"What you do to the least of these, you have done to me." "He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God." Honoring the greedy at the expense of the needy is despicable. There is no way to justify it; At least from a Biblical and Christian point-of-view.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".

He is so divisive and has demonized teachers and public workers. He has pitted citizens against one another. He has said "there will be no discussion" on issues. He has shown to be in the pocket of the Koch brothers. He has to go!!

Thank you Pastor for your message on this issue. What people need to know is drastic issues require drastic measures. If your church is in serious financial trouble, some changes need to be made that will obviously be unpopular. But they need to be made for the continuation of the greater good of your church. The same goes for the budget at the State level. A small sacrafice from public workers is not tyranical, it is expected. I think this may have been better recieved by the general population if all elected officials also took a hit to share the burden. All to often there has been the attitude that one group of people are better than the next; this certainly is the issue here.
Public employees are not different than the rest of society. That being said, neither are the elected officials who vote themselves a raise. What is best for everyone is clear here, if only people could see that without letting improper thoughts cloud their judgement.

All this whining about Walker is angering God.

Nate

Does God use you for his interpretation all the time?????

He told me so

Hey Nate time to check back in to the mental institution if you actually think your having a one on one conversation with God!!!!!!

Bravo Mike:
I wish the recallers could also have the "big picture" mentality and do what's right for the State of Wisconsin, instead of clinging to the last shreds of their own petty power and putting union first.

Walker implemented a radical policy of shifting the state's financial priorities from providing sound infrastructure - in the form of strong education and public services - to providing kickbacks to large corporations. What's more, this was NOT part of his stated goals as candidate. He yammered on about cutting taxes - as all republicans do - but never explained that those tax cuts would be paid for by working folks, and by school children. He's being recalled because his priorities are out of line with what Wisconsin wants. This is a state with a long commitment to excellence in education, and to working class, Midwestern values. I think Wisconsinites can handle shared sacrifice, perhaps better than most. But when you ask the people to sacrifice, to accept lower quality schools, to pay more for less, and then turn around and hand $200M to your rich friends, we cry foul.

Hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure Nate is being satirical, noting the idiotic nature of a Pastor quoting scripture (god) as his defense of a political position. How can you argue with the relevance of an 1800 year old book on the political situation of the day? It's the ultimate in fact-free republicanism. Truthiness, in the words of scripture! Nate is a local blog version of Stephen Colbert. Or he really does hear voices in his head.

Unfortunately, kbb is off on this one. I enjoy and respect all of the Pastor's works and while I was being a bit blasphemous, I think that the Big Guy in the Sky would want all the union workers to take what they have and stop being to envious of others. When are you liberals going to give up your own scripture readings of rich people getting richer on the backs of the poor.

Union workers have been overpaid versus private for long enough. I'd be pissed off too if my toys were taken away, but grow up and get over recalling everyone that slights you this way or that.

Nate: I agree with you on your message.- The delivery could use some work though. I am sure the good Pastor didn't intend this to be yet another thread of hate and name calling. His message was quite clear and we all could learn a thing or two following The Word.

I'm sorry. Mr. Walker was elected to represent the people of Wisconsin. Not the rich people who paid him to do their bidding. He cares little for the welfare of Wisconsin as demonstrated by his actions. All he has done is line the pockets of the wealthy while taking education, healthcare, and work from working people, while obviously lying the entire time. He does what he is paid to do, not what he was elected to do.

The state of Wisconsin has a proud history -- a free state, the birthplace of the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, a pioneer in progressive labor law. Wisconsin has been known as a tolerant melting pot of kind and hard working people of Midwest ideals. It is also a place where the current Superbowl Champions and the only undefeated (thus far) NFL team reside.

It is with sadness to see such a beautiful state be mired by leaders like Scott Walker, who is more concerned for the greedy out-of-state corporations than the hard working people of Wisconsin, who cares more about his own fortune than the fortune of the state, and who wants power to oppress those who oppose him rather the ability to govern for the benefits of all.

However, I am very hopeful that God will lead the way for the righteous and the kind-hearted to correct the wrongs and to heal the wounded that Mr. Walker and his allies have done to the state and the people of Wisconsin. Wisconsin overcame the wrongs by Senator Joe McCarthy and will overcome the wrongs by Governor Walker.

