Dear Mr. Presidnet,
In addition to offering you congratulations on securing the position of our nation’s Presidency, I must also acknowledge how frightened I am for you. No era in our history have presented our chief executive with so many dangerous and contentious problems at one time. On the most obvious level, out nation is embroiled in two shooting wars in the Middle East, while other storm clouds gather in Iran, Pakistan, the Occupied Territories, and Lebanon. Few observers will altogether rule out the prospect of further terrorist attacks. While these events necessarily focus our attention on the Middle East, America’s relationships with important world and regional powers like China, Russia, and Venezuela continue to deteriorate. Although largely ignored and overlooked for the past two decades, recent trends indicate that the world has reached Peak Oil, the point at which we can never again rely on cheap fossil fuels. Clearly this turn of events will exercise a most dramatic impact on every aspect of our lives. On the financial front the news offers little relief. Public and private debt dwarf anything experienced in our recorded history (including the Great Depression), and as tsunami of baby bombers hits retirement age, all experts (politicians exempted) acknowledge that our social security and entitlement system will be swamped. Our infrastructure, including the public educational system, suffer from deep structural problems and long term neglect. The largest scale immigration wave in our national experience poses economic and cultural challenges that we are only beginning to grapple with. Our most vulnerable citizens, including the unborn, still lack reasonable defense from the various legislatures or from the courts.
I sincerely hope that you are a praying man. When you pray, do not only present these petitions to our Father who reigns forever in heaven, but also remember to listen. Listen for the Lord’s will in all of your actions, listen for wise counsel, even in quarters that stray beyond your typical partisan lines.
Secondly, you must not hesitate to ask the American people to sacrifice. There is no humanly possible way that these extensive challenges can be mitigated without everyone giving something up. At this unique point in history a critical mass of citizens and leaders may just be willing to follow your clarion call, if you appeal to our notions of justice and to national survival. Refrain from the temptation to scapegoat and “punish” a segment of our nation as a way of gaining temporary political advantage that will do little to mitigate these challenges.
Thirdly, please acknowledge publically that it is unlikely that God’s will for our nation will always match up with your preferred course of action, the politically expedient action, the easiest action, and the most “American” sounding action.
Finally, before beginning military action in a foreign nation, take the time to hear from local Christians how an invasion might influence their corner of the world. Of course national policy should not depend on the exclusive opinion of a particular religious community, but you would do well to consider the plight of the Christians of Iraq (Chaldean Catholic, Orthodox and Assyrian Church of the East) who have been largely driven into exile and slaughtered. It is sad that these small communities that somehow survived in a highly hostile environment for nearly 2,000 years have been summarily ignored in pre and post invasion calculations. See what you can do for them, even if they do not belong to your particular Christian denomination or tradition.
In turn we will provide you with congregational and private prayer for discernment, courage, wisdom and strength for as long as you shall execute your duties as President of this nation.