Many Christians are asking themselves who they should vote for. There are so many issues at hand that would typically cause us to vote one way or the other, and likewise each election cycle evolves both our mindset as well as the way the candidates approach and address the electorate.
I believe that this election will come down to economics more than any other issue. Many people who voted with a party solely because of social issues such as abortion will this time vote based on the fact that this economy needs a boost.
In addition, the Democratic candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, has firmly ensconced himself in the national eye as a churchgoer. While the Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain, has made the voters wonder where he goes to church and, more so, if he goes at all.
Typically, at least in the past few decades, Republicans have been efficient at mobilizing the "evangelical vote" in favor of their party. However, without a Karl Rove to do so, it appears that the McCain campaign has fallen flat in this bloc. Rove even said that McCain should speak about his faith more often, I suppose in order to reach that part of people in these dire times we as a nation are so mired in.
Many friends of mine seem to swallow the Kool-Aid without questioning and tell me that all Christians should vote for McCain if we are truly trying to identify with the candidate and party of pro-life. I quickly respond to them, "Then why is our party so determined to create war everywhere in the world, even where it is not necessary for attrition, like Iraq?"
You see, there is a double standard here to our thinking when it comes to issues of life. I am pro-life, but we are OK with slaughtering a multitude of citizens of another country even though they have not attacked or posed a threat to our country. If we as Christians revere life, then why do so many Christians support, so earnestly, the death penalty?
I do not support homosexuality as a lifestyle that, according to the Bible, God intended. Nevertheless, I love my friends who are gay and neither lie to them nor judge them. They know how I feel about the issue and likewise know that I will always be there for them as their friend and brother.
Yet again, the Republican Party harshly condemns the people who choose to live this lifestyle. Does not Matthew 7:1 say, "Judge not lest ye be judged?" Jesus loved everyone, yet condemned the sin that abounded in the world. There were many people in his day who condemned him for hanging around with prostitutes and thieves, yet still, he loved all.
I believe, with what is shown and given in the Bible, that social welfare is appropriate and scriptural. For all of you who are blessed to have much money and resources, if you don’t believe that we should share our wealth or that taxation is a crime, Jesus says in Luke 12:48, "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."
I will admit – I agree that, on the social agenda, God is the center of all that we do and are, and the policies of the Republican Party on social issues†shouldn’t be ignored.This is not an attack on the Republican Party, or an endorsement of the Democratic Party, as I only support candidates individually and am an independent who votes for candidates on both sides of the row. It is only a call to ask people to question authority and don’t swallow everything that people try to feed you. Question all that you hear, and no matter who is elected president this year, you must question and hold him accountable as well.
Delano, a political science and history senior, can be reached via [email protected]
