"Never before have so many written so much to be read by so few."

I will write about anything that disturbs me, concerns me, scares me, puzzles me or makes me laugh. I hope to be able to educate regularly, and entertain most of the time.

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Saturday, October 27, 2012

How Should I Vote?


                So, you are the “king.”  You must govern your people as best you can.  And since you are a servant of God, placed in your official capacity by him, your first concern is to please him as you govern.  What will you do when faced with a two-party, democratic republic political system?  I am not referring to your tone or behavior.  Those are separate issues.  I am addressing your responsibility to take part in the political system into which God has dropped you.  Will you associate with a particular party or be an independent?  Will you vote for all the candidates of one party and none of the other, or will you vote for whichever individuals you think will do what is right?
                First, let us try to understand this political system that has developed as a result of the type of government God has established in our country.  It is a two-party system.  There are other parties, but they generally are only symbolic.  From time to time there is a serious effort to raise up a third party, but they have all failed.  We must accept the reality that, at least for now, we have two choices when we visit the voting booth.
                The two parties are differentiated by their stands on certain key issues.  Some of these issues are fairly static, while others come and go as various concerns make their way through the complex social network of emotional responses.  Economics and foreign policy are two static issues that each party approaches from very different bases, though the emphases in each area change from one election to the next.  Issues like suffrage, prohibition, voting age, marriage and immigration make their impact and dissolve into history as people either believe they have been dealt with, tire of fighting the battle, or are distracted by other issues.  People may choose to affiliate with a particular party for many reasons, including family tradition, peer pressure, or intellectual agreement.  Those who choose to remain “independent” usually claim they vote based on particular issues and not due to loyalty to any one party.
                We don’t get to vote on every issue.  That is why we are called a republic, not technically a democracy.  Therefore, we must vote for people who will most likely champion the causes which we believe God wants us to promote for the good of his people.  This is where it gets complicated.  We seldom get to really know those people.  We can only do the research and hope they will follow through on what they tell us they will do.  And what will cause them to vote in a particular way?  Lots of things.  Maybe greed.  Maybe a pure conscience.  More probably, pragmatism.  Likely, they will have to give and take.  They will owe the people who got them into the office through their hard work or financial donations.  They will have to make deals requiring them to agree to something they don’t like very much in exchange for help getting a bill passed which is important to them.  They will have to make choices based on their priorities, knowing they will not get everything they want, and that they will have to support things and people they do not really want to support.  That is the way the system works.  We don’t have to like it, but we ought to understand it.  Our duty is to figure out who has the same priorities we have, and to make sure our priorities are the same as God’s.  It would be much easier to simply obey a king or queen, but that isn’t the way God has set things up for us.
                Our duty as Christians, then, is to make that list of priorities.  It is easier to come up with the list than it is to prioritize it.  Protection of innocent lives, freedom to share the gospel, freedom to worship God, ability to earn a living and raise a family, ability to protect oneself, military peace with other countries, are just a few of the concerns we must consider.  What is God concerned about?  What does he want us (his appointed “king”) to work on ensuring?  Once we figure out the top three or four for our priority list, we need to look to the candidates and determine which are most likely to promote those same issues.  We will not get everything we want.  We must understand this going into the process.  We are looking for the best choices, not the perfect ones.
                What is important to me?  I believe God is concerned about the taking of over 5 million innocent babies as a result of Roe v. Wade in 1973.  I believe he wants me to care for the orphans, widows, and others who have difficulty taking care of themselves.  I believe he wants us to live in peace with one another and with other nations whenever possible.  I believe he wants me to be able to provide for and protect my family and the innocent with whom I have contact.  I believe he wants me to insure justice prevails.  There are many other issues, but these are the ones I believe should be top priorities.  How will they help me decide where to cast my votes?
                First, I need to understand there are limits on what various offices in our government can do.  When deciding on a candidate for the local water agency, I am not going to take into consideration his view on abortion.  State representatives are primarily going to affect how state money is spent, so I will examine the candidates’ views on those issues only.  The president can’t make laws, but he can veto those the congress sends to him.  He also is responsible for putting forth nominees for the Supreme Court, though the senate must approve as well.  So, if abortion is an important issue for me, I need to support the presidential candidate I believe will appoint acceptable justices, and senators who will confirm his choices.  If economics is a major concern, I need to support representatives and senators who will push for the kind of legislation that will do the most good, but I also need to choose a president who will sign those bills and enforce the law.
                So, should I belong to a particular party, voting for candidates from that party even if I don’t agree with them on some important issues?  I believe it helps.  Here’s why.  If the party is, for example, pro-life, as stated in their party’s platform, those candidates will be more likely to vote as the party wishes because they owe the party for getting elected and because they may want something from the party in return.  What if that party is against some other issue I find important?  I need to go back to my priority list.  What is most important to me?  Am I willing to give up improvements in the economy to achieve justice for the unborn, for example?  As I have already shown, the passing and enforcing of legislation is not dependent upon any one person or any one branch of government.  When I decide on the issues of most import to me, I need to support the legislators, executives and justices who will most likely bring about the changes I believe God intends for us.  Parties work together, even when individuals within those parties disagree with each other on issues or sub-issues.
                This does not imply I am idolizing the party I choose to support.  It means I have decided that party is the most likely means to the ends I desire I at this time.  Political parties are tools to be used to get the job done.
                There are issues about which we do get to vote directly.  In California, we call them initiatives.  I apply the same principle to them as I do to the candidates for various offices.  Which are important to me as a “king” servant of God?  Which will protect lives, make it possible for people to earn a living and care for their families, etc.?  But I also recognize, living in California, that no initiative is safe from the California Supreme Court, so my votes for those judges are also key to success.
                That’s it in a nutshell.  I don’t like posting a blog this long, but it is a very complicated issue and not easy to explain.  The bottom line is that I am responsible for doing what I can to carry out God’s will in this country.  Most of that can be done regardless of government approval, but as the “king,” I have a responsibility to use my governmental power to protect God’s creation from evil and to promote that which is right.

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