#1 Be a one issue voter.
Yes, you read that correctly.
There is one paramount issue that trumps all others. It is not the economy, foreign relations,
defense, or health care. It is the
matter of the sanctity of life at all stages of life. The biblical evidence in support of the
sanctity of life from conception to natural death is overwhelming (see, for
example, Psalm 139; Jeremiah 1). There
is no other issue if the sanctity of life is not upheld.
I refuse to vote for anyone who
is not solidly pro-life. It does not
matter that one pro-death candidate is better than another on some other
issue. I am glad that in Abraham Lincoln’s
day there were one-issue voters who sought above all else to remove the blight
of slavery in our land. We must be
vigilant on this and never, never compromise, even if our vote is “wasted” on
an “unelectable” candidate. If we
compromise on this, do you think that we will ever see our laws allowing
abortion on demand changed? If we
compromise, what do you think will happen to our senior citizens as health care
costs spiral upward? No, someone must
stand in the gap, and that someone, dear Christian voter, is you.
The issues of fetal stem cell
research (which is nothing but a sophisticated form of cannibalism) and
euthanasia are real and upon us to say nothing of the horrors of partial birth
abortion. Be a one issue voter!
You might say that you don’t need
to be a one issue voter on so-called minor offices. But you do!
I learned this lesson the hard way.
I helped a neighbor a few years ago in her campaign for the city council. She was a great alderwoman, but I had failed
to ask her about her position on abortion.
This year, based on her effectiveness in city government, she is running
for Congress as a very pro-abortion candidate.
I regret having helped her. Be a
one issue voter.
#2 Be an informed voter. The
only way that one can know the candidates for office is to find out as much as
possible. Far too many people ignore
politics until the last week of an election cycle. By then, the full machine of political spin
makes it impossible to know where a candidate really stands. Even if it is boring, it is important to read
political platforms. The devil, they
say, is in the details, and voters must read the fine print.
A key principle to governing is
that whatever a government subsidizes, we will get more of it. And whatever a government taxes, we will get
less of that. So, for example, when the
government extends unemployment compensation to unemployed people, we should
not be surprised that many people choose to remain unemployed, if those
benefits approach what a person could get by working. Conversely, when the government taxes hard
work, risk, and ingenuity, we should not be surprised when we get fewer wealthy
people, fewer new businesses, and fewer innovations. We need to know what candidates for office
want to subsidize and what they want to tax.
Then, ask yourself, “Do I want more or less of what the candidate wants
to tax?” Ask, “Do I want more or less of
what the candidate wants to subsidize?”
3) Be
an unselfish voter. Sometimes we
want to vote for a candidate because he or she favors policies which will
personally benefit us, even though those policies are not good for the rest of
the nation. John Adams, our second President,
wrote, “To expect self-denial from men, when they have a majority in their
favor and consequently power to gratify themselves is to disbelieve all history
and universal experience; it is to
disbelieve Revelation and the Word of God, which informs us the heart is
deceitful in all things and desperately wicked.” This is sound reasoning, and it is why I
believe that everyone should pay at least some taxes. Today, approximately 47% of Americans pay
nothing in federal income tax. This
means that they have no personal incentive to stop government spending on
anything at all. After all, it doesn’t
cost them!
I want to urge you, whatever your
tax bracket may be, to look beyond your own selfish, personal interests and
vote for candidates who will be cautious and prudent in spending the peoples’
money. The government does not have any
money. When the government spends money,
it is because the government has either borrowed it (postponing the day of
reckoning) or has taken it from someone else on threat of jail or fines for
failure to pay. Many candidates brag
about what they can do or have done for people by getting “government” money to
their constituents. These candidates are
thieves and don’t even know it. There is
no such thing as “government” money.
There is only money taken from the wages and investments of the taxpayer
or borrowed so that one day it will be paid back from the wages and investments
of the taxpayer. Candidates who regard as precious every penny taken from the
work and investments of the people will not become thieves.
4) Be a theologically aware voter.
There are two important principles here.
First, while no candidate is perfect, the more morally flawed a person
is in his/her personal life, the greater the likelihood that the candidate will
be inadequate to resist the temptations that come with public service. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, “if a man
cannot rule his own house, how can he rule in larger spheres?”
Second, it is tempting,
particularly by political conservatives, to want to get rid of all government
whatsoever. The more that government
encroaches on personal liberties, the more that we see so much waste and
inefficiency, the more that we are attracted to the notion that less government
everywhere would be better. It is
likewise tempting, particularly by political liberals, to see corruption in
business and nearly all commerce. The
more that the marketplace dominates, the more liberals see destruction of the
environment, corruption and thievery, and a lack of compassion for the poor.
