Believers in the Voting Booth

I have recently added The Bodacious Black Bible Babbler to the blogfeeds in the right-hand column of this page. He recently commented on the intersection of faith and politics with a post titled "Total Depravity and Voting." Here is a bit of what he says:

Simply put, we must realize that we are casting votes for people who are corrupt to the core, and that goes for the Christians too. Practically speaking I believe that means:

* At best, we are trying to make a choice between the lesser of evils. I no longer vote for the best candidate, I vote against the worst ones. “All have sinned (and continue to sin) and are falling short of the glory of God.” Therefore, we must find out all we can about a candidate and then vote for the one we believe will do the least amount of damage. That’s the best we can hope for.
* Remember, voting is an act of faith carried out in a fallen world. You have no idea whether the person you’re voting for is telling the public the truth or not. That means you cast your vote and you leave the results in God’s hands. Politicians are going to tell you what they think will get them elected. I have come close to working on campaigns in the past, but I always backed out because ultimately, I had to admit that I had no way of knowing the individuals character. When you find one with integrity in a given area be thankful. But remember, she’s not going to make things better, she is simply going to slow the downward descent that is currently underway inAmerica. Don’t get your hopes set too high. Wait long enough and you’ll find out that she too has come under the spell of “being in charge”.
* Not only are politicians depraved, but so is the system. Even if we are blessed enough to get a godly man or woman in office he or she will be fighting against a system that is capable of rallying and minimizing that persons impact to the political process. I have had numerous conversations with politicians where I walked away realizing they were afraid of taking a principled stand because they knew that to do so would mean marginalization.

Now, I'm not as pessimistic as our friend the Babbler is, but I do like his point about the lesser of evils. There are no perfect candidates. Look at anyone (not just politicians) too closely and there begin to be an awful lot of flaws that come into view. This is no exact science, and politicians will say anything to get elected, but I can listen carefully to hear what a politician says to whom. The more chameleon-like the candidate the less likely he is to get my vote. This is one of the advantages of the internet; it is increasingly easy to learn what a candidate says at what would previously have been an obscure fundraising dinner, or to a socialist group in Europe, or this or that union, etc.

Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 10:16, "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." This is certainly true of us as His disciples today, and it certainly applies to politics. I return to these words again and again because it is so easy to fall off on the one side and say, "Politics is too dirty for this dove! I'm outta here!" and withdraw, or to go the other way and say, "Bring it on! I'm wise as a serpent; I can play this game!" and become obsessed with it all. Both of these are contrary to God's word. Learn what you can about the candidates. Seek the counsel of God's Word and other believers (i.e., don't just look to have your opinion affirmed). There are few good candidates, but there are many really bad and even dangerous candidates. Exercise discernment. And, as the Babbler said, leave the result in God's hands. He is the ultimate check on the people and the system (Romans 10, don't forget)!