One very ugly story today in the Guardian. It’s ugly in two ways: first, for the story that is told, and second, for the way that story is told.

The story is that minorities are alleging a massive attempt to deprive them of the vote. The way it’s told is that the leftist Guardian first trumps up the allegations with hyperbolic rhetoric, assuming they are all true, and then gives only a thin gruel of substantiation at the end, after the reader already has been programmed. Classic manipulation of public opinion.

You will recall that certain political elements – read, Democrats catering to their special interest groups – have consistently resisted commonsense attempts to protect the integrity of the vote in America. You can hardly make a large purchase without a corroborating photo ID, but somehow requiring this level of validation is construed as being antithetical to our personal freedoms when used to prevent voting fraud.

So too, there has been a long history of denial of voting rights to those convicted of a felony crime. We may argue that the law should be made more flexible, but we can hardly deny that there is some basis in logic to keep those of poor character out of the voting booth.

We are in great danger of losing all confidence in our electoral system. And if that happens, then rioting begins. From buying off voters with amenities in Chicago – the city of “vote early and often” where Barack Obama learned down and dirty machine politics, to deceased voters somehow continuing to exercise the franchise, to the fraudulent registration lists of ACORN doing their work on the public dime in the name of voter participation, vote fraud has increasingly become an endemic part of the American fabric. It is a cancer eating away at the public trust, until now we barely have any.

But evidently we haven’t seen anything yet. Remember the painfully divisive aftermath to the election of 2000, when Al Gore would not let go? That will be nothing compared to the ugly racial rhetoric that’s ahead. It will be impossible to level any criticism of Barack Obama without being branded racist. I know this will happen because it already has been happening. It has happened to me, and it has probably happened to you as well.

If you search the pages of this blog you will see where I once pleaded that we inaugurate Allan West immediately. But that won’t count to exonerate me of racism because West, who is Black, is a conservative. One is considered Black by liberals only if he is liberal and accordingly endorses racial identity politics.

It’s been a great nation. We’ve had quite a run. But as Lincoln (and Jesus) warned, divided we cannot stand. Here we have identity groups going outside the country to bring external force to bear on it in order to implement their own agenda. It is widely believe that even Obama himself, the hope and change guy himself (even there I wanted to say “boy”, as I normally would colloquially do, without regard to the race of the person, but I flinched because of our supercharged racial atmosphere), is going to run an unprecedentedly divisive campaign, scorching earth in order to preserve his sinecure. This is nothing less than the potential demise of the nation, and immanently so.

While this is sad, and we should do all we can to prevent it, it presents an opportunity for the church. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and shaken we are. But this is the time to rise up and bear witness to Christ. Our power is not rooted in politics, but in the Spirit. So many people are needy, and not just financially. Families are falling apart. The world is an increasingly dangerous and evil place. Even the heralded Arab Spring is being shown to have only cleared the way for Islam to rear its ugly head. Real hope is a scarce commodity indeed. People need strength to face their challenges and live their lives.

At the same time, however, the church itself continues to be shaken, so much so that we wonder how we will be strong.  There is only one answer: we must abide in the secret place of the Most High, the place of immunity. From that place of rest we will be refreshed, and the Lord’s power will be perfected in us.

Do not fret at the evil around us. The evil one is certainly having a measure of success now, but his day will come. God has not abandoned us. His hand weaves its way through history, and through our circumstances, working all things to our good (Romans 8.28). He will not be thwarted.

These are difficult times, but those who know their God will be strong and do exploits (Daniel 11.32). let’s join together in prayer and keep one another strong. Christ is in our midst.