Saturday, October 13, 2012

Voting for Christian Values


Religion and politics.  Yeah, that’s what I said.  Religion and politics.  I know, it’s dangerous for me to use the two in the same sentence (especially right next to each other), but hopefully it got your attention.  Most people despise the mixing of the two like it’s the combining gasoline with a flamethrower.  Still, I think it’s valid to consider the relation of the two.

First, I admit that I don’t like defining Christianity as a religion, because that makes it sound like a legalistic worship system. That’s not what I’m talking about, so I will try and stay away from that word.  What I’m talking about is Christianity as a relationship.  When we look at it that way, it changes everything.  Everything.  I’m not married, but I can imagine some things about being married that I can assume to be true.  If I am married, I assume that it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to spend a lot of time talking to other women.  I think that’s valid.  Being married would also affect how I spend my money, the plans I make, and the activities I’m involved in.  I wouldn’t want to do anything or involve myself in anything that would offend my wife.  It’s pretty simple logic.

I’m not going to get into how the Bible and Christian beliefs fit into economic policy.  I have my opinion on all of those things and I may even write on them at some point, but right now, I want to focus on moral issues that are relevant to the election.  There are always two biggies: abortion and same-sex marriage.  Abortion is pretty simple: don’t kill.  A baby is life, and if you don’t agree with that or want more elaboration, you can see my previous post about that.  Secondly, same-sex marriage.  That’s also a pretty simple one.  Marriage is defined in Genesis 3:24 as one man and one woman.  In addition, homosexuality is directly condemned in Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9.  Those are two issues that the Bible is very clear on.

We have a very unique opportunity in America because we have the ability to directly influence who our country’s next leader is going to be.  Now as a Christian, being in a relationship with Christ, how can I vote for a candidate who supports abortion and/or same-sex marriage?  Ultimately, that is saying that economics are more importantly than morality.  Economics are more important than what God has said about our behavior.  Where are your priorities? 

Being relevant to this election, President Barack Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage in May 2012.  Asked shortly thereafter about his position on the issue, Mitt Romney firmly said that he opposed it.  Barack Obama has long been a pro-choice candidate.  Mitt Romney is pro-life and has recently announced that he will fight to get abortion illegal.  In addition, Mitt Romney is also promising to fight a branch of immorality that has become particularly bad but is rarely mentioned: pornography.  In today’s world, the average pornography user begins at age 12.  The revenue from pornography is more than all professional American sports combinedHere is a direct quote from Mitt Romney: “(I)t is imperative that we cultivate the promotion of fundamental family values. This can be accomplished with increased parental involvement and enhanced supervision of our children. It includes strict enforcement of our nation's obscenity laws, as well as the promotion of parental software controls that guard our children from Internet pornography.” 

I may not agree with everything that Mitt Romney says, and I never will agree with everything that any candidate says.  But I will say this: I want morality to make a comeback.  I want to live to see a world that again begins to see sexuality as God sees it: as reserved for marriage and not to be indulged in at will.  Under Mitt Romney, we may stop sliding backward and start inching forward.  

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