Voting Christian Values

By Mathew D. Staver, Esq.

Not voting and voting for someone who cannot win are the same thing – a vote for the one who will decimate your values.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Two Different Americas.

1. The second part of the trilogy begins as Doc, Marty and Jennifer take the time-traveling DeLorean into the year 2015 to straighten out the future of the McFly family. But Biff Tannen steals the time machine and gives his younger self a book containing 50 years of sports statistics, which the young Biff uses to amass an enormous gambling fortune and transform idyllic Hill Valley into a criminal cesspool. To restore the present, Doc and Marty must return to the events of their previous adventure in 1955 and retrieve the book.
2. Two parallel tangents of history.

Our Actions or Inactions Have Consequences.

1. Children of Israel and the Promised Land.
2. God will hold us accountable.

VOTING FOR CHRISTIAN VALUES IS A DUTY

1. “Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual – or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.” Samuel Adams, Boston Gazette, April 16, 1781.
2. “Consider well the important trust . . . which God . . . [has] put into your hands. . . . To God and posterity you are accountable for [your rights and your rulers]. . . . Let not your children have reason to curse you for giving up those rights and prostrating those institutions which your fathers delivered to you. . . . [L]ook well to the characters and qualifications of those you elect and raise to office and places of trust. . . . Think not that your interests will be safe in the hands of the weak and ignorant; or faithfully managed by the impious, the dissolute and the immoral. Think not that men who acknowledge not the providence of God nor regard His laws will be uncorrupt in office, firm in defense of the righteous cause against the oppressor, or resolutely oppose the torrent of iniquity. . . . Watch over your liberties and privileges – civil and religious – with a careful eye.” Matthias Burnett, Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Norwalk, An Election Sermon, Preached at Hartford, on the Day of the Anniversary Election, May 12, 1803.
3. “[T]he time has come that Christians must vote for honest men and take consistent ground in politics or the Lord will curse them. . . . Christians have been exceedingly guilty in this matter. But the time has come when they must act differently. . . . Christians seem to act as if they thought God did not see what they do in politics. But I tell you He does see it – and He will bless or curse this nation according to the course they [Christians] take [in politics].” Charles G. Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion, 1868.
4. “Now more than ever the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature. . . . [I]f the next centennial does not find us a great nation . . . it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.” James A. Garfield, A Century of Congress, July, 1877.
5. “If the time ever comes when we shall go to pieces, it will . . . be . . . from inward corruption – from the disregard of right principles . . . from losing sight of the fact that ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation, but that sin is a reproach to any people’ [Proverbs 14:34].” Rev. Francis J. Grimke, March 7, 1909.

III. GETTING OUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT

Declaration of American Values – “We the people of the United States of America, at this crucial time in history, do hereby affirm the core consensus values which form the basis of America’s greatness, that all men and women from every race and ethnicity are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We adhere to the rule of law embodied in the Constitution of the United States and to the principles of liberty on which America was founded. In order to maintain the blessings of liberty and justice for ourselves and our posterity, and recognizing that personal responsibility is the basis of our self-governing Nation, we declare our allegiance –”.

1. To secure the sanctity of human life.
2. To secure the institution of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
3. To secure the fundamental rights of parents.
4. To secure the free exercise of religion.
5. To secure the moral dignity of each person.
6. To secure the right to own, possess and manage private property.
7. To secure the individual right to bear arms.
8. To secure a system of checks and balances between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches.
9. To secure our national sovereignty and domestic tranquility.
10. To secure a system of fair taxes that are not punitive against the institution of marriage or family and are not progressive in nature, and to encourage economic opportunity and free enterprise.

Voting Christian Values

1. “When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, “just men who will rule in the fear of God.” The preservation of government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.” Noah Webster, History of the United States, 1832.
2. “In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate – look to his character. . . . When a citizen gives his suffrage to a man of known immorality he abuses his trust; he sacrifices not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor, he betrays the interest of his country.” Noah Webster, Letters to a Young Gentleman Commencing His Education to which is subjoined a Brief History of the United States, 1823.

Advancing Your Values One Vote at a Time.

Keep your eye on the values, not on a person or party

Four choices:

1. Vote for the one who will best advance core values.
2. Vote for the one who will decimate or set back your values.
3. Vote for someone who cannot win.
4. Do not vote.
5. Not voting and voting for someone who cannot win are the same thing – a vote for the one who will decimate your values.
6. Absent Jesus Christ running for office, there are no perfect candidates.
7. If a candidate does not understand life and marriage, then that candidate is not worthy of office – indeed, that candidate is unfit for office.
8. Compare and contrast the candidates.

God Has Called This Generation to Stand for Righteous and be World Changers.