A Swig on Me

Scripture References: Deuteronomy 1:16-17; 1 Timothy 2:1-4

In colonial America, politicians were expected to provide liquor for the voters on election day. Even George Washington provided one and a half quarts of liquor for each of the 361 supporters who voted him a seat in the House of Burgesses. (He learned his lesson from an earlier rejection by the voters for not providing decent drinks.) When he ran for the House of Burgesses, Patrick Henry spent over eight pounds sterling to get elected. Seven pounds purchased twenty-eight gallons of rum and one pound hired the men who carried it to the polls.

It seems undignified to buy votes with drinks, yet politicians today use their own brand of liquor to win votes. They simply call it by more refined names: welfare, entitlements, and subsidies. Whatever it is called, it beguiles the electorate into thinking they get something for nothing. They do not realize that they are paying themselves for all those gratuities the government so freely dispenses. We demean ourselves and our representatives when we equate a person’s worth to govern by his or her personal promises to us.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.