Worthy Opinions » Has your faith influenced your politics?

by Mark Willis, Worthy Opinions Contributor

How you vote tells something of who you really are…

As a Christian, your moral convictions should routinely influence how you vote in an election. The moral absolutes you hold dear ought to make a difference whenever you enter the voting booth. Or do you try, like many Americans, to compartmentalize the realm of religion and the realm of politics, thinking the two are so different that your faith should never impact your political positions? If, like most Americans, you believe that religion should not influence politics, then you have been brainwashed into believing one of the oldest politically correct lies on earth.

Religion and politics mix every time there is an election in the United States. Sacred liberal tenets such as the “right” to an abortion or the “right” to a welfare check or promotion of the homosexual lifestyle or the feverish and draconian urgency to “go green” and protect (don’t they really mean worship?) the environment, to name just a few, are all recurring themes in election after election in the United States. Yet all of these issues are sacraments of humanism, which itself has been defined as a religion. Humanism is the religion taught in public schools. And it is the National Education Association that will do its best to see that your child, if he / she attends public school, grows up in a politically correct world of moral and cultural relativism instead of moral absolutes and American exceptionalism.

Humanism is what makes a child in a public school come home, as mine did several years ago, reciting hymns dedicated to the legacy of Martin Luther King. It is also what motivates a school principal to prohibit those same children, only weeks later, from hearing the Resurrection Story read to them in the classroom during Easter week “because children at that age are psychologically unable to process such information.” (a quote from the principal). With practices like these, the state-run school is nothing more than a religious institution that vanguards the toxic beliefs of humanism. Parents, are you familiar with what your child is being taught in public schools? Are you familiar with the Charters of Freedom that make America great and the Christian ideals upon which our nation is founded? Can you say that your children are? The freedoms we enjoy today, and which are being systematically eroded right out from under our noses, have been preserved for us at a great cost of blood, sweat and tears. Remember that apathy is the best friend of tyranny and if you feel it is too much trouble to fight for the preservation of your God-given rights, then you will be among the first to feel the stinging depth of their loss when they are taken away from you.

So when there are candidates for public office that repeatedly bang the drum for such liberal issues as mentioned above, they are simply asking you to vote to uphold their religious convictions. So if you vote for a liberal candidate that promotes such issues, then you have exercised several of the tenets of your religion–humanism–in the voting booth. And by your example you are teaching your children to do the same. Likewise, if you vote for a candidate that, for example, is pro-life, wants to end the entitlement mentality that is welfare, wants to stop the promotion of the homosexual lifestyle at all levels of society, and is not convinced that global warming is manmade, then you are voting based on your belief that moral absolutes should govern public policy–an idea that boldly originates in the Bible itself.

So enough of the myth that faith or religion plays no role in shaping the politics of a nation! This is simply a ruse to try to intimidate people who believe in moral absolutes to stay out of the voting booth or, at the very least, stay “out of politics”. There is absolutely no separation of church and state clause to be found anywhere in the U.S. Constitution. If you believe there is, then you have been duped. The First Amendment to the Constitution, with all its guarantees, was meant to check or restrain the federal government, mostly the Legislative Branch. It was designed to protect the church from coming under the ungodly influence of a run-away federal government and not to protect the government from coming under the influence of the church (i.e. biblical Christianity).

How effective can a republican form of government be? The answer to this question depends greatly on the depth of moral absolutes adhered to by the supporters of that government and their determination to demand representatives who will also adhere to those standards. Such moral absolutes, I would argue, are best nurtured by the teaching of Biblical values. So if you want to get a good feel for the moral climate of a free nation, then consider the collective moral character of the individuals it elects–and reelects–to represent them. If you want to get a good look at the overall moral condition of a country, evaluate the overall moral character of its elected officials. A free republic is only as solid as the moral convictions and practices of its citizens.

The political process in the United States is open to anybody that qualifies, but Christians especially should be eager to bring their influence to bear on that process. Unless they are under dire circumstances, Christians have absolutely no excuse for not voting. They are the ones who should be influencing the political realm for good, being “salt and light” in their community. In fact, Jesus commands them to make their influence felt (see Matthew 5:13-14). To a large extent, the church is responsible for the moral climate of a nation and the American church, in its current state of apathy, shares much of the blame for the moral and social decay in America. The moral climate of a nation often determines the quality of people we put in office. As Christians, our faith should inform our decisions at every turn, even including for whom we vote and why.

Have you been mesmerized by political candidates who are good-looking, charismatic, eloquent and talented without bothering to look under the surface to see what they’re really made of before you cast your vote for them? Do you allow surface issues in candidates (hairstyles, dress, skin color, etc.) to determine how you vote? If you have, then you contribute to turning important elections into nothing more than American Idol contests.

So muster some courage, focus on eternal moral absolutes, stand up for your moral convictions and fight for your freedom (or what’s left of it)! Demand leaders that are not Christophobic, who will lead with moral clarity and certainty and not wimp out when it comes to political correctness. As John Adams, our second president, said: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Christian, are you prepared to rise to the occasion and bring your influence to bear on the political process or are you content in your apathy to continue to be a part of the problem?