Occasionally people email me asking for my opinion on various personal or church issues. I recently received the following question which I have reprinted below, followed by my response.
EMAILED QUESTION:
Bob, my husband and I are conservative Democrats. We are against abortion and gay marriage. We did vote for Obama in 2008 and 2012 and the reason was this – GM had filed bankruptcy and had Obama not won my husband would have lost his GM pension. Right now we are struggling financially as we are supporting our daughter and granddaughter. We are both on fixed incomes but my husband does have a part time job that keeps us afloat financially. We belong to a new church where my husband is an Elder, along with three other men. Among our church family I believe we are the only Democrats. The reason I am messaging you is that a lot of people think we owe them an apology for being democrats. I do not feel that way at all. Abortion to most Republicans is a political football. The only time you hear about it is at election time. I agree that many abortions could be avoided if more women were Christians. I believe that a woman should have the right to choose. But with God’s help she can choose to do right. Thank you for listening. Take care and God bless.
MY ANSWER:
Thanks for your email and for the spirit with which you wrote. It’s good to hear that you and your husband are serving in a Bible-believing church. I am thankful you are seeking to be faithful to Christ.
I can appreciate where you are coming from because I have family members who are democrats and my wife’s parents were life-long democrats. My father-in-law lived to be 90 years old and voted a straight Democratic ticket almost exclusively until his later years. When he did “hold his nose” and vote for a Republican he explained, “I’m not abandoning the party but some of these candidates have abandoned me.”
As Christians, I think it’s wiser not to label ourselves as “Democrat” or “Republican”. I’d rather believers say, “I am a Christian and I vote according to Biblical values.” I would urge you to look at each issue and each candidate from the viewpoint of your allegiance to Christ rather than party affiliation.
For instance, if, as you say, you regard the sanctity of life and the sacredness of marriage as priorities, then vote for the candidates that align with your position regardless of party affiliation. In that regard, I don’t think you owe anyone in the church an apology for voting for Democratic candidates who stand for traditional values. I have voted for Democrats in past elections because I knew their positions and trusted their character more than their opponents.
However, if I were you, I would ask myself some serious questions:
(1) Even if your husband’s GM pension was threatened if President Obama was not elected, is it right to choose the security of a pension over the killing of even one unborn child? Admittedly, that’s a tough choice, but at what point do we stand for what is right and trust God’s promise, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well”?
(2) I agree some Republicans use abortion as a “political football” just to get elected. However, I believe a Christian should consider which candidate is more likely to sign pro-life legislation and appoint pro-life judges…those who say they stand for life or those who declare that they are pro-abortion? Prior to being elected President Obama made it very clear he was for expanding abortion rights and he was for gay marriage. We knew in advance exactly what he would do in those areas. Therefore, when we vote for pro-abortion candidates we have zero chance of advancing the pro-life cause.
(3) You say you are for a woman’s right to choose. Ask yourself, “…the right to choose what?” The answer is, the right to kill her unborn child. If it became legal for a woman to take the life of a newborn infant up to two weeks old would you still say, ‘I’m for a woman’s right to choose and I hope she chooses the right thing?” I doubt you would. It seems contradictory to say, “I am against abortion but I am for a woman’s right to choose.” That’s like the Civil War soldier who wore grey trousers and a blue jacket because he couldn’t decide which side he was on and he got shot at from both sides. At some point we have to make a choice about where we stand on issues and stand firm regardless of the consequences.
I hope you’ll consider these questions when voting in the next election. I pray the Lord will grant you a long, healthy life and many more years of happiness in marriage. I also pray that you will continue to, “… grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be gory both now and forever” (2 Peter 3:18).
– Bob
