...is like discarding a half eaten hamburger in a trash can that happens to be in the vicinity of a homeless person and calling it a work of mercy.
I'm not saying that Christians should not vote. It is a responsible action. Like putting your garbage in a proper receptacle and not dropping it on the sidewalk. But lets call it what it is; and it is not letting the voice of the Church be heard. It is waste management. At best - and it rarely is - the state helps to restrain evil. It does not usher in the kingdom.
Neither party nor any recent candidate embodies the Christian message (No, not even Katherine Harris). Therefore voting = compromise. Picking the lesser of two evils. And witness and compromise are mutually exclusive concepts.
If we care about abortion do we simply vote pro-life then go home and watch TV and eat cheetos and feel good about doing our Christian duty? Dear God I hope not. Because where does that candidate stand on immigration? Helping those living in poverty? Inflation and debt?
I once talked with gentleman who said, "Yea. I may not agree with (a certain politician's) economic stance. But I made a decision long ago to vote strictly by moral issues, not economic theories."
Every issue is a moral issue.
Last I checked God loves Mexicans and poor people too.
"Oh, Wil. You can't have it all."
"Nope. Not within the American political system."
The lesser of two evils may be the better choice between two options. So go ahead and vote that way. But lets quit stopping there. The problem is that we've bought into the idea that these are the only options: liberal or conservative, yes on prop 204 or no on prop 204, legislated morality or ganja fueled peace orgies, elephants bearing their Americanized Jesus that feeds his cherished corporations with the corpses of the poor and then offers them a clear glass of melted glacier water to wash it down, or jackasses herded by Satan himself on a black ATV that runs on an alternative fuel derived from aborted babies and toppled monuments to the 10 commandments.
We've been told to "vote or shut up." If we believe this, if we see voting as our only, or even our primary, voice, then our ballots become the duct tape sealing our lips.
Thank the Living Jesus there is a third option: seeing the Church of Jesus Christ as the primary political entity to which we belong and through which we let our voice be heard. We do not need to continue searching and waiting for the perfect candidate to represent Christianity. I have been told so many times over the past few months as the mid-term elections approach that if Christians do not go out and do our part and vote, then we will be powerless as we watch evil continue to spread throughout our once great nation. Again, sure, vote. But I believe that voting is neither our only, nor our best, avenue for influence.
What is? The body of believers united and mobilized, willing to risk everything, to love God by loving our neighbor.
Since when do we have to wait for laws and governments to change things? The early Church brought about change by getting themselves thrown to the lions by the ruling authorities. They did not need to try to get the state to work on their behalf because they saw themselves as the instruments of God for change. We need no mediator and no law to grant legitimacy or power (efficacy) to what we are called to do. We only need the God-given faith and discipline to actually do it.
