Torch, Winter 2012

with barnacles; there are no lifeboats, and the ship’s officers are locked in a debate about whether to use a thimble or an eggcup.” Perspective From the Past Remember, however, that Republicans stand to benefit from a population that is terrified when looking to the future. For them, this is good politics, as it weakens President Obama and the Democrats for the 2012 election cycle. Our challenge, as citizens, is to pick through the rhetoric to find reasonable and responsible policy proposals to support, while refusing to be driven by our collective fears for what the future might bring. Fear has a strong tendency to cloud our thinking, and it makes easy, simple solutions (“9-9-9,” anyone?) more attractive. Our current situation, which is indeed serious, calls for sober reason, which is often the opposite of emotional simplicity. Perspective should assuage some of our fears. While not minimizing the gravity of our situation, we must remember that, historically speaking, this economic crisis is not terribly different, and possibly much less severe, than past economic downturns. Between 1929 and 1933, the American economy plummeted into the Great Depression. Wages declined by 21 percent and investment by 84 percent. At the same time, unemployment went from 3 percent to 25 percent — a staggering figure considering so many households were built around a single income. Again, there is no question that this economy has damaged many Americans, including some reading this Torch . Moreover, the amount and scale of our current government spending, and the entitlement culture that has driven so much of it, differentiates this current crisis and, perhaps, makes the choices that now confront us more meaningful and grave. Nevertheless, where there is perspective, there is hope. Hope From Heaven Our greatest hope does not rest with governments and the futures they attempt to create. Our hope, politically, and in every other way, rests in the realization that our God is sovereign and that He has promised to care for us. He numbers the hairs on our head, clothes the lilies of the field, and feeds the birds. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and His resources and love know no ends. Though God’s provision may not always match our vision, He has promised to provide what we require, even if we are unsure of what that is. This hope should extinguish our unreasonable fears and should provide us with God’s eternal perspective, which is our ultimate comfort. Dr. Mark Caleb Smith is an associate professor of political science and director of the Center for Political Studies at Cedarville University. He received his B.A. in history from Bryan College, his M.A. in the history of Christianity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Georgia. He has been at Cedarville since 2004. 12 TORCH | Winter 2012 ALASHI | ISTOCKPHOTO AND CHAD JACKSON | CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY