorably vote for both or either party.

Patriotism

So, let’s begin our exploration of the subject by delving into the topic of patriotism, which I define as a belief in and a love for and a support of your country above other countries.  Way back in Genesis 11, when God confused the single language of humanity into well over a hundred different languages (and by some counts, close to 200 different languages), He knew full well that this would separate humanity and the earth – most likely at the clan level – into what would become several different nations or peoples, as noted in the diaspora list of Genesis 10.

Now, the reason for this wholesale change to planet Earth is very simple: God knew that a single worldwide government would spell doom for the image of God upon Earth, for under one government it wouldn’t take long for all of humanity to become enslaved by that government under the bootheel of the Evil Kosmos (as we see had already happened under Nimrod in Genesis chapters 10 & 11).  However, with many separate and sovereign nations and peoples, freedom and all things dignified had a much better chance of surviving.

What this means is that the world is a better place when there are many separate and sovereign nations upon Earth, and especially when the people of each separate and sovereign nation love their nation.  In short, for God’s design of separate and sovereign to work, patriotism is a good and necessary thing.  With that in mind, let’s look briefly at this thing we call the American Experiment.

The United States is unique among nations in that it didn’t begin by being defined by ethnicity or even language, but rather by an amazing document called the Constitution, which essentially is the culmination of centuries of growing Judeo-Christian thought applied to the affairs of humanity.  So, we who have the privilege of being called Americans and, indeed our nation itself, are defined by this remarkable document.  American patriotism, therefore, is closely linked with loyalty to, and love for, the U.S. Constitution.

Now, before continuing, I believe it highly necessary to have some words regarding the history of any nation.  Simply put, there is no nation – no nation on Earth that doesn’t have warts of some kind.  For the United States, two of the most egregious are our history of slavery and the treatment of the Native American peoples during our westward expansion.  If historic perfection were required in order to be truly patriotic, then, there would be no place where patriotism is warranted.  Not in the Americas, not in Europe, not in the Middle East, not in Africa, not in Asia and not anywhere in the island nations.  What true patriotism can hope for, though, is that each nation learn the lessons from its past and move toward a more honorable future.

Two summers ago my wife (who’s originally from Mexico) and I were treated to just such a display when we were vacationing down in the Cancun area and had the pleasure of visiting the Mexican theme park called Xcaret.  Now, if you know anything about Mexico’s history, it’s as sordid as any other.  There was constant warfare and empire building between Olmecs and Toltecs and Mayans and Aztecs and many others, with a shocking level of human sacrifices occurring on a seemingly regular basis.  And then, of course, the Conquistadors showed up and brought their brand of fallen human behavior to the mix.

But interestingly, the day at Xcaret ends with a long, amazing musical tribute to Mexico’s past and present, warts and all.  You see, the Mexicans know that their history isn’t perfect (and is actually pretty dark in many cases), but their patriotism shows itself in acknowledging their history and absorbing it into their present as they work toward a better future.  It was super refreshing, especially in light of how there are so many elements in American society that want to tear down everything good about our nation because of the warts of our past.

So let’s bring this topic home.  How do the Democrat Party and the Republican Party score on this issue?  Well, let’s begin with the Democrat Party.  To put it mildly, the Democrat Party despises both the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence (our founding documents), ostensibly because they were written and supported by the flawed white men known as our Founding Fathers.  And because they deem such men as flawed, they believe that the nation these men helped found is fundamentally flawed, which gives them the right to tear down the nation and remake it in a different image, and the image in which they want to rebuild it is a pure socialist democracy, which is dangerous in the extreme.

In fact, former President Obama (a Democrat) was painfully honest about this when he talked about how much he loved this country, but that it also needed to be fundamentally transformed.  I still laugh at that.  Try telling your wife that you really love her, but that you need to fundamentally transform her.  You’ll learn pretty quickly that those two thoughts don’t go together.

Now on to the Republican Party.  This party, especially when you factor in its MAGA contingent, holds the Constitution in high regard and seeks to seat judges who are originalists (those who take the Constitution at its word and as written).  Additionally, the Republican Party is filled with people who love their country and don’t want to fundamentally change it, who love their flag, who love their national anthem and who are more likely to join the military and the ranks of first responders than are their Democrat counterparts.

