YES! The power is (or at least, SHOULD BE) in the hands of the people, but we are giving away those freedoms to government and having them make decisions on our behalf…

I prefer to review what is documented as opposed to what is said. People can and will say things to drum up emotion. You know what a ‘party’ stands for by what their platform is. They have to hold true to those proclamations… just like we have to hold true to the Bible, Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, etc. Once put on paper, it’s harder to backtrack on promises made during election time.

I don’t expect Trip to directly respond to your question, but I can take a crack at it if you want.

In my view, I’m a bit torn. As a Christian, I want to vote for the best friend of the Church, who will see that our needs are addressed to boost society and restore some sense of light to the nation. Things like abortion are harmful to the country, but I cannot say that the presence of abortion will irrevocably bring down God’s wrath. If this were a perfect society with that being the major exception, I would expect God to be merciful towards us and send messengers to persuade us to give up this sin. That said, the election of one politician over another to enforce that change shouldn’t be the one reason to vote for them. Too often I see abortion and gay marriage as leverages that people use to force you to vote for or against a candidate, who, mind you, may not even have a great deal of influence over that policy (or may have bigger things on his plate). I just don’t want to be bullied as a Christian into selecting one candidate for a single issue, using God as some kind of hammer. Fact of the matter is we do not know what God will do to one person or one nation as a result of abortion. We just don’t know.

Same goes for homosexuality and gay marriage. I’m against homosexuality, but I am not going to essentialize it as though it is the worst sin in the world. (What about heterosexual adultery or fornication? Or rape?) Is it honoring to God? No. But what influence do I have on that other than to enforce some kind of surface change of behavior? Is God suddenly going to be pleased with that, as if it was a change of heart? No. On top of that, this is America, and we all have a choice what we want to do with our life. In essence, our American ethic should be that one can do whatever they want, as long as they don’t impede on someone else’s liberties. So the gay person can do what they want, as long as they don’t stop me from living my life. Another issue with voting based on religious mandates is on interpretation: What if a politician was elected with a mandate to enact “Scriptural” laws, and he enacts them wrongly? This has been tried before in Europe, and I think we all know how badly that went. Any kind of imposition by the government, whether for religious or secular reasons, stops you from doing what you want. If what you want is harmful to someone else, you cannot do it. But if the government goes too far, it may stop you from doing something you want or need to do in good conscience. Take evangelism in the Roman Empire. Since the emperor saw himself as Lord and demanded worship, proclaiming Jesus is Lord got you killed. But you wanted and needed to do it. The shoe’s on the other foot.

Lastly, autonomy allows you to decide to follow God on your own accord. It opens up the door for God to work freely in your heart, because outward actions aren’t being required of you. But when outward actions are demanded, you very easily will take the performance of those actions as a false sign of security. For instance, many in my community think they are doing God a favor by showing up in church, or that their frequent attendance means they are going to Heaven. False sense of security. And so for me as an evangelist to tell them they are not in God’s Ark based on those reasons alone, they get very defensive. It’s as if they were better off outside the church, knowing nothing, rather than being inside the church and thinking they know everything.

That’s my take on voting as an American Christian. I need to give you the freedom to make your own decisions (and if necessary, suffer for them), and work personally to reach out to you to introduce you to Christ, who will change you from the inside-out. But politicians will not be able to do for society what we can as a strong Church. So I won’t ask them to be my pastor and my president, I’ll just ask them to be my president and not get in my way. (And if you think about it, you don’t want anyone in your way for anything you do in life, spiritual or secular.)