The idea of voting your conscience may seem obvious to most but, what does that mean? Very simply, it means you need to have an informed conscience, and some idea of the position of the candidates on the issues of concern to you. In order to have an informed or well formed conscience, it does require a little bit of effort and some thinking.
An example of NOT having an “informed” or well-formed conscience is the person who aborts their baby and then says they are very comfortable with their choice. If all you needed was to make decisions based on your conscience then, such a choice for abortion is considered OK by many in today’s society and those of us who considered this a morally wrong choice, are simply too “judgemental” according to these “conscience experts.”
Why is aborton wrong in the moral sense. Because science and logic tell us that we are dealing with a human life and it is wrong to kill. But, is that a well formed or informed conscience when a woman ignores the “minor” detail to her, that a human life is involved, not just her own convenience? This is an example of a malformed or uninformed conscience.
One of the finest reads you can undertake to help you form your conscience on how to vote as a Christian American for the 2016 election is this essay by Dr. Ken Gibson, who for many years has been a pastor in central PA and is a past President of the York County ACTION as well as a board member of the state ACTION of PA (Americans for Christian Traditions in our Nation), which we have been informed is now defunct. But the work of “Americans for Christian Traditions in our nation” lives on with this website, associated Facebook page, e-newsletter and this splendid essay by Dr. Gibson, which we highly recommend to you.
My personal rationale in voting on Nov. 8, 2016
Donald Trump for President
by Dr. Kenneth R. Gibson
Like many of you, I have been in much prayer and thought about this coming election on November 8. At the beginning, when I heard that Donald Trump won the Republican primary, I decided that I would sit out this election for the first time in my voting career.
However, after prayer and soul-searching, I have come to the following rationale for casting my vote on Tuesday, November 8.
- I do not endorse either candidate. They are all flawed in so many ways.
- I have been given, granted a precious “right” the right to cast a vote for a leader of our country. I do not take this lightly. It is an obligation and duty I have as a citizen of God’s Kingdom and a citizen of these United States of America where God birthed me and placed me into. I must render unto Caesar the things that are of Caesars and unto God the things that are of God.
- I must base my vote on biblical values as best as I can determine from the platforms of the various parties. I cannot vote base on my party affiliation, if it diametrically opposite of what Scripture states.
- I only have four options presented to me this election.(a) I can choose not to exercise my right to vote, or cast no vote for the top of the ticket, or write in a person’s name, other than the ones presented to us. This would be reckless with the duty and obligation that God has entrusted me with in casting my vote. (b) I could vote for either Mr. Gary Johnson or Ms. Jill Stein in protest to the other two candidates, but I do not want to vote in protest, in addition, in my humble opinion these two candidates have no answers or solutions to our problems we face and do not line up with Scriptural values.(c) My third option is to vote for Mrs. Clinton, but in examining her and the Democrat platform, there is so much that goes against Scriptural and biblical values.(d) I only am left with one other option, to vote for Mr. Donald Trump and the Republican platform that lines up more with what I sense is more closely aligned with the Scriptures. Permit me to explain my rationale.
- (a) I value Life abundantly for every individual in this death oriented-culture. Jesus came to give us all LIFE. Jesus said, Permit the children to come unto me. Abortion prevents children unborn to come into the world and eventually come to Christ. We already aborted 55 plus million children, how this must grieve our Heavenly Father. It cannot continue on, it must stop. The Republican candidate says he is pro-life and will work to overturn RoevWade. The Democrat candidate says she is fully in favor of RoevWade and partial birth abortion. As a Christian who follows Scripture, I must choose the Republican candidate on this one.
(b) I value a traditional biblical family structure of a father, mother, and children, where the father is the spiritual leader of that home. Too many families are seeking divorce which is not sanctioned by Scripture and neither is the gay lifestyle. The Republican candidate has experienced two divorces, and is currently on his third marriage, He has FAILED in this area. The Democrat candidate has not had a divorce to my knowledge, but has allowed her husband to abuse women and support him in this effort by going after the women he abused. She has FAILED as a partner in that marriage. In addition she favors the gay lifestyle and marriages, which is not supported by Scripture. So they BOTH are flawed in their character in this regard.
(c) Both candidates align themselves with a Christian tradition. Mr. Trump as a Presbyterian and Mrs. Clinton as a Methodist. Whether they have experience a “born again” experience that Jesus talked about, the fruit of their lives, in my opinion, do not show that they have. I pray for both of them that they will come to that point in their lives, if they have not already and live it out in the marketplace.
(d) As a Christian, I desire every American to enjoy prosperity and see their dreams and visions fulfilled as God has given to them. The Scriptures do not want us to depend on the government for our welfare, but to work and provide for our families, church and community. We need jobs and economic growth for that to occur. Many of our young people are idle, and an idle mind and hands is the devil’s workshop. The Republican platform is to provide jobs and growth and bring back some of the manufacturing we loss over the years, and be very carefully how we negotiate deals with other countries, this has been their desire for many years, but they never could pull it off. The Democrat platform is to have Bigger Government spending and taking care of us, and I just don’t feel comfortable with that. If we depend on government to take care of us, they can one day decide not to take care of us. I want that decision to be mine. I believe we need a change in direction in this area and that Donald Trump will provide this for our country. We have had eight years of experience from the other side, and they have not gotten it done, we cannot give them four more years. It isn’t working.
(e) Contrary to what you may believe, our Constitution does not give education as a right to the citizens, They (our Forefathers) left this to the family and the church to educate their children. Scripture strongly states that parents are to train and educate their children in the fear of the Lord. If that parent cannot homeschool their children, they should be given the CHOICE of using their tax paying dollars to send their children to a school that will educate their children with their values. There should be competition in the Education system. It will make our homeschool, private and public schools compete for the students and dollars. It is a no-brainer. The Republican platform is in favor of school choice, the Democrat platform is not in favor of choice, but in support of the Teachers Union that has ruined our school system.
(f) The Supreme Court is crucial for me in this voting year. It is reported that we may have three to five openings on the bench of the Court. The Democrat candidate says she will place judges who are progressive (liberal) those that make the law on the court rather than interpret the law as written. The Republican candidate is the only one who has a list of judges who follow the Constitution of the United States that he will appoint as our judges.
- These are some of the things that concern me this election cycle. As best as I could in my own heart and mind, I have tried to wade through all of this to find out what is the best way to cast my vote and not squander it or misuse it, this election cycle. With the Lord guiding me, I will plan to cast my vote on Tuesday, November 8 for Mr. Donald J. Trump, and pray hard and much for him as he assumes that sacred office. Please join me in praying and fasting for our leaders and our country. WE NEED DIVINE INTERVENTION!!!
Hi, this is a comment.
To delete a comment, just log in and view the post's comments. There you will have the option to edit or delete them.