Grades on patriotism?  Democrat Party: 1.  Republican Party: 7.  Now let’s move on to discussing…

Borders

When God confused humanity’s language, He did so knowing that it would cause humanity to separate into several sovereign peoples, which would eventually result in many separate, sovereign nations.  Languages, therefore, are the original borders, and so an argument with borders is essentially an argument with the wisdom of God.  As proof of this, much later on in history, God would grant the Israelites their own land, and that land had very well defined borders given to them by God, which in Israel’s glory days under David and Solomon were well protected.  Essentially, a nation without secure borders isn’t a nation, or won’t for long be one.

So how do our major political parties stack up on this issue?  Well, as evidenced by the current Administration and its supporters, the Democrat Party is the party of open and out-of-control borders, while the Republican Party, as evidenced by the first term of President Trump and especially of the MAGA contingent, is clearly the party of controlled, stable borders, with the notable exception of the RINO wing of the party.

Grades on borders?  Democrat Party: 0.  Republican Party: 8.  And now we move on to national…

Sovereignty

As we’ve already seen, under God’s design the sovereignty of the many separate nations is key to the health of the image of God upon planet earth, but it may not be obvious why, and so let me explain how it works.  Prior to the Flood of Noah’s day, humanity had no form of government imposed upon it.  But that didn’t work out so well for the planet, because this absolute freedom coupled with the sinful nature inherited in the Garden of Eden was so bad that God had to hit the planetary reset button in under 1700 years.

And so immediately after the Flood, God instituted human government via capital punishment for murderers in Genesis 9:6 in order to keep the same thing from happening again.  The only problem with human government, though, was that apparently humanity quickly came to the conclusion that if a little government was good, then a lot of government must be even better, and so within about a century after the Flood, humanity found itself enslaved under Nimrod’s one-world government.

Well, as previously discussed, God put a stake through that vampire’s heart by confusing the single language into many, but the world has been trying to resurrect that vampire ever since.  In fact, we know from the Book of Revelation that the world will be successful at this resurrection in the days of the Antichrist, and so as we near those days we should expect to see the erosion of national sovereignties.  So, what will this look like?  Well, in our case it would look like counties giving their power to the states, the states giving their powers to the feds, the feds giving their powers to hemispheric bodies, and hemispheric bodies giving their powers to international bodies (think United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Health Organization, etc.).

So how do the major parties align on this issue?  Well, it’s pretty obvious.  The open borders and we-must-fundamentally-transform-America Democrats actually despise our national sovereignty, and seek to give up as many national rights and powers to international bodies as quickly as possible.  The Republican Party, however, and especially its MAGA contingent, are just the opposite – they believe in national sovereignty and are loathe to part with any aspect of it.

Grades on sovereignty?  Democrat Party: 2.  Republican Party: 7.  And now on to…

Support for Israel

According to the Bible, Israel is unique in the world in that God chose them (a people now known as the Jews) to be His people, and He actually deeded them a portion of planet Earth.  He also made a promise over them through Abram (soon to become Abraham) in Genesis 12:1-3, as follows from the ESV: Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

With that in mind, any nation’s position on Israel is crucial to their well-being, and the United States is no exception to that rule.  Historically, both major political parties have been supporters of Israel, but things have changed much of late.  It was a Democrat President (Harry Truman) who ensured that the United States was the first nation in the world to recognize Israel as a nation, which he did only 11 minutes after they declared statehood in May of 1948.  That was awesome in the extreme.

Unfortunately, though, the Democrat Party has devolved in this area, with the current Senate Majority Leader (Chuck Shumer) recently lecturing the Israeli people on whom to elect as their Prime Minister, with President Biden withholding armaments from Israel in their just struggle against Hamas, with the notorious squad members spewing vitriolic hatred toward Israel ad nauseum, and with the entire party being held hostage by its fear of losing votes from its Hamas-supporting wing.  My, how the mighty have fallen!

