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For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but
of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. – II Timothy 1:7
Earlier this week, Dr. Bob
Jones, III officially endorsed Mitt Romney for President. Quite
frankly, I am shocked and appalled at this decision. I have the
utmost respect for Dr. Bob and for Bob Jones University.
However, this endorsement is irresponsible.
I think what I find most
shocking about this is the reasoning behind it. Dr. Bob said,
“This is all about beating Hillary.” He went on to add, “If it
turns out to be Guiliani and Hillary, we’ve got two pro- choice
candidates, and that would be a disaster.”
This is what I call the
politics of fear. Because we fear a supposedly evil person, we
will stop at nothing, including the compromise of principles and
conviction, to prevent their election. Often times, we decide
to back a lesser evil person who we deem not as bad. Of course
the problem is that the lesser of two evils is still evil.
That is what Dr. Jones is
clearly guilty of. He deems Hillary and Rudy to be so scary, he
has decided to back a flip-flopping cultist responsible for
legalizing homosexual marriage here in Massachusetts. Is this
really something the Lord would want us to do?
The Bible tells us that we
have not been given a spirit of fear. But, one thing we have
been given is a sound mind. A sound mind does not make
decisions based on fear or polling data, but on prayer, Biblical
principal and Scriptural convictions. A sound mind is not
easily led astray by anxious worry neither is it bullied into
bad decisions by bad situations.
As Christians, we do what is
right and leave the consequences to our sovereign, Almighty
Lord. We are not to do what is right only when we think the
consequences will be favorable. We do not know how the Lord
will work.
People think the election of
Hillary Clinton would be the worst thing ever to happen.
Therefore drastic measures, even the abandonment of principle,
are in order. Let us remember that Christianity flourished
under the persecution of evil Roman dictators such as Nero. God
Himself declares in Romans 9 that He raised up the wicked
Egyptian Pharaoh for His purpose. God is not limited or His
work thwarted by any human ruler. “The king‘s heart is in the
hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it
whithersoever he will.” – Proverbs 21:1.
Of course, another thing we
must consider is the false dilemma Jones creates in the first
place. Jones suggested we would only be limited two one of two
options – Rudy or Hillary. That is not a true dilemma. There
will be other candidates on the ballot. Yet, again, because
Jones deems these to be the only credible candidates, they are
the only options available.
I am a member of the
Constitution Party, America’s third largest party. Our motto is
“principles over politics.” We will offer a true alternative
to either party’s candidates. We are a party that is 100%
pro-life, against gay marriage or civil unions, and will fight
for the freedoms and liberties that we as Christians hold dear.
On top of that, we are the only party still dedicated to
upholding the Constitution.
It has been my experience that
most Christians agree with our party in principle, but still
feel the need to vote for one of the major party candidates.
This is out of pragmatism, not principle. Again, the politics
of fear.
Notice that Dr. Bob does not
even take third parties into consideration, or even one of the
other Republican candidates such as Tom Tancredo, Ron Paul,
Duncan Hunter or Mike Huckabee. We often complain about the
lack of choices we have in elections like this. Yet, we have
exactly the political atmosphere we have voted for. As long as
Christians are willing to vote for pro-abortion candidates,
that’s what we will get. As long as we continue to reject
pro-life, Christian candidates (because they are third party or
not top-tier), the less we will have to choose from. We have
what we vote for.
Many people wish Republicans
would start acting like Republicans. I just wish Christians
would start voting like Christians. If we would simply start to
vote our consciences, we would see a dramatically different
political landscape.
As one who has run for office
(with the Constitution Party), I can testify that there are more
people out there that believe as we do than most people are
aware of. We often assume that in places such as liberal New
England, Christians cannot make a difference. But as one who
has been out there on the campaign trail, I know that not to be
true. Remember, that in many elections, most people do not
vote. In my election, which received a lot of press attention,
only 30% of voters came out to the polls. That means we still
do not know what 70% of voters actually believe. What I came to
see was that many people agreed with my views, yet simply
believed nothing could be done and stayed home on election
day. Those who did cast their votes yet were too willing to
waste their votes on candidates who did not stand where they
would stand. Yes, we can make a difference – if we are willing
to pay the price to do that.
However, even if the Christian
vote meant nothing, Christians still ought to vote like
Christians. It is the right thing to do regardless of the
perception or result. I wish someone like Dr. Bob Jones, III
would take a stand for righteousness and not for pragmatism.
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