Is a vote for one party ‘less christian’ than a vote for another?
Many christians vote according to a vary narrow set of perceived ‘Christian’ issues and don’t consider others which are just as, if not more important… [Matt 7:15-20, Jas 2:18]
God’s measure of leaders, governments and societies is this: how do they treat widows, orphans, and the alien in the land? (Basically the vulnerable and oppressed), the Tories and Labour have fallen down badly by these measures, particularly the last one…
It could be argued that Nick Clegg is not ‘less Christian’ just less hypocritical than the other two by stating his personal beliefs with uncharacteristic conviction and sincerity rather than trying to pander to ‘faith voters’.
Let George W Bush stand as a warning to us, he undoubtedly won millions of votes based on his ‘christian’ testimony and conservative ’stance’ on issues like abortion, however, the truth is that while the outcome of those elections, either way, was never going to make any significant difference to the number of abortions in America, Bush’s military stance DID directly result in many hundreds of thousands of additional deaths, national infrastructures raped and destroyed, and many trillions of dollars lining the pockets of some of the most evil people to walk God’s earth (arms traders). At least his voters can comfort themselves with the knowledge that they voted for the candidate that was personally against abortion…
Also, Consider Xerxese; while he wasn’t a ‘man of God’ he was still God’s man…
As Christians go to the polls tomorrow they’d do well to ask God to deliver them from skewed perspectives or beliefs and priorities that they’ve accepted and never questioned or examined, because the one thing you can just about guarantee about the members of any established religion, (Thank God for His grace!), is that they’ll have strained their fair share of gnats, and swallowed a few camels along the way.
So, Is a vote for one party ‘less christian’ than a vote for another? Almost certainly, but the real question might be, which is which?
Interesting thoughts bro. So is it about the greater good, lesser evil thing?
Thanks for reading and commenting m8 =O)
That is part of it but it’s perhaps more about challenging ethical priorities. Most evangelical christians will vote ‘not liberal’ by default on the basis of perceived liberal attitudes towards sanctity of life, sexuality and secularism; what I’m arguing is that foreign and domestic policies relating to social justice may actually be higher on God’s stated list of priorities as they invariably have a much greater and far reaching impact on the actual lives of His children.
Of course that’s not to say that a liberal vote is necessarily the better choice; while my political instincts lean strongly towards the Lib Dems, everyone should vote according to their own conscience, I would just like to challenge christians to re-examine their voting priorities and not rule anyone out without careful (and prayerful) consideration.
You say that Labour “fell down badly” on protecting the vulnerable but you don’t offer any argument for this. You also seem implicitly to be bias in faovur of nick clegg in your thoughts in the article. You are happy that he has formed an agreement in Government that will see the most vulnerable in society subject to the deepest withdrawl of support becuause of a budget he has allowed to pass through parliament, and which he could have stopped?
Actually, my comment about our last parliaments’ short comings in relation to God’s priorities is primarily about the last of those priorities, as I’ve indicated; the ‘alien in the land’ has been particularly badly treated in the UK over the last 10 years, if you disagree then try asking the family of Jean Charles DeMenezes, or anyone confined under a control order without trial, appeal or other form of legal recourse, or any of the hundreds of innocent children who have been snatched from their homes in shock dawn raids and imprisoned in abysmal conditions in imigration detention centres…
You’re quite right about my own personal bias, but you’re missing the point of the article altogether; I’ve carefully considered my position and been willing to be challenged by ideas and arguments outside of the ‘normal’ evangelical Christian world view, whereas I contend that this is not the norm for many evangelical Christians; anything which challenges or contradicts what they have been taught to believe is summarily dismissed. The republican voting conservative Christian right in America is the best example of this taken to the extreme, basically a block which will NEVER vote or even CONSIDER voting differently because considering ‘liberal’ ideals is somehow considered ’sinful’ and a weakness of ‘faith’.