The Republican Party, on the other hand, is doing just the opposite.  It was Republican President Trump who moved our embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel’s rightful capital, Jerusalem, in a show of amazing solidarity and friendship.  And it’s Republicans who are standing solidly behind Israel and the Jews during their most trying times since perhaps the Holocaust, as they battle the evil of Hamas and a growing antisemitism around the world and in America itself.

Grades on support for Israel?  Democrat Party: 2.  Republican Party: 8.  Now let’s move on to the issue of…

Law and Order

I haven’t yet had the opportunity to do a podcast on this subject, but I did write a nearly-viral blog article called The Cops I Know from my perspective as a police chaplain back in 2020 during the height of the Defund the Police movement and the BLM and Antifa riots.  It was also made into a rather stirring video by a retired detective, and both may be found at http://www.nuclearpastor.com.

But let me sum up the Bible’s position on this subject.  Point 1: A nation must have a set of laws for its people.  Point 2: That set of laws applies to the rich as well as to the poor.  Point 3: That set of laws applies to the powerful as well as to the weak.  Point 4: That set of laws applies to the alien as well as to the citizen.  Point 5: That set of laws applies equally to all across the political spectrum.

Understanding these 5 simple points, how then do the Democrat and Republican parties measure up?  Well, the easiest manner in which to weigh the parties in the balance on this subject is simply to take a look at how the blue cities and states measure up against the red cities and states, where we’ll see a major difference, which is exactly what my family and I experienced when we moved from California to Texas over 5 years ago.

Blue cities and states have proclaimed themselves sanctuary enclaves from federal immigration law, whereas red cities and states have not.  Blue cities and states coddle the homeless; will not prosecute them for crimes; allow them to destroy whole neighborhoods, towns and cities; and give them protected status from law enforcement.  Red cities and states do not.

Blue cities and states, through both their Democrat ideologies and by having Soros-funded district attorneys and state attorneys general, routinely coddle criminals (even the worst and most violent offenders), initiate no-bail releases from jail, and actively try to defund their police forces and sheriff’s departments.  Red cities and states are just the opposite – they are ardently pro-law enforcement and anti-criminal, and do not seek to create special classes of people who are immune from prosecution.  And while there are certainly law enforcement officers who vote Democrat, they are hugely outnumbered by those in their ranks who vote Republican.

Grades on law and order?  Democrat Party: 1.  Republican Party: 7.  Next, up…

Abortion

…which was covered in-depth in Episode 2 of these podcasts, where we came to the unmistakable conclusion that from a Biblical perspective, life in the womb begins at conception, and therefore to further conclude that abortion is the murder of a human being.

Regarding the political parties, this is probably the easiest of all.  The Democrat party has made unquestioned access to abortion the central plank of their platform in 2024, and believe that any baby in the womb can and should be aborted at any time and for any reason up to and including the moment of birth if the mother so desires.  The Republican party, on the other hand, has many nuances to its position, ranging from a “never” position to a “discernible heartbeat” position to a “woman’s right to choose” position.

Here again, though, we see the marked differences between blue states and red states, where the blue states consider themselves sanctuary states for abortion since Roe vs. Wade was overturned, while many red states have essentially outlawed the practice altogether.

Grades on abortion?  Democrat Party: 0.  Republican Party: 6.  From here we move to…

Climate Change

…which was covered in Episode 4 of this podcast.  Essentially, hysteria drummed up over this issue is being used to destroy Western civilization, enslave the citizens of Earth, and to depopulate our fair planet, all based on the same purveyors of  “science” who brought us covid masking, who brought us 6-feet spacing in public for our health, who brought us essential and non-essential workers, and who also can’t tell the difference between a man and a woman.

As discussed in Episode 4, the Bible is very clear on how the Earth is going to end, and the myth of “human-caused” global warming just ain’t it.  Sinful behavior will cause the ultimate downfall and destruction of Earth, not our tiny efforts to compete with the power and magnitude of our sun.  Climate change hysteria is simply being used by those enthralled by the Evil Kosmos to subjugate the planet under their bootheels.

So how do the political parties stack up on this one?  Yet again the blue state/red state comparison will shed quite a bit of light on this one.  The blue states and cities are all-in on the climate change cult, while the red states and cities are offering some stalwart resistance to the nonsense, despite the fact that many Republicans seem to be going along with the cult.

