3 Reasons why not voting in the coming presidential election is a wrong choice.
The 2016 Presidential Election is less than 3 months away and most faithful Christians are understandably disturbed by their choices. One candidate is a career politician who is essentially amoral and will sell her soul and destroy as many others as necessary to reach her political goals. The other choice is a shamelessly arrogant businessman who assumes his “deal making” ability will be sufficient to move world leaders to do his bidding. Neither has the necessary moral character to earn the vote of a Christian who values principle over pragmatism.
Christians are no longer considering who to vote for; instead they must decide if their conscience (along with their stomach) will allow them to vote at all. Many have concluded that it is better to stay at home than to vote for an individual who so strongly embraces values that they wholly despise.
Our approach to voting is the same as it has always been; we vote for the individual who most strongly embraces our ideals. But that argument seems very weak in light of our present candidates. One young man stated his intentions very clearly: “I will not now, nor ever again, vote for a candidate simply because they’re better than the Democrat.” If that is our position, then we will never vote again. Every election has been, and always will be decided by people who vote for who they think is the better – or in our present situation – less evil choice.
While I share the concerns expressed by those who despise both candidates, I will vote for the candidate I think is the better choice.
There are 3 reasons why I believe not voting in this year’s presidential election is a wrong choice.
- Choosing not to vote demonstrates grave disrespect for those who sacrificed to ensure that we have that privilege. Voting is a precious right, and its value is embodied by its use. A vote not used is of no value to anyone. There is no great benefit to be derived from Christians who choose to protest the status quo by withholding their vote. The only thing that does is guarantee that nothing will change.
- Choosing not to vote demonstrates unwise disregard for the future of our country. The author of the above quote also said: “We have voted for the lesser of two evils since 1988 and what has it gotten us?” He fails to mention that in 12 of those 28 years we elected the “lesser of two evils” for whom we voted. The result is that our country has been far more conservative than it would have been had we elected the “worst of the two evils.” Voting for the “lesser of two evils” will not restore the conservative values that made America the envy of the world, but it can delay the total destruction of those values that remain.
- Choosing not to vote demonstrates total disregard for the future of our children and grandchildren. It is appalling to me that we are so much more concerned about the financial debt we are leaving to future generations than we are about the culture of depravity that they will have to face. Even more disheartening is the realization that many Christians will refuse to use the little influence that they have to keep that from happening.
Today’s America is much like a school bus full of children barreling down a treacherous mountain road. The brakes are gone and steering has become almost impossible. If the bus continues on a straight path death is certain; there is no way to survive driving off a cliff. If the driver could just turn the wheels a little they could stay on the road. If he turns them a little more they could use the side of the mountain to help slow the bus and maybe get it to stop. Neither option is very good. But I don’t think anyone would suggest that the best option is for the driver to remove his hands from the wheel.
The young man quoted earlier finished his post by boldly declaring: “My vote is my vote. It is a privilege that I take very seriously, and it will not be a rubber stamp for a candidate based solely on the premise that he is better than Hillary.”
I hope he will not be too disappointed when things turn out exactly as he predicts they will.
It’s only one vote, having little influence. But it’s all he has, and his choice is to waste it.
There are precious few subjects that the Bible actually explains WHY they are sacred: Human life (Gen 1:27), marriage and gender (Gen 1:27, Eph 5:32), family and church order (Eph 5:23, 1 Tim 2:12ff), and work and rest (Gen 2:2, Ex 20:11). During the last national election cycle, the two loudest and longest applause breaks for one of the candidate’s acceptance speech addressed the first two, supporting abortion and same-sex marriage. All humans are stained with sin and none is perfect, but listen carefully to what is said during the next go-round.