Last week one of the blogs I read featured a piece about Politics and Biblical Faith. Reading Benedict’s post got me thinking about my own views about politics. Benedict tackles the idea that many Christians especially evangelical and/or conservative espouse the belief that somehow that the Republican party is the only option for Christians. I recommend that you read Benedict’s response on this issue. I too have been confronted by that viewpoint. Living in a college town I have also been confronted by the viewpoint that no intelligent human would/could vote Republican. Well, both views bother me for many reasons.
First, I just do not like the idea of being loyal to a particular party. I do not need a political party to tell me how to think or what issues I should value. I am an intelligent human being capable of analyzing the situation and voting for the issues I believe are important. I vote issues not parties. I vote for individual candidate not a slate of candidates. Even if there is only one canidate running I will not vote for a candidate that I do not know or cannot endorse. Yes, I know that it really does not matter in those cases but it is a matter of principle.
Most of my life I have lived in a state that has open primaries. Living in a state where I have to select a party and register is new and strange. Somehow it just seems unconstitutional to me to be forced to select a party. I have also lived in areas where local elections were essentially one party, Democrat. To vote for local elections it was necessary to vote Democrat in the primaries. I have voted Democrat to elect the candidate I wanted and later I have voted Republican to vote that same person out of office.
Saying that one party is more “Christian than the other” is really disconcerting. The Democrat and the Republican parties are political organizations neither is particularly religious. Last time I checked we do not live in a theocracy. Both parties have individuals who are devoutly religious as well as those who are non-religious.
The Dee Zone 
Dee, I couldn’t agree more. I loathe being associated with a political party as much as I loathe being associated with a Christian denomination. Why is it that everyone needs labels? I refuse to discuss my political view with most people because they are just that. MY views. I don’t want to “bring anyone over to my side” because I believe that everyone has the right/duty to sort those things out for themselves and vote according to their conventions. I have never liked the idea of voting “straight Republican” or “straight Democrat”. I always vote ISSUES…not PERSONALITIES!!!! Your point was very well made.
LikeLike
Kim,
Never move to Florida they make you register for a particular party. If you have no party affiliation or are independent then you are locked out of most primaries. I don’t need anyone to tell me how to vote. I have enough opinions of my own.
LikeLike
Thanks for the pingback reference! Nice post here as well. I’m going to write on the idea of labels and movements sometime this week!
LikeLike
Benedict,
Looking forward to it.
LikeLike
Politicians who talk about their religion are basically touting morality as a qualification for elected office; yet morals are irrelevant to the ability to act in that capacity. Instead, it is the candidate’s ethics which we should consider.
I do understand that many in our society believe Christians to be more ethical than non-Christians, but in my experience that simply isn’t true. I have met many non-Christians (including many atheists) who are every bit as ethical as the average Christian, if not more so; and I have also met many Christians who are grossly unethical.
When politicians talk about their religion as if it is a qualification, I tend to assume that they lack actual qualifications for the position they seek.
LikeLike
ENM,
Actually morality isn’t necessarily irrelevant. Although, I think a candidate’s actions are more important than their words. Some will say anything to get elected. I prefer to look at their previous actions how they have acted in the past. Do they have a history of acting in an ethical manner or just when it is convinent Also, I am concerned about a candidates ability to make wise decisions and use discernment when making decisions. Of course, being qualified is important.
LikeLike