Who Should I Vote For? (1 of 4)

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior - I Timothy 2:1-3

I am struggling with this election more than any other I can remember. I honestly have no idea who I will be voting for on November 4th. As I watch and observe the political ploys by the candidates, their surrogates and the talking heads in the media I quickly become cynical to the entire process. How could an honest leader ever emerge from a system so saturated in corruption?

When I sit down and listen to both candidates in more civilized forums, like Saddleback or the first presidential debate last week, I find myself agreeing and disagreeing with both candidates almost simultaneously. I often walk away with more questions than answers…

Is it best to protect the unborn by electing a candidate who will criminalize abortion or one who has a plan to reduce the number of abortions? Was the financial crisis caused by too much regulation or not enough? Is the best way out of Iraq through a series of objectives or a definite timetable? Will we be safer as a nation by continuing to display force or by increasing our standing in the world? Do we need a president who sees the world primarily through the lens of past experience or vision for the future? 

On top of all that, the evangelicals seem to be front-and-center (again) in this election - whether it be the old “moral majority” or “religious-right,” or the “new evangelicals” - this year even the “Pentecostals” have a stake.

Over the next few days I’ll be exploring how a Christian should “vote” in this year’s election. However, for the purposes of this conversation, I would like to expand the meaning of the word “vote” to “influence.”

Shane Claiborne puts it this way in his latest book Jesus for President:

"What is more important than how we vote on November 4 is how we live on Nov. 3 and Nov. 5… We vote every day with our lives... we vote every day with our feet, our hands, our lips, and our wallets. We vote for the poor. We vote for the peacemakers. We vote for the marginalized, the oppressed, the most vulnerable of our society. Ultimate change does not just happen every four years."

In other words, in the midst of the daily political melodrama with all of the familiar characters - liberals, conservatives, red states, blue states, independents, swing voters, and of course the crucial idgit voters - what is the best way to rise above the madness and gain influence in our nation and our world?

Comments

[Elwin Mack]

Be careful on this one Paul, my appreciation and respect for your opinion really has the potential of tanking.

[Paul Stewart]

Elwin, after a post asking honest and sincere questions that I am wrestling with right now, that would truly be unfortunate.

[Austin Pierce]

I must say, I look forward to this! The debate is flying through my head!

[Julia Phillips]

Dear Pastor Paul,

I congratulate you that you are discussing these real-life issues, instead of ignoring them, or worse, pretending they do not exist, as is the case with many ministers of the gospel. I think we need to realize that Christ asks us to apply scripture to all areas of our lives, as he so often reminded the pharasees. He admonished them when they chose to ignore the biblical concepts on justice, mercy and faithfulness and focussed primarily on tithing their herbs. Mt. 23:23b, "You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."

The problem of the church ignoring the arena of politics--among other things, (what I call "the great elephant in the room") has led to many evils: mainly of congregations that are uneducated, indecisive, and unable to think critically about current events. A few years ago, Iowa was introduced to gambling in a significant way through the Prairie Meadows deal. Governor Branstad did not particularly get any noise from local Christians who objected, and, thinking that silence was assent, allowed this horrible scourge upon our city and state that is hurting hundreds of Iowans.

Another for instance: even you have no idea who to vote for in this next election, and you are sadly misinformed as to the positions of each candidate on certain points. You are First Assembly's teacher, and you do not understand these things? (Jn 3)

For instance, McCain does not want to criminalize abortion. I have $5 here for you if you can give me a transcript or recording of McCain saying that abortion ought to be criminalized. Now, I will admit that Senator Obama has accused him of that (as does Planned Parenthood, etc.). As to his official stance, I believe it is summed up when he was asked about the Roe v. Wade decision, "I thought it was a bad decision. I think that decision should rest in the hands of the states. I'm a federalist."

http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/John_McCain_Abortion.htm

This is Senator Obama's stance on banning partial birth abortion: "In 1997, Obama voted against SB 230, which would have turned doctors into felons by banning so-called partial-birth abortion, & against a 2000 bill banning state funding. Although these bills included an exception to save the life of the mother, they didn't include anything about abortions necessary to protect the health of the mother. The legislation defined a fetus as a person, & could have criminalized virtually all abortion."

http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Barack_Obama_Abortion.htm

Those of us who have worked long enough in politics and in the Pro-Life movement know that to put the words "protect the life and health of the mother" as a proviso for the partial birth abortion ban would be as much as rendering the bill useless. Because then the person seeking the abortion can just go to a psychiatrist or whomever, and get a signed statement saying that to not have the abortion would undermine the mental health of the mother.

