‘What biblical principles should inform us as we think about the presidential election this fall?’ Here’s a summary of what we’ve said so far:
1. Be sure to vote (Jeremiah 29.7)
2. Be sure to pray (1 Timothy 2.1-2)
3. Think issues, not personalities
4. Understand the biblical view of government (1 Peter 2, Rom 13)
Now a fifth, and for me, determining factor …
5. Think basic human rights. If God’s first expectation of human government is that it uphold basic human rights and ethics (as we saw in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2) … then it seems to me that this should be our first expectation as well. Do we want our economy to be stable? Yes. Do we want jobs readily available? Yes. Are there energy concerns that need to be thought through? Yes. In fact there are many things that the next President will have to think through. But his (and his administration’s) first job will be to uphold basic human rights. If that is ignored, then everything else will eventually crumble, too … God will make certain of that.
So what does that mean? It means that, for Christians, what a candidate believes about certain human bioethical issues is more important than whether or not he wants to drill in Alaska. What he thinks about abortion, euthanasia, and so on is far more important than what his economic stimulus plan will be. Not because we don’t care about jobs and the economy. But because jobs and the economy, biblically, are not the government’s first priority – upholding basic human rights is! And if our country continues to kill babies created in the image of God to the tune of a million a year … who really cares if we continue to lead the world economically? Maybe we have forfeited our right to do so. If we keep sucking nearly 4,000 souls a day from the womb, maybe an economic crisis is exactly what we deserve.
God says that he knits human life together in the mother’s womb (Psalm 139). That means, quite obviously, that to snuff that out is not merely ‘a simple medical procedure.’ The thing being knitted together is a child, being fashioned by the hand of God. And the ‘procedure’, therefore, is murder. And that means, quite frankly, that politicians who support abortion support murder – no matter what they call it. And none of us would vote for a candidate who supported the murder of anyone else would we? If one of the candidates said that the solution to the immigration problem is to simply execute all illegal immigrants, would anyone vote for him? If he said that the solution to the health care crisis was the extermination of those who are extremely sick and have the greatest medical bills, would we support him? Not on your life. So why is it, then, that we are so wimpy when it comes to the extermination of children in the womb? It’s illogical, it seems to me. But millions of Americans don’t care.
Isn’t it time that we required our political leaders to enforce the Constitution of the United States, which guarantees all of us the right to life? More importantly, isn’t it time we expected our governmental authorities to stop shirking their respoinsibilities, and to do the one foundational thing that God has called them to do – uphold basic human rights, for everyone? Isn’t it time Americans stopped voting with their pocket books and their politics … and began voting with their consciences?
1. Be sure to vote (Jeremiah 29.7)
2. Be sure to pray (1 Timothy 2.1-2)
3. Think issues, not personalities
4. Understand the biblical view of government (1 Peter 2, Rom 13)
Now a fifth, and for me, determining factor …
5. Think basic human rights. If God’s first expectation of human government is that it uphold basic human rights and ethics (as we saw in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2) … then it seems to me that this should be our first expectation as well. Do we want our economy to be stable? Yes. Do we want jobs readily available? Yes. Are there energy concerns that need to be thought through? Yes. In fact there are many things that the next President will have to think through. But his (and his administration’s) first job will be to uphold basic human rights. If that is ignored, then everything else will eventually crumble, too … God will make certain of that.
So what does that mean? It means that, for Christians, what a candidate believes about certain human bioethical issues is more important than whether or not he wants to drill in Alaska. What he thinks about abortion, euthanasia, and so on is far more important than what his economic stimulus plan will be. Not because we don’t care about jobs and the economy. But because jobs and the economy, biblically, are not the government’s first priority – upholding basic human rights is! And if our country continues to kill babies created in the image of God to the tune of a million a year … who really cares if we continue to lead the world economically? Maybe we have forfeited our right to do so. If we keep sucking nearly 4,000 souls a day from the womb, maybe an economic crisis is exactly what we deserve.
God says that he knits human life together in the mother’s womb (Psalm 139). That means, quite obviously, that to snuff that out is not merely ‘a simple medical procedure.’ The thing being knitted together is a child, being fashioned by the hand of God. And the ‘procedure’, therefore, is murder. And that means, quite frankly, that politicians who support abortion support murder – no matter what they call it. And none of us would vote for a candidate who supported the murder of anyone else would we? If one of the candidates said that the solution to the immigration problem is to simply execute all illegal immigrants, would anyone vote for him? If he said that the solution to the health care crisis was the extermination of those who are extremely sick and have the greatest medical bills, would we support him? Not on your life. So why is it, then, that we are so wimpy when it comes to the extermination of children in the womb? It’s illogical, it seems to me. But millions of Americans don’t care.
Isn’t it time that we required our political leaders to enforce the Constitution of the United States, which guarantees all of us the right to life? More importantly, isn’t it time we expected our governmental authorities to stop shirking their respoinsibilities, and to do the one foundational thing that God has called them to do – uphold basic human rights, for everyone? Isn’t it time Americans stopped voting with their pocket books and their politics … and began voting with their consciences?
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