Grades on climate change?  Democrat Party: 0.  Republican Party: 5.  And now for our next subject, which is…

Taxation

In the Old Testament, God essentially gave His people Israel a blueprint for society and how it should be run.  And in God’s blueprint, government existed but was kept as small as possible for the necessities at hand, since in the Bible government is considered nothing more than a necessary evil needed to deal with the existence of the sinful human nature.  (On a side note, for an in-depth treatment of Biblical government, please see the final section of my book UNGOD: Humanity’s Glorious Struggle with Hell over the Image of God.)

Now, most interesting about how the Bible deals with Israel’s government (or lack thereof), is how it was funded (bearing in mind that the government and worship system were intertwined in ancient Israel).  The first method of funding was that everyone paid the same amount via a sanctuary tax.  The other way was that everyone paid an equal ten percent of his or her income.  No one paid more, and no one paid less.  Regarding the sanctuary tax, everyone paid the same amount, whether rich or poor, because everyone had an equal worth in the eyes of God.  Regarding the tithe (the 10%), everyone paid the same percentage, since everyone had an equal stake in the benefits of peace and freedom.  Obviously, the wealthy paid more while the poor paid less, but the percentage remained the same.

Eventually, as the Davidic monarchy was established, there was a great deal more of government that needed to be funded, but the idea was still the same: Each of the twelve ancestral tribes had to bring in the supplies needed for the central government during their allotted month each year.  But nothing effectively changed – each tribe was responsible for the same amount of taxation.

But, oh my, how different is today’s thinking regarding taxation, especially among those on the political Left!  “Spreading the wealth around,” and “progressive taxation” are now thoughts so common that virtually no one (including Christians) stop to think about how absolutely wrong it is to overly tax the wealthy because of their wealth or to not tax the poor because of their poverty.  But why is it wrong?

Well, to begin with, when God gave the Ten Commandments, He wrote them on stone with His finger, essentially capitalizing, bolding, underlining and italicizing them for all of eternity and for all people and governments.  And included in those Commandments were (most importantly to the discussion at hand) the Eighth and Tenth Commandments, which respectively forbid theft and covetousness, the very things that progressive taxation is based upon.  So what do I mean by that?

Well, if my family of four has only one automobile, but my neighbor’s family of four has three, there is an inequality that exists between us – my neighbor has more than I do, and that just doesn’t seem fair.  Yet, if I go to my neighbor’s house and steal one of his cars for my deserving family, I should be expecting a visit from the Sheriff’s Office, because I’m guilty of theft.  I’ve taken something that belonged to someone else.

However, if from my high moral hill I help pass the Automobile Equalization Act that takes from families with three automobiles and gives one of those automobiles to families that only have one, then I’ve acted like a noble progressive and stuck it to the evil rich family.  And all by coveting and then legally stealing what belonged to my wealthier neighbor.  This is exactly why progressive taxation is Biblically wrong – it enshrines into law both covetousness and theft.

So where do the political parties stand on this subject?  As immortalized by former President Barack Obama’s “spread the wealth around” comment and actions, it’s obvious that the Democrat Party is the party of progressive taxation.  But is the Republican Party any better?  Not really, although there are pockets of resistance to such taxation within the political Right, such as in the flat tax movement.

Grades on taxation?  Democrat Party: 0.  Republican Party: 3.  Bringing us to our next (and related) subject, the idea of…

Government Charity

Again, the best place for a thorough treatment of government from a Biblical perspective is the last section of my book UNGOD, but I’ll do my best to give a succinct overview of the subject here.  In essence, true Biblical government is designed to be stern, as its purpose is to deal with the sinful human nature in a manner that keeps the image of God from going extinct upon Earth, as happened prior to the Flood of Noah’s day.  But as we’ve already seen in this podcast, Nimrod’s one-world government of Genesis 10 & 11 showed us that too much government can cause the extinction of the image of God all by itself.  For that reason, government is best when kept in as small and confining a cage as possible.

