A Higher-Power Recall
By Travis K. McSherley

It's only the second week of October, but in at least one state of the Union, voters have already cast their ballots in a crucial election.

California residents had the chance on Oct. 7 to bring about a citizens' impeachment of their governor, Gray Davis.  They were given the names -- most of them unheard of -- of some 100-plus candidates vying to be Davis' successor.  This democratic coup was started several months ago as an almost laughable project to oust California's chief executive by gathering hundreds of thousands of names on a petition.

Nobody but Arnold Schwarzenegger laughing now, of course, as voters have given the final verdict on Gov. Davis' performance.

It seemed that Davis had failed his constituents and broken his covenant with them.  But while the California recall may turn out to be effective democracy in action, the whole process sounds all too similar to a famous "recall" in the pages of Scripture, where the people of Israel essentially elected to replace the greatest King of all with a man who may have been a less successful leader than Gray Davis.

Despite warnings from Judge Samuel, the elders of Israel demanded that they be provided with new leadership (or at least some "earth-bound" leadership).  "But we will have a kind over us," they said.  "That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles" (I Samuel 8:20).

So the Lord stepped aside, and inserted Saul as Israel's king, and his failures became well documented before God rescinded Saul's kingship in place of His guy, David.  (The Lord can play the recall game, too, it seems.)

And if we take a look at some of today's news headlines, we can see that another divine recall is taking place in the United States.  Its consequences will be much deeper than just replacing an ineffective governor.  God's Word -- and even the mention of His name -- is being methodically removed from the public square.  It's not enough that many in the country have chosen to disbelieve in God; many apparently feel that it's time to revoke His authority altogether!

This is probably most apparent in the arena of morality and ethics.  The so-called "me generation" wants no one to tell them what they can do, when they can do it, or whom they can do it with.  God (and those who follow Him) is merely a hindrance to fulfilling human desire.

And the next step seems to be getting rid of any reminder of God's existence.  In the name of "separation of church and state," plaques and statues of the Ten Commandments are relegated to darkness, public displays of faith are muted, and the very symbols of American pride are attacked for their invocations of divine providence.

This is hardly a skirmish over the Constitution, which should be obvious by noting all of the extreme lengths to which some groups will go in creating this legal maneuvering.  For if speaking the name of Christ and expressing the reality of God are unconstitutional, then the Founding Fathers failed to follow the document they created.  No, the current battles are not an attempt to interpret the law -- but to change it into something entirely different.

It appears that California's voters wisened up enough to remove an ineffective governor who was holding them back (though we'll see how wise that choice was).  But the entire nation hangs in the balance in this cultural decision of whether to "recall" the Lord Most High.  

We would all be well served to listen to the voice of Samuel to Israel at Saul's confirmation: "If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the Lord, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God.  If you will not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the command of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers" (I Samuel 12:14-15).

God bless America...