Vote like a Christian.

This will be the first presidential election in my adult life where the candidate's loss will be attributed largely to a  third-party vote. The Republicans or Democrats aren't willing to accept responsibility for the fact that their respective candidates are wholly unappealing.

They aren't getting off the hook that easily. Why should they? First we have Donald Trump, a man with a history of womanizing who has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth when it comes to women and the disabled. His views are also not particularly conservative and we have only his word to trust, which is asking a lot. Then we have Hillary Clinton, a corrupt career politician who prizes her job security over national security. She's also a rape-enabler, she cheated in the primary, and takes money from questionable people.

One of these two people will be elected as our president in November. The third-party nominees have no mathematical chance of winning. It's a fact. That doesn't mean we shouldn't consider giving the latter our vote. Our Religion is not one that is founded on pragmatism. Neither should our voting.

Imagine a scenario where the two candidates were both pro-slavery and one of the third-party candidates was an abolitionist. Even if the latter had no chance of winning, would they not be the most moral choice in which to vote for? Of course they would.

Many Christians, sadly, have sold out their principles for a more certain outcome. That's right, I said it. Sold out. I'll grant that avoiding a Clinton dynasty by voting Trump is a tenable position, but it's a vote built on fear rather than faith.

Was David a certain outcome against Goliath? Was Moses a certain victory against Pharaoh? How about Gideon? Was Christendom itself a sure thing against virtually every oppressive government that's existed since its advent? We should be asking ourselves these questions. Most importantly, which candidate is best representing the values that Christ wants in our world? So what if the person doesn't win. We get and will continue to have ungodly politicians.We can at least go on with our day knowing that we have some integrity.

-L. Travis Hoffman

10/3/2016

The point of this entry is not to say, "Vote for ____." Rather, as I always try to do with my blog, is stimulate the Christian mind and spirit and hopefully get both working on the same page.