But once we take government out of its small, stern cage and make it charitable to its citizens, it will eventually become a monster that will devour all in its path.  That is why you see virtually no charity on behalf of government in ancient Israel.  Today, however, under the charitable guise of spreading the wealth around to help the less fortunate, we are literally enslaved to the idea of government charity.  There is virtually no charitable idea that government won’t take on, and once it takes on a charitable idea, government will never let go of it.

But Barry, doesn’t Jesus want us to take care of the poor, the fatherless and the widow?  Absolutely He does!  But He doesn’t authorize us to do that through government.  Instead, He expects His people to do so, not a government entity.  I often laugh at the absurdity of today’s political Left, which incessantly whines about the “separation of church and state,” but then which assumes to government (the state) that which should only be done by the church or synagogue, or the community, or corporations or the people themselves.

So what do I mean by that?  Well, the defining passage of Scripture on this subject couldn’t be more clear, and is found in James 1:27, and which says (in the ESV): Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.  Now, I hope you caught the significance of that passage, which is this: Charity is not supposed to be carried out by government.  It is supposed to be carried out by people, and especially by those who worship.  In fact, I maintain that any people who rely on government for charity is a people with no soul.

Voting for someone else to pay for a charitable work isn’t charity – it’s laziness and it’s theft.  But it’s also a government drug that will eventually turn insatiable upon any people who unleash such an idea upon their country.  And once that door of charity is opened to a government, it will eventually bankrupt the people of that country, because #1 it’s wrong, and #2 because they’re already bankrupt of soul.

So how do the political parties score on this?  Same as the previous subject.  Democrat Party: 0.  Republican Party: 3.  Now on to…

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech is a tough nut to crack, but let’s narrow it down to having the right and duty to speak out against one’s government, and the right and ability to comment on culture and society without fear of reprisal from government.  Biblically, this was shown to us through the prophets, who spoke time and time again against the governments, cultures and societies of Israel and Judah.  It was also a right exercised by Jesus during His earthly ministry.

Although enshrined in our Constitution via the First Amendment, the right to freedom of speech is under assault like never before through progressive-leaning algorithms in most of social media, through our government’s collusion with such social media, and through the out-of-control cancel culture being forced upon those who don’t tow the government/progressive line in all things, such as CRT (Critical Race Theory), DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion), ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance), the climate change hysteria, open borders, multiculturalism, wokeism, transgenderism, etc.  God help (literally) those who disagree with such ideas.

Who can ever forget the government’s collusion in silencing the Hunter Biden laptop story, its collusion in silencing contrary opinions on COVID, its collusion on destroying the reputation of Ivermectin, or its current collusion in hiding the obvious disastrous health of the current Commander-In-Chief from the American population?  Essentially, while the political right doesn’t have a perfect record in this arena (remember Watergate and its coverup), today’s political left has become the “my way or the highway” crusher of all dissent to its opinions, which it holds with as much tenacity as true Muslims hold to Sharia law.

And sadly, the leftward ACLU is virtually absent and demonstrably silent in the face of all of this, with the rightward ACLJ and its cousins being virtually the only ones taking this fight to the government and its supportive corporations.

Scorecard on free speech?  Democrat Party: 1.  Republican Party: 7.  And now to our final topic…

Transgenderism and Men in Women’s Sports

From its very first chapter, the Bible makes it absolutely clear that humanity was created with only two genders: male and female.  These two genders are the foundation for marriage and the family, which in turn is the foundation for procreation, which by extension is the foundation for society and culture.  There are only two choices: you’re either born a male, in which case you’ll always be a male (regardless of how you may dress, act, or surgically alter your body), or you’re born a female, in which case you’ll always be a female (regardless of how you may dress, act, or surgically alter your body).

Furthermore, transgenderism is actually warned against in Deuteronomy 22:5, which states (according to the ESV) A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.  Imagine, then, what an abomination it is to Him when men actually think they can become women and vice versa.  Not good.

