The title is intentionally even parts rhetorical and provocative. Working through my next book of choice, the issue of Christians voting was addressed briefly, and it caused me to take a break since my mind was working through the possibilities and not focused on what I was reading anymore.
Voting can be broken down in multiple ways for Christians. The most important aspect is whether they should, whether they shouldn’t, and whether they do or do not, why?
Growing up in more conservative environments, the majority of Christians I have known in my life are strictly pro-life voters. I was as well, and if you ask me today whether a baby should be aborted or not I adamantly still side with the unborn. It grows more complicated when you ask me if the government should make it illegal. Comparing it to murder is ethically and morally correct. Life begins at conception and ending the pregnancy intentionally is akin to ending a life. That life may be small, vulnerable, and entirely dependent on the mother to develop far enough to be independent, but it is a life, unless we redefine the term.
Laws restricting access to abortion, though, have to be enforceable. So the question is more complicated than merely analyzing whether abortion is equivalent to murder. Enforcement would require access to medical records and invasions into privacy. Most of those violations and intrusions in our lives would be fruitless, but would still be egregious. Further, the idea that a government has the right to determine the legal status of abortion has resulted in the subsidizing of abortion facilities by the taxpayer.
I wouldn’t exactly call that a ringing endorsement for using the vote to address this moral abhorrence in our nation.
Recently I have grown more aware of Christians who are far more politically progressive. I’m not as familiar with them, but they seem to focus their votes on a collective response to poverty and addressing inequality. These are certainly virtuous concerns to have, just as the pro-life crowd have identified a hill of virtue to die on, but does that mean they are utilizing the correct tool? Voting for fixes from a central body of representatives places a responsibility on your family, friends and neighbors. If you live in a higher income community, that might mean that you are relatively unaffected by that extra burden and rationalize it as a societal responsibility.
The problem arises for those in lower incomes, who are not yet requiring welfare and working hard to avoid it. The small burden they are asked to carry can push them into poverty and dependent on the system in which they were net contributors prior to the burden. If it doesn’t push them over that economic cliff, it can push them closer to the edge so that a small emergency or normally minor blip in income or capacity from an otherwise normal life circumstance can leave them permanently dependent on the system.
Very much like the pro-life advocate unintentionally promoting a system that has them paying for abortion, these progressive Christians unintentionally create a larger percentage of people who need help, or lower actual progress and market innovations to the point that overall quality of life metrics cannot rise for everyone. The effect on future generation is an overall lower quality of life, but it is an unseen, and therefore ignore consequence.
In the way I have summarized the realities for both major political options for Christians, it would seem obvious that voting does no good. It is actually a net negative effect when trying to use the political apparatus for any sort of policy you support. We also haven’t even addressed other major concerns like war, imprisonment, and other manifestations of pure violence which actually embody the character of our government.
The analogy was made of a slave master, though. If you were to give the slave the option to choose between two slave masters, and one whipped the slave hourly, while the other only whipped the slave daily. You would not begrudge the slave for voting for fewer whippings. It would be similarly inadequate to say that the slave wants to be whipped.
Our political system in the United States has largely become a corporate affair, where two large corporate bodies, the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee, practice control of the political system from a government protected monopoly. Ballot laws restrict access and campaign finance laws make it nearly impossible for third parties to actually compete. Therefore, many Christians feel they have to vote for one of the two major parties, and this false dichotomy starts to infiltrate the church and even affect the message we hear when gathering with other believers.
It affects a believer’s faith.
In our representative system, I don’t think there is any reason to lean one way or the other on voting. Understanding the entire system is flawed and opting not to give assent to it by voting at all is entirely understandable. Seeing the opportunity to vote for or against specific ballot measures or candidates that you truly understand and have a passion for is less understandable, after having outlined the political apparatus for you. Voting for the whole system to be removed from our private lives, however, makes a lot of sense to me. It is why I favor libertarian ideas of voluntary exchanges and individual freedoms.
If a government has any role at all, it has to be limited to the protection of person, property, and potentially the enforcement of negotiated contracts between individuals. Should the enforcement of any government provision or law require it to violate any of the above, it may be ethical, moral, or even highly preferred by society, but it has to remain illegal, and therefore unenforceable.
This is what I fear with Christians that advocate so heavily for the use of the political system to attain their preferred social goals. While it is laudable to protect the most vulnerable or to reduce the suffering of those who are least, even to desire justice when someone has caused the problem through some egregious abuse of their power or even their ignorance, the mechanisms utilized have to be similarly examined. Promoting a good in society is inadequate if evil must be leveraged to attain it. The political apparatus is akin to cooking the goose to save the gander.
For those less familiar with animal husbandry, the gander is the male, and the goose the female. The goose, therefore, is capable of laying eggs. A single gander can fertilize the eggs of an entire population of female geese, and therefore save the entire species.
In the same sense, individual liberty and property rights have served to produce more wealth for all of society. They have secured the greatest increase in quality of life metrics known to human history and those improvements in quality of life metrics will address every major issue that Christians feel inclined to try and address at the polls. They address poverty, inequality, and unwanted pregnancy while offering alternatives to abortion. The only major issues facing Christians which cannot be addressed through spreading liberty, are calling sinners to repentance and spreading the gospel to bring people to faith.
Neither of those two things can be voted for either.
So vote, or don’t vote. Just understand that if you are voting to increase the size or scope of government in literally anything, to try and improve the outcome for any single issue you are concerned with, you are likely sacrificing the one thing that can actually address the problem you are emotionally attached to.
Liberty is scary because it isn’t controlled. It is also scary effective at addressing our deepest and most dire concerns.
If you want to learn more about how I think Christians should see the political environment, I highly suggest Faith Seeking Freedom by 4 separate authors from differing Christian backgrounds.
If you just want to trust me, you don’t have to buy the book. Instead you can join the Other Hands and like, share, and comment, or subscribe below to get updates emailed directly to you. I would sincerely appreciate you sharing the posts with as many as you can to help grow my audience. I don’t just want an echo chamber, so share with someone even if they disagree with me.
