Are you really going to tell me how to vote? Isn’t there a separation of Church and state? I thought if you endorse a candidate or party you will lose your tax-exempt status as a church? Don’t worry, I haven’t gone off the deep end, at least not yet. I am not going to tell you which candidate or party to vote for. In fact, I would encourage you to not vote based solely on party affiliation or name recognition. Look at the candidates and consider the positions they take on important moral issues facing our country. I would like to share with you five “non-negotiable” moral issues that should guide your voting.1
1. Abortion – Abortion is the intentional taking of a human life due to the “choice” of the parent or pressure by the extended family. The Bible is clear that life begins at conception. The Bible reveals to us that an unborn child has the image of God, is fully human and therefore deserves all the rights and protection afforded any other human being. To abort a baby for the convenience of the mother is murder (Exodus 20:13).
2. Euthanasia – Again we must recognize that the taking of another human life is murder. We do not have the right to determine the quality of life or the extent of life. God alone is the author of life. Often these murders are called “mercy killing,” because it is said they alleviate the physical suffering of the individual. However, we must not allow our emotions to miss the reality that we are taking another human life. In spite of the medical, emotional or physical situation a person is in we are not allowed to hasten a person’s death.
3. Embryonic Stem Cell Research – This is often couched in sympathetic terms of helping an Alzheimer or Parkinson’s patient. However, we must recognize that a human embryo is a human being. It is immoral and unethical to kill a human life in order to harvest the parts to help another person regardless of how small that person being killed is. These embryos are unborn children and we must take a stand for the defenseless. Furthermore, most major strides in stem cell research have been achieved through adult stem cell research which harms no humans.
4. Human Cloning – God alone is the author of life and it was His intention of creation to reproduce humanity through the means of procreation by a husband and wife. There are two aspects to consider; first some suggest cloning for the purpose of replacement parts for the body of the person being cloned. The organs will inherently be an exact match. Secondly there are some who want to clone in order to have a genetically identical offspring. Again, God’s intention was to have two biological parents and every child conceived to come to birth. In the area of cloning we assume the role and prerogative of God.
5. Homosexual “Marriage” – Marriage was designed for the welfare of society and the structuring of the human family in order to have a stable environment to bring up future generations. God designed sexual intercourse only within the bounds of marriage and He designed marriage to be between complementary between one man and one woman for life (Gen. 2:24). Further, marriage has been recognized by every society and every major religion throughout recorded history. Marriage is more than a legal recognition; it is part of the created order and the fabric of a society that honors God.
Each of these issues is a “non-negotiable” for any faithful Christian who desires to honor God with his or her vote. Each of us needs to learn what the positions are on these issues and vote for the candidates accordingly. What should you do if you cannot find a candidate who has a biblical position on one or more of these issues? You have two options at that point. First, you may choose to vote for the candidate who has the fewest positions in contradiction to these “non-negotiable” or is less likely to push the agenda forward. In this case your vote is tolerating a lesser evil in order to avoid a greater evil.
If you cannot in good conscience vote for any candidate because of his or her positions then your other option is to abstain for voting for that particular office. However, this does not mean that you shouldn’t vote for the other offices where acceptable candidates are running for office. Keep in mind your lack of voting for the lesser of the two evils may allow the greater evil to occur. Your vote does not mean you support the candidate but instead you disapprove of him or her less than the other option.
1 I am indebted to the Voter’s Guide for Serious Christians for the outline of this article.