God bless!

Let me hit on the other hand, First term limits are just something the people talk about. Just as sure as the newly elected vote for a raise they will NEVER vote for term limits. With that said, the repercussion of term limits is the pensions we have to supply them, the more politicians there are, the more we have to pay. So as Governor Walker did to the teachers so should be done to the elected, that they too have to pay half of their pension out of their own pocket.

It seems counter-productive to recall any politician, regardless of party, over political issues. That’s what general elections are for. If you start recalling every politician simply because they were aggressive in their approach to legislation, you’d be left with politicians afraid to ever attempt any type of slightly controversial legislation, and in essence you’d be left with a very ineffective government.

People are angry that Walker “misled” people by not explicitly stating how he would address the public unions issue. However, if you start recalling every politician who doesn’t fulfill every campaign promise or divulge every piece of legislation prior to election, you’re going to be in a non-stop recall cycle, or you’ll get politicians who never take chances.

His legislation hasn’t even gone into place throughout the entire state, so it’s almost impossible to be able to make such a strong judgment yet. That said, we’re seeing great results where the legislation is in place (http://eng.am/nGSRqB), and seeing why it needs to be further implemented in the districts that it hasn’t gone into place yet (http://eng.am/nfGqDq). Judging from that it would seem unwise to stop the legislation midstream.

Mr. Frie, you ask an important question, "Did people not understand what they were getting when Mr. Walker was hired?" Let Scott Walker's own words serve as an answer to your question. When speaking with the reporter that Governor Walker thought was David Koch, the Governor did not say, "when we did what we campaigned to do...." but rather he said, "When we dropped the bomb...!" Governor Walker is not in doubt about whether he campaigned to what he did but rather describes what he did as the dropping of a bomb! That should clear up the matter of whether Citizens of this state voted for Walker's actions or have they had something foisted upon them that they did not expect. Governor Walker disagrees with you Mr. Frie, he dropped a bomb on this state!
Your second concern about the cost of a recall election seems equally 'republican' with respect to what cost should concern tax-payers. Nothing mentioned about the cost of fake candidates that resulted in unnecessary and costly primaries. Nothing mentioned about the fact that this recall madness was begun by conservatives with the (unsuccessful) recall of three democrats filed first in February, nothing mention that the recall of the Governor was actually first filed by someone supporting the Governor to allow Governor Walker extra time to raise money...
My assessment is that the recall is the very best for Wisconsin at this time, bad for republicans... but good for Wisconsin and God is smiling on our state in this hour!

My thanks to everyone responding to this article. Just to clarify what is an apparent misunderstanding. This article was not written in defense of, nor opposition to either political party. It is the application of a timeless Biblical principle (1 Corinthians 10:23) towards a current event (a potential recall), with the intent of drawing a conclusion. We all have our own metrics and standards by which we process events. We also have both the right to express our opinion (which cannot be wrong or it ceases to be an opinion) and to act on it responsibly and lawfully. Let's continue to follow our consciences in this matter. Whether Governor Walker is recalled sooner, voted out later, or remains in office for another term, we all have the same opportunity to have part in the process. Thank you for being involved.

Pastor Frie, (and every other person) has every right to express his/her opinion politically, religiously, and in self assessment of his/her own writing but should not believe that the general public is unable to discern the truth of the matter. The introduction of a bible verse concerning Christian liberty, sin, and the eating of meat offered to idols is only precariously applied, if that, to the Wisconsin world of politics.
Amidst many true and correct observations such as, ‘once elected, they become governor’ and ‘name-calling is bad’, Pastor Frie writes many more personal beliefs that are not shared by all, such as, “I also thought they were upfront...” and “I believe election cycles and term limits are the better answer” and ‘those who appose Walker should go do something else!’
No! Focus and apply the very next sentence of Paul’s writing, “Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being”. The state should pay a living wage for the workers they think to employ, and we should focus on providing health-care for all rather than following Governor Walker’s focus on who he will through overboard.
The citizens of this state are the government of this state and we place governors in office to serve, not until their 'term' is up, but as long as they perform their duties to our satisfaction. Governor Walker has lied on his application for governor and has led our state in division... Paul and God want the well-being of all - our goal.