Now, socially and politically, who is behind the current transgender movement, and who is it that demands (with mafia-like insistence) that all kowtow to their new belief system?  Is it those on the political right, or is it those on the political left?  Who is demanding that men who think they’re women should play in women’s sports, or that boys who think they’re girls should play in girls’ sports?  Who is demanding that men who think they’re women be sent into women’s prisons?  Who is demanding that if a man thinks he’s a woman that you must call him a her or a she?  Who is it that will attempt to ruin and cancel you if you disagree with such ridiculous ideas?  Is it the political left, or is it the political right?  Well, while there are a few on the political right who hold such views, this subject belongs heart and soul to the political left, and that political left has the Democrat Party by the gonads.

Scores?  Democrat Party: 0.  Republican Party: 7.

CONCLUSION

Alright, so let’s wrap this up with one obvious conclusion and one point of recommendation.  First, to the obvious conclusion.

When we tally the scorecards on these eleven subjects, each with a potential ten points, we know that there’s a possible sum for each of the two political parties: 110.  Out of a possible 110 points, though, the modern Democrat Party scores a grand total of 5 points, which equates to 4.5% rating on Biblical fidelity.  This is staggeringly bad news for anyone who considers themselves a Christian but yet is connected with that political party.

In fact, it’s such bad news that as a pastor, a Bible teacher and a discipler of men, I can unequivocally say that a vote for the Democrat Party is a sin.  Why?  Because a vote for the modern Democrat Party is a vote against all things Biblical at best, and is certainly a slap in the face to the God who authored that perfect Word.  The Democrat Party is openly at war with God and all things Biblical, as evidenced by its banner carriers Biden, Newsom and Whitmer, etc.  No true follower of Christ should ever again cast a vote for that party.

And now on to the Republican Party, which is where we come to our point of recommendation.  Whereas the Democrat Party scored a grand total of 5 points out of 110, the Republican Party scores a far more respectable 68 out of 110, and receives a Biblical fidelity score of 61.8%.  Not bad, but not all that great, either.  So, what are we to make of this?  This is where my recommendation comes in.

First, one of the reasons that the Republican Party has a much higher Biblical fidelity score is that it’s by-and-large a far more politically conservative party, and modern conservatism shares many values inherent to the Bible.  Another reason is that the majority of evangelical Christians have made a home in this party, and their morals help drive the party in a more Biblical direction, which is great for the party and also for the country.

And so this is my recommendation: The political Left really loves to occupy.  They’ve given us Occupy Wall Street, occupied autonomous zones, and are currently occupying scores of universities under the guise of support for the murderous Hamas terrorist organization.  It’s time to return the favor.  You see, since we’re called in Genesis 1 to be good stewards of our planet, to abstain from voting (or from the political process itself) would itself be a form of the sin of omission in a constitutional republic such as ours, which makes not voting something unavailable to us.

Now, according to the KJV reading of Luke 19:13, Jesus essentially tells us to occupy until I come, or to occupy until He returns, and I love the idea.  You see, to occupy essentially means to take something over and hold onto control of it, and this is my recommendation for the Republican Party.  Because its leanings are far more Biblical than those of its counterpart, it’s the perfect political party for true followers of Christ to occupy until He returns.

We Christians need to bear in mind that the perfect political party doesn’t exist, and never will exist, but the Bible never tells us not to be practical and pragmatic when the need arises.  I fully believe it’s a sin to vote for today’s Democrat Party, but I also believe it’s a sin to leave the political process alone because it lacks perfection.  It’s okay to vote for a party or a candidate who is closer than another to Biblical standards, even if that party or candidate is flawed (and they all are).

But Christians do need to take the blinders off and see the political landscape for what it is.  The Democrat Party should be absolutely off limits, while the full weight of true American Christendom should apply itself to the Republican Party, which is the only other party in America that can currently make any difference.

PRAYER

Sir, we thank You that Your perfect Word has given us perfect instructions for every aspect of life, even in the political realm.  Give all of us wisdom as we consider the state of our own nation and the political processes within it, and seek to bring the glorious light of Your Truth to all aspects of our culture and society.  We also pray for courage as we stand against the nearly pure evil that the Democrat Party has become in these days, and that you will open the eyes of those held hostage to its ideologies – especially those who are called by Your Name.  And finally, we ask that you would grant grace to our flawed nation, and to all others.  Amen