The federal elections will soon be upon us. Every two years they generate a lot of interest, as they should, since in a sense they are always about our freedom. We are acutely reminded of that this election cycle, with societal unrest and rioting making the news. “Elections have consequences,” it has been said—maybe too many consequences. Even as we rightly expect our government to pursue evenhanded justice and enforce a reasonable calm in our society, most Americans seem to expect too much from our government, even the ability to fix all manner of societal ills, some of which are beyond its ability to control.
It can be frustrating when politicians don’t live up to our expectations or reflect our world view. The latter, however, shouldn’t be surprising. The late Andrew Breitbart observed that “politics is downstream from culture.” Take a look at where a country’s culture is to see what its politics will come to look like. But if politics is downstream from culture, so too is culture downstream of spiritual and moral values (or lack thereof). A nation’s spiritual state of affairs will tell you where its culture is ultimately headed, which in turn will determine its politics.
Elections are important, as is culture which is ever present, but a nation’s values ultimately drive them both.