The Lesson from Last Week’s Elections

The media was startled at the results of last Tuesday’s elections. While many Americans are now focusing on who will take the oval office in next year’s election, we should still learn from last week’s election results. Voters came out in droves to support candidates with a conservative agenda. Here is the rundown of the issues the voters focused on:

In Houston, a transgender bathroom ordinance was on the ballot and flushed down the toilet by 61 percent to 39 percent. In Portland, Maine, a fight to raise the minimum wage was struck down by 58 percent to 42 percent. In Oregon, a second amendment preservation law was passed by 61 percent. In Ohio, a recreational marijuana-legalization bill was voted down. In Kentucky, a conservative Republican won the gubernatorial race with the promises to defund Planned Parenthood and support religious liberty.

In these races alone you can see a common thread that “the people” are standing up and saying NO to the far liberal thinking that is working to erode our society. The media glazed over last week’s results and did not want to highlight the fact that the American people are getting tired of running from the values that made this nation great.

In Houston, the transgender bathroom bill would have allowed any gender to choose any public facility. That is correct, any gender would have been able to choose any public facility as just a matter of what they felt like using. A man could choose to use a women’s bathroom, and vice versa. This bill clearly disregarded the safety and protections put in place for our children and any sense of privacy would have to be eradicated. Not to mention, the general atmosphere in Houston has been one of intimidation against clergy since many were suspended due to the content of their sermon notes by the city council. The clergy in that city stood up, put this bill on the ballot by gathering signatures, overcame legal challenges and got it up for a vote of the people and then got the people out to vote and WON!

Wow! What a way to make a difference.

In Kentucky, conservative Republican Matt Bevin won the governor’s seat in a state that has elected Democrats for 40 of the past 44 years. In addition, Matt’s running mate was African American Republican Jeannine Hampton, former USAF Captain and MBA graduate from the University of Rochester. Together their platform was to defund Planned Parenthood, support religious liberty and work to make Kentucky fiscally responsible. With a message like that…Yes, they won!

From the start, no one believed they would win. However, the people of Kentucky supported the message to make a difference and support conservative principles. These principles are not necessarily about a party but more about the way we should govern and live in society. These principles provide hope and dignity to people in all walks of life.

A similar event occurred in Ohio, where voters faced a liberal social agenda consisting of legalizing drugs like marijuana for recreational usage. Ohioans saw the failure of similar laws in places like Colorado, and voted down this ballot initiative by a large margin. Many know and understand the devastating facts about this drug. Americans want to be the best again, and we want a future that is bright for our children. The facts are that America ranks 24th in literacy and 14th in education. We are losing our edge to be globally competitive. We are failing at equipping our youth to excel academically. Why would we spend our energy in legalizing recreational marijuana — which has already proven to be determintal to youth development and would most likely prove to be a tragic hindrance — rather than returning to our founding principles?

Thankfully, Americans are engaged, and clergy members are involved and informing their congregations.

Let’s make sure that we have learned from these elections. When pastors and clergy are involved and engaged, it shakes things up and makes a huge difference. That’s why CURE is so committed to keeping our CURENet pastors informed. Our pastors have the ears of their communities, and like Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., they can use that platform to change this country and to change this world!

Rev. Derek McCoy is the National Clergy Relations Director for CURE.