The Obligatory Pre-election Political Post
You can skip this if politics do not interest you. If you vote Democrat, you will probably want to skip this too. This is mainly for Christian Republican readers. I’m writing this because several people have expressed in interest in my political opinions for some reason, so…you asked for it! Don’t blame me! Here it is.
I must confess, I haven’t been following politics too closely this year. But I am paying attention enough to know that the Republicans are in danger of losing their hold on Congress. Personally, I think it’s their own fault. They have had a number of moral scandals recently and have not been very good about being faithful to what you might call classically conservative principles. Some political pundits are saying the Republicans are about to lose in a landslide. Roberto Rivera (on Chuck Colson’s Breakpoint blog) and Rod Dreher (author of Crunchy Cons - great book, by the way) think that when the Democrats win, the blame will fall on Evangelicals.
I can definitely see something like this happening. No one likes to be “pegged” in a particular group, but if you peg me, you would probably put me in an Evangelical category. I am not particularly thrilled with the Republican party right now (and haven’t been for a while now). Not even sure I would strictly consider myself a Republican any more. I think that many Christian people are getting tired of this whole “voting for the lesser of two evils” thing. We vote this way because we think that the two candidates from the two major parties are the only ones that have a chance of winning, and if we don’t vote for the “better” of the two, then chances are higher that the “worst” candidate will win the election.
Now, I am going to make a sincere observation here, and if anyone has an answer to this conundrum, I would really like to know (all in the interest of truth): is it not lack of faith in the power of God when we do not vote for the best candidate, regardless of party affiliation or endorsement? If I vote for a third party candidate because I think he would be the best person for the job, how is that going to morally incriminate me if the worst candidate ends up being elected? And if the status quo that is upheld by the “moderate” Republicans is evil, then is it not morally incriminating for people who vote for the “moderate” Republicans? How should we vote when there is no one to vote for that we feel will uphold our values? Should we then vote for the lesser of two evils or not at all?
Do you remember the story of Gideon in the book of Judges (chapter 7) when God kept reducing the number of soldiers in his army until there were so few left that there would be no doubt that it was the God of Israel that won the battle? That is what all of this reminds me of. I think we should vote for the best person for the job, and trust God for the rest. He is perfectly capable of working out His will even if all Democrats are elected. What He wants is people who will trust Him to win the battle instead of trusting in our own wisdom.
Having said all of that, I think this election next week is not the best time to start voting for third party candidates. That’s because in our area at least, there really aren’t that many good third party candidates running, and there are a few good Republican candidates running (my opinion, of course - do the research yourself!). The time to research your vote well is for the Primary. When we had our Primary last spring, I researched all the candidates on the ballots and found some real gems. Unfortunately, the gems all lost to the big-name candidates with the money for advertising. That would have been unfortunately unavoidable back in the old days, but now that we all have access to the internet (at the library, if nothing else!), it’s easy to research each and every candidate and to know what they stand for. There are several good sites to start with, and usually you can find a dedicated web page for each candidate. Read each candidate’s platform, and then you’ll know how to compare them with the others.
So there’s my two cents, whether it’s worth two cents or not. Everyone's got an opinion, I know. That's mine. If you want to read about a great third-party option, try this site. I just wish these guys had more candidates on the ballot.
I must confess, I haven’t been following politics too closely this year. But I am paying attention enough to know that the Republicans are in danger of losing their hold on Congress. Personally, I think it’s their own fault. They have had a number of moral scandals recently and have not been very good about being faithful to what you might call classically conservative principles. Some political pundits are saying the Republicans are about to lose in a landslide. Roberto Rivera (on Chuck Colson’s Breakpoint blog) and Rod Dreher (author of Crunchy Cons - great book, by the way) think that when the Democrats win, the blame will fall on Evangelicals.
I can definitely see something like this happening. No one likes to be “pegged” in a particular group, but if you peg me, you would probably put me in an Evangelical category. I am not particularly thrilled with the Republican party right now (and haven’t been for a while now). Not even sure I would strictly consider myself a Republican any more. I think that many Christian people are getting tired of this whole “voting for the lesser of two evils” thing. We vote this way because we think that the two candidates from the two major parties are the only ones that have a chance of winning, and if we don’t vote for the “better” of the two, then chances are higher that the “worst” candidate will win the election.
Now, I am going to make a sincere observation here, and if anyone has an answer to this conundrum, I would really like to know (all in the interest of truth): is it not lack of faith in the power of God when we do not vote for the best candidate, regardless of party affiliation or endorsement? If I vote for a third party candidate because I think he would be the best person for the job, how is that going to morally incriminate me if the worst candidate ends up being elected? And if the status quo that is upheld by the “moderate” Republicans is evil, then is it not morally incriminating for people who vote for the “moderate” Republicans? How should we vote when there is no one to vote for that we feel will uphold our values? Should we then vote for the lesser of two evils or not at all?
Do you remember the story of Gideon in the book of Judges (chapter 7) when God kept reducing the number of soldiers in his army until there were so few left that there would be no doubt that it was the God of Israel that won the battle? That is what all of this reminds me of. I think we should vote for the best person for the job, and trust God for the rest. He is perfectly capable of working out His will even if all Democrats are elected. What He wants is people who will trust Him to win the battle instead of trusting in our own wisdom.
Having said all of that, I think this election next week is not the best time to start voting for third party candidates. That’s because in our area at least, there really aren’t that many good third party candidates running, and there are a few good Republican candidates running (my opinion, of course - do the research yourself!). The time to research your vote well is for the Primary. When we had our Primary last spring, I researched all the candidates on the ballots and found some real gems. Unfortunately, the gems all lost to the big-name candidates with the money for advertising. That would have been unfortunately unavoidable back in the old days, but now that we all have access to the internet (at the library, if nothing else!), it’s easy to research each and every candidate and to know what they stand for. There are several good sites to start with, and usually you can find a dedicated web page for each candidate. Read each candidate’s platform, and then you’ll know how to compare them with the others.
So there’s my two cents, whether it’s worth two cents or not. Everyone's got an opinion, I know. That's mine. If you want to read about a great third-party option, try this site. I just wish these guys had more candidates on the ballot.
3 Comments:
Well, this is a good "writing" and I feel the same way you do. I am discouraged that both parties have had their share of immoral, ilegal and ungodly actions and attitudes.
I want to be one of the 300 who vote for God loving and God fearing men and women. Even they will not be perfect. But if I know they will seek His face, that's so important.
"A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" Judges 7:20
I like the analogy of Gideon also. What God did for Gideon and the nation of Israel--and what I think is the reason He did it--has changed the way I pray. What God was after was not just victory for Israel, but that He (God) would receive the credit/glory--that there would be NO DOUBT as to the reason and source of the Israelite victory. So, now when I pray, for someone to be healed for instance, I pray that God would do it in such an amazing way as to remove all doubt as to the source of the healing, so people would HAVE TO give credit where credit is due. Maybe it IS time to begin to simplify our voting so that we just vote for the best candidate, whoever they might be and whatever party they might be representing.
Dad
Thanks for the kind comments, guys. I appreciate that. :-)
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