Faithful voting

Newsletter item published September 27, 2024

This has been an unusual election season by any measure. A lot of rhetoric from and posturing by candidates for elected offices has been carried by the media. We have been looking for, and sometimes heard some signs of what the two presidential candidates will do if elected, and the same is true for congressional, state, or local races. However, if we look beyond all of what we have been exposed to in the campaigns, we find a deeper level of discussion about who we are and who we want to be as a nation, and as an American society. The campaigns and debates talk about specific ideas that fall into categories of good or bad, or competing postures of belief or apostasy, or claims of a coming triumph or apocalypse. It is not surprising that we fall back on our faith to make sense of what we hear and talk about, and defend our beliefs from people who tell us that we are gravely mistaken in who we agree with and support.

 There are two opposing themes being presented to us in the presidential campaigns that are familiar themes of faith: dark times, punishment, and bad things will happen, vs. addressing needs, love for each other, and welcoming and including. In other words, we hear of fear vs. hope, and sin vs. salvation. The darker themes are found in Matthew 25 (eternal punishment for those who do not follow Jesus), Matthew 13:36-43 (the fate of sinners and unbelievers in the parable of the weeds and wheat), and Mark 9:43-48 (cutting off body parts if they cause you to sin). The lighter themes are found in Luke 6:20-23 (beatitudes, blessings), John 13:34-35 (love one another as I have loved you), and Luke 18:15-17 (Jesus blesses children). The details of their governing goals that the candidates present may appear to be important, and they are as practical matters in our lives. But, the greater context of the election season is really a conversation around the kind of society that we want. We talk about what we are afraid of. We ask if America needs to be saved. We wonder what that salvation looks like. We debate what we are being saved from. The insight and revelation from these conversations don’t come from the candidates as much as it comes from how we feel about what is going on around us, which of our values are being upheld or left behind, and how much trust we have in our governing bodies to deal with what we see is going wrong. 

 Our decision about who to vote for is not just about promises from and agreement with the candidates. It is also about our perception of life in America that is independent of what they say. Our trust in a candidate, that leads to a vote for them, comes from their ability to address our fears and speak for us more than what they say that they will do while in office. Thus, it is important to recognize the biblical themes that we encounter in political campaigns, and to explore why we agree or disagree with what the candidates represent to us in those themes. Elections are not just about policy, goals, and progress. They are about how we feel about our country, and our positive and negative experiences living in it. We all carry emotional, religious, and political baggage with us to the polling booth. The days and weeks before we vote is when we should open and examine what is in our baggage. There is time for us to discover why we are voting for a particular candidate, and decide what we can leave behind when we vote.

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