Dear Beachside Family and Friends,
A recent Pew Research Center study evaluated American's belief in God by their affiliation with various groups. Classes studied included denominational background, age, sex, race, income, education, and others. Its' overall findings showed that about 80% of Americans believe in God, or some facsimile of God, and 20% do not.
As a sub-class, those with college degrees, and especially those with post graduate degrees were much less likely to believe in God. Among those holding master's and doctoral degrees, less than 10% espoused belief in God. If this study is correct, it would seem that the more educated one becomes, the less likely he or she is to believe in God. This study did not ask whether individuals believed in the God of the Bible, which likely would have resulted in even smaller numbers professing belief in God.
The belief gap between the average American and the uber-educated American is large. This chasm is significant because almost all doctors, lawyers, and judges, and many journalists, politicians and career government officials hold post-graduate degrees. Since these individuals are much less likely to believe in God, they do not have the same values as the average citizen. Those who believe in God respect His authority and recognize they must answer to Him for their actions in this life. This tends to moderate their behavior, as they know there are consequences for their actions. The godless are not so, having no expectation of a life beyond this one, and no fear of judgment and eternal punishment.
When those who have no respect for God are in authority in our form of government, the opportunity for abuse of power is great. Since they believe their education and intelligence are superior to the citizens', they act as if they are above the law, with no concern they will be forced to give account for their actions. President John Adams said "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." When godless officials cannot get what they desire through constitutional means, they simply ignore the Constitution. For them, the end justifies the means.
There is ample evidence to suggest that officials of the previous administration in Washington have used their power in an unconstitutional manner to spy on at least one, possibly many, private citizens of the United States. Leaders at the highest levels in the Justice Department, FBI, State Department, and the former White House may have been complicit in tapping the communications of their political opponents during a presidential campaign. If so, this is an abuse of power never uncovered before in the history of our nation.
Years ago, during the Watergate scandal, the establishment news media could be trusted to bring the truth to light. It now appears that they nave become a part of the darkness, conspiring together to keep the truth from the public. It is now apparent that the godless elites in media have embraced the darkness as their light, their truth. Jesus told the leaders of Israel "...And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! (Matthew 6:23) It seems that journalism only exists to prop up and advance the darkness to the exclusion of light. Their education and intelligence serves only to hide the truth, not to advance it.
The deep divide between the powerful elite and the citizens they govern becomes more obvious every day. It is important to pray for those that are in authority that they may see the light, the TRUE LIGHT. Paul wrote "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, (1 Timothy 2:1-3) Pray that our leaders will embrace truth and turn from the darkness. "Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good," (Psalm 53:1) The folly of intelligent man is to think that no Intelligence rules the universe. The scripture is clear and undeniable: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." (John 1:5) Revival is on the way!
Pastor Ramon
