Have you ever heard the term "vote your conscience"? I hear it every time a presidential election starts to gear up. The truth is I'm not very politically minded by nature. It's a chore for me to follow elections and campaigns. In recent years, though, I have become increasingly aware of my responsibility as a good citizen of the world.
As a Christian I do not feel that I can definitively commit myself to a single party. My heart belongs to Christ and Him alone. Not surprisingly C.S. Lewis did a remarkable job of explaining it in an essay in the compilation called "God in the Dock. I have searched for the title of that essay and I can't find it. I'll plan to post it in a comment when I find it. But I digress. In the last election I had to look at all the candidates to evaluate them based on what qualities I felt would make a good leader. I ended up not at all sure who to vote for.
On the one hand I had the Democrats. I am pretty conservative overall so I generally shy away from this party. However, I do not bitterly hate anyone from the party and find that some of the ideals are in alignment with things I believe in (I think I just heard and audible gasp from the Republican readers of my blog).
On the other hand I had the Republicans. Yes I'm conservative, but when you really look at an individual candidating for the American presidency, you must also evaluate their leadership abilities. I didn't see much coming from the GOP. Also, just because a candidate has conservative ideals doesn't mean their life is not full of compromise. That was also a common theme at the time.
So what's a white middle class conservative Christian American male to do? I...I can hardly say it...I voted 3rd party!
As you pick yourself up off the floor, I'll let you know that I'm not going to write in this blog which party I voted for. It doesn't really matter. The point is that I voted 3rd party.
An acquaintance of mine was absolutely appalled. He is a died-in-the-wool Republican. He works to distribute literature locally and is a staunch supporter of the GOP. He was quite animated that I would throw away my vote. Isn't it interesting that even in the land of opportunity we assume that there are really only two parties? We don't even pretend that a 3rd party will win. It just will not happen. According to this person if a conservative voter does not vote Republican, it's almost like giving your vote to the Dem's. And so I was duly chastised.
Frankly, when I look at a candidate for anything I'm looking at 1) personal character and 2) leadership abilities. I really don't care what party they are affiliated with. I want to know who they are and can they handle this position. And I pray. I don't make a move of this magnitude without prayer.
Well, you know the end of the story: the Dem's won out, the GOP started searching for a new candidate, and my life went on pretty much like always. Did my vote help put a Democrat in office? Maybe. But at the end of the day I can stand before God and I am confident that I am not simply voting for a party. I'm voting for God. I may get it wrong sometimes, but that's okay. He knows my heart. In fact, He's the one speaking to me in that still small voice...my conscience. So vote your conscience. God knows who will win. I don't think He's intimidated.
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