Albert Mohler recently caused a stir when he suggested that faithful Christians have only one option when it comes to voting, and while he didn’t name the party, it was evident to all that it was the Republican Party.
The implication is that those who do not vote for that party are unfaithful Christians. You can read more about it here.
I will make clear that I am not an American and here in Canada, we do not have a two party system. In fact, conservatives had a couple of options here.
Having said that, I do see people making clear pronouncements such as: “You cannot be a Christian and vote Democrat.” And yet there are Christians who vote Democrat.
Probably one of the most Christian presidents during my lifetime has been Jimmy Carter, who is a Democrat.
It seems as if people see politics as being primarily about abortion. This is likely true for many on both ends of the political spectrum. For conservatives, the vote is always about taking a stand on abortion.
Again, I will state clearly that I am pro-life.
However, I don’t think that abortion is the only issue of importance. Not only that, there is evidence that abortions have gone down during the office of pro-choice politicians because they have provided social supports that have made it more likely for some women to not see abortion as their only option.
But the point is that there are other issues that reflect Christian faithfulness. Some parties put more emphasis on providing supports for the poor, something that the Bible says a lot about.
I will acknowledge that even those who claim that abortion is their defining issue, also often hold onto other common positions regarding the environment, immigration, and so on. The assumption is that if a politician is pro-life, they will likely get it “right” on the other conservative issues.
Who should “faithful” Christians vote for? The Bible never addresses this, as voting was not an option for anyone and Christians were on the margins anyway.
Christians should look at all of the issues, they should look at what God values as revealed in Scripture, and they should vote according to their conscience after prayer.
It is likely that Christians will disagree on the best way to vote and that does not make one more or less faithful than the other.
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