Thinking about not voting?
No candidate is perfect, but chaos and tyranny are worse.
Are you a Christian?
Have you decided not to vote in the next election, because you “don’t like either candidate”?
What you like and dislike about the presidential candidates can be almost irrelevant; in contrast, the underlying battle for the survival of civilization is crucial. Voting is just the beginning of where we need to be involved. When Christians decide not to vote because all the candidates for President have major flaws, it is almost assured that tyranny will result. The opposing worldview craves that.
The scarcity of “perfect” candidates in any significant party is completely understandable.
Democratic party candidates are forced into lockstep submission to the party’s agenda, and are rarely held accountable for reprehensible behavior, even to the level of treason. They pay no personal cost for political involvement, and power without accountability is seductive. They’re glad to run for office.
But those who honor functional families, limited government, Judeo-Christian principles, and the “consent of the governed” face blistering attacks by their own party and by a media fully supportive of the opposing Marxist agenda. They and their families pay dearly for their political involvement. We desperately need those few heroes who are willing and able to survive that political bloodbath and go on to accomplish worthy goals, whether they can recite Scripture or not.
The personal flaws of the presidential candidates barely influence the country’s direction; but when we give a governing majority to one party or the other, it can have massive impact. If none of the candidates are acceptable to us, for whatever reasons of morality, appearance, manners, or whatever else matters to us, then it is our fault for not being involved early enough in the political process to ensure there ARE acceptable candidates to choose from!
As I write this, many sat out the last election because of such personality preferences. The country is seriously damaged as a result. An invasion by millions of people pours through our southern border, an attack completely controlled by and benefitting the Mexican drug cartels, and which our anti-Constitution administration has directly caused. Another ongoing crime by those who won, a corruption that might last for generations, is the ongoing weaponization of the federal law enforcement agencies to destroy their political opponents in classic tyrannical style.
Those now running the federal government appear completely committed to Marxist beliefs and objectives. As a result, any vote for a member of today’s Democratic party in any local or national race adds support to that national agenda, which is intent on destroying family, church, personal freedoms, and the Constitutional rule of law.
So the real issue is not a choice between flawed presidential candidates, but rather the ongoing attack on western civilization and our Constitutional republic, and the urgent need to defend both of those. If you do not actively vote in favor of preserving a law-abiding civilization, you abandon the field to the party that eagerly seeks to destroy it.
We have been reminded of that for centuries.
John Adams, writing in 1798:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”1
A society that cannot govern itself will be governed by force, and the rejection of our core Biblically-based principles sends us hurtling down that path.
President James Garfield, looking forward to our time today, spelled it out clearly:
“Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature.… If the next centennial does not find us a great nation … it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.”2
For the people of God, the command to take a stand is clear and insistent. The Psalms and Proverbs clearly guide our position towards those who, like our spiritual enemy, come “to steal, kill, and destroy.”
Proverbs 8:13 (NLT): “All who fear the LORD will hate evil.”
Psalm 97:10 (RSV): “The LORD loves those who hate evil.”
Christians in particular have a moral obligation to participate as fully as possible in politics in America. The evangelist Charles Finney declared that
“The church must take right ground in regard to politics. Politics are part of a religion in a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to their country as a part of their duty to God. God will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics.”3
In Paul’s letter to the Roman church, he confirmed to them that “the one in authority is God’s servant for your good … to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” (Romans 13, NIV). Those familiar with the Constitution will recognize that uniquely in America “we the people” are the ones He put in authority, and all civil leaders, all levels of government, are accountable to us for carrying out those responsibilities, for dealing with lawlessness. If we abandon our role as shepherds for the people, the wolves will triumph.
Moreover, Christians should be better equipped than any other group to effectively support national righteousness. The Judeo-Christian worldview identifies clearly the supernatural forces driving us towards chaos, and Paul directs us to where the real battle must be fought:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12).
As that battle rages “in the heavenly places,” our active participation in the struggle “on the ground” is simply an extension, a continuation of that commitment to fight supernaturally for the preservation of righteousness.
It is not just for America that we must engage. As George Washington said, “Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind.”4 To abandon the field of combat does a massive injustice to those who delivered our freedom to us through great suffering and loss, and to those who depend on us to bring it forward for them and their descendants.
In summary, please reject the inclination to not vote simply for lack of a perfect presidential candidate on the ballot. Focus instead on the real, ongoing battle for the survival of liberty and the knowledge of God. Let us not abandon what He has given us to those working to destroy all the foundations of the best civilization the world has ever seen.
John Adams, Address to the Military, 1798.
James A. Garfield, “A Century of Progress”, Atlantic, July 1877.
Charles Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion, ed. 1835
George Washington, Letter to James Warren, 1779