"Fr. Pavone was present at the Supreme Court both for the oral arguments and on the day the decision was issued. At a press conference on the Court steps, Father asked the lead attorney from the pro-abortion side whether any evidence presented to the Court had identified even a single medical circumstance in which this procedure was the only way to preserve the mother's health. Of course, none could be cited, and the reason is that none exist."

http://www.priestsforlife.org/partialbirth.html

Furthermore, an activist group, NARAL, with whom you ought to be familiar, has given McCain a 0% rating, and Obama 100%.

Before you get me wrong, I am not here to toot McCain's horn. I have never liked him, and I still don't. He has a nasty habit of poking his fingers in the eyes of conservatives like myself, (so to speak), but next to Obama, he is a much better option.

I know I have been long winded, but I want to explore one more thing. Why is it a bad thing to outlaw abortion? As you know, the Apostle Paul says that the law is the school master that brings us to Christ. Without the school master telling us what is right and wrong, we have no need of Someone to fix our problem. Jesus said that healthy people don't need a doctor, only the sick. Mt.9:12. Which is as much to say that until we know that we have a problem, he can't fix us. (And we all have a problem, some of us are just unwilling to admit or discover it.)

Do you remember this passage in Proverbs 24:

"11 Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

12 If you say, "But we knew nothing about this,"
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?"

I'm sure you do. Could a law that forbids abortion save lives? Of course. May I be so bold as to say that abortion should be criminalized, and every healthy and moral society has outlawed it. In fact, it has been decriminalized just within my lifetime, which is a very short time considering the history of this nation.

We used to have slavery here, but we outlawed it. Should we have waited until the hard hearts of the slave masters were softened by the love of Jesus to set their slaves free until we stood up as a nation and said, "this is not right, it is immoral and evil, and should be criminal."?

Paster Paul, I have to say that our family prays for you and your family, on our knees, about weekly or more. We care about you. We probably don't know all of the stresses and strains of being a minister though we care for you (all) and are glad that you are there to do your duties. However, as the Apostle Paul says, "it is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good." Gal. 4:18. I also realize that you are a product of your education and schooling. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. However, one MUST always judge everything against scripture, and this is how I see it.

I am open for rebuke, if there is any refutation of what I am saying. Let me state foremost, I would rather be rebuked and be right than be left alone and be wrong. I would hope that we would all have this ambition.

[Paul Stewart]

Julia,

This post had very little to do with abortion. While you have made an excellent case for "criminalizing" abortion, and while I agree that this is an important issue, I do not believe it is the only issue in this campaign and it should not be the only issue that concerns us as Christians.

Let me say that I am deeply concerned with Senator Obama's stance on this issue, however, I am also terribly frustrated that politicians use it to grab votes but have yet to do anything substantive to reduce the number of abortions in this country. Second, I have a great deal of respect for people who make it one of their main priorities to stand up for children in the womb, but I am also incredibly disappointed that this advocacy more often than not doesn't exist on either end of the nine months of pregnancy (this is one reason that I am drawn to the 95/10 initiative put out by the Democrats for Life).

I agree that as followers of Christ we must "judge" everything against scripture, which teaches us to watch out for "the least of these" and to care for the widow, the orphan, and the refugee. That means we have to remember the approximately 3,700 abortions per day in the US, which is incredibly tragic. And demands action.

But we must also remember the 30,000 children under the age of five that die every day from preventable illness, and that the infant mortality rate is approximately fifty times higher in the developing world than in our world. This is an incredible injustice that we should hold our politicians accountable for.

My prayer is that we will stop caring about, having opinions on, and voting on only one issue. Instead let's care about, have opinions on, and vote for all life. It's more complicated, but it's our moral obligation.