Both the political conservative
and political liberal are theologically naïve.
If government disappeared altogether, we would have chaos. The fact is that people in the marketplace
are depraved and will be evil. On the
other hand, the liberal thinks that everyone is corrupt EXCEPT the government! The liberal wants the long arm of government
intervention to reach into every sphere, but he never thinks that perhaps the
most evil sphere of all is the one doing the reaching.
These ideas—that less government
is always better or that more government is always better--ignore the plain
facts of human depravity. James Madison,
our fourth President, observed, “If men were angels, no government would be
necessary. If angels were to govern men,
neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” Be a theologically aware voter.
5) Be a non-utopian voter. Politicians
promise what they can never deliver. Many
of them promise the kingdom of God itself.
Then, when those promises are unrealized, they say, “Well, if we just
had more time and spent more on our policies, we would have reached our
promises.” Don’t believe it. George W. Bush bet his presidency on the
shaky notion that a democratic republic could be established on the foundation
of Islamic fragmentation in Iraq. He was
reelected in 2004 by saying that we needed more time and more money in the
Middle East. The issues are
different, but Barack Obama is communicating that he needs more time and more
money to accomplish his utopian vision. Mitt Romney is communicating that he will accomplish his utopian vision.
It is important to know that no utopian vision is going to be realized
until Jesus returns. Events external to
the politician and his own missteps make utopia unachievable. Consider the following campaign mottoes and
what happened:
1916 Woodrow Wilson “He Kept Us Out of
War” Result: In the next two years, 116,728
Americans killed in WW1
1928 Herbert Hoover “A Chicken in Every
Pot and a Car in Every Garage” Result:
The Great Depression
1976 Jimmy Carter “Not Just Peanuts” Result: High Inflation, interest
rates, and demoralization
1988 George H.W. Bush “Kinder, Gentler
Nation” Result: Not so kind and gentle
to Iraq
1992 Bill Clinton “Putting People First” Result: Monica Lewinsky
2000 George W. Bush “Real Plans for Real
People” Result: Plans set aside due to 9/11
What this is means is simply not to get
too excited about any politician. It’s
fine to be enthusiastic about one’s political preferences, but be careful not
to have messianic expectations, or you will be disappointed. The more grandiose the promises that a
candidate makes, the greater our skepticism should be about their fulfillment.
God alone is qualified to build His kingdom.
6) Be a voter! It is easy after reading an article like this to throw
up our hands and say, “Why vote?”
However, there are really important reasons why we should vote. Elections, especially in recent times, have
hinged on just a few votes. If all
evangelicals voted, we could affect huge changes in the outcome. Yet many people are not even registered to
vote. Given that God calls us to honor
our authorities, given that we in this country have the privilege of choosing
those authorities, given the importance of the issues of the day, given our
responsibilities before God, WE MUST VOTE.
No
matter how inconvenient, no matter how sick of it all that you are, no matter
what hindrances are placed in your way, please vote. In our country, the people get the government
that they deserve because they elect them.
When we opt out of the process by not voting, we are asking God to do
what He already has committed to us as a sacred trust. We are asking God to do what He has already
given us to do. When a student asks me
to pray for them about a test, I usually ask, “Have you studied your
best?” If they say, “yes,” then I assure
them of my prayers. If they say, “no,”
then I tell them that God generally won’t make up what He’s already given us a
stewardship to do. It’s the same way
with our vote. God sovereignly
determines leaders, but He’s given us a moral obligation to work out His will
by voting.
7)
Be an unworried voter. The issues are great, and the stakes are high
in the upcoming election (they always are).
The weight of significance bears down on us, and we can become worried
and filled with anxiety. Sometimes, that
worry can cause us to withdraw from thinking about politics altogether. However, there is no need for worry. “The Most High God rules the kingdom of
mankind and sets over it whom he will” (Daniel 5:21b; see also Daniel 4:25,
32). God wants us to exercise our
stewardship; He does not expect us to be God.
So, enjoy this election year in a way that most political pundits
cannot. They fret and worry to the point
of destroying their health, thinking that this world absolutely needs their guy
or all is finished. It is the Christian
alone who has the proper perspective—doing what God has given him to do and
then trusting His Lord for working His will and bringing glory to Himself.
Pray daily, vote, and trust the Lord,
Who alone can build His kingdom,
Scott Boerckel
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