Clergyman Charlie: On voting your conscience
July 1st, 2007 by Charles Lamb
Some years ago I visited a church made up primarily of recent immigrants to the United States. I won’t mention the name of the church or nationality of the people because I don’t want to cause them trouble, though enough years have gone by that it might not matter anyway.
While there, on a Sunday morning, I heard the minister exhort the congregation to become voters. Now that they were citizens, he said, they had a responsibility to become informed and vote.
In order to help them do that, he continued, he had arranged for tables to be set up at the rear of the sanctuary and people were on hand to help them register. He said he wanted everyone who had become a citizen to register to vote before leaving. I was applauding these efforts silently, but then was startled when he continued, saying, “And I want every one of you to register Democratic.”
I thought, “He can’t do that!” But he just had, evidently without knowing that was forbidden. And I was amazed that nobody in his congregation seemed offended by what they had heard.
Well, churches and other non-profit organizations aren’t supposed to endorse certain candidates, but we can vote our principles. If we become informed about what our religion teaches and then vote for the party that is most in line with those principles, we will do well.
For instance, the Bible is clear that we should regard the earth and all of nature as belonging to God, and not to ourselves. (Psalm 24:1) We are stewards, or caretakers, of God’s world. Therefore we need to support the party that is most diligent for environmental protection.
We also know that we are to be our brother’s (or sister’s) keeper, to love others and not just ourselves. (I John 3:11) In that case, we should support the party that is most eager to work for health care for all.
We have a duty to be compassionate to those who are less fortunate than ourselves. (Isaiah 58:6-9) We should be eager to support policies that help the poor become self sufficient. We should accept the idea of paying more taxes, if necessary, to assist those who are behind. This would include day care programs, an adequate minimum wage, and assistance to those who are in need.
We should be peacemakers. (Matthew 5:9) Not peace hopers, but those who work for peace. The party that is more willing to work for peaceful solutions to problems and more reluctant to use force should get our support.
Our Scriptures teach us that we are free to follow God according to our conscience. We do not submit to a “yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1) but can use our own best judgment in doing what is loving in various situations. Some would call this “situational ethics” as though that is a bad thing. I would call it a good thing. Do the most loving thing possible in each individual situation.
Sometimes we become distracted from the issues that matter by less important things. Sometimes I thin
k this is intentional, that we are manipulated to focus on issues of lesser importance so as to neglect those of greater import. A prime example of this is when Bill Clinton’s sexual misbehavior was used to distract the country from the policies and programs he was advocating. What his personal moral life was like was no doubt an issue for himself and his wife, but had little to do with the rest of the country.
So, when elections come up, if you want to vote for your religious principles, look for candidates and a party that will take action to protect the environment, institute a universal health care policy, show compassion and provide assistance to the poor, promote peace, and support individual choice. If you take these principles with you into the voting booth, you won’t need anyone telling you how to register or vote; you’ll know.
Top photo by this church goer/voter
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