For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. – II Timothy 1:7
Earlier this week, Dr. Bob Jones, III officially endorsed Mitt Romney for President. Quite frankly, I am shocked and appalled at this decision. I have the utmost respect for Dr. Bob and for Bob Jones University. However, this endorsement is irresponsible.
I think what I find most shocking about this is the reasoning behind it. Dr. Bob said, “This is all about beating Hillary.” He went on to add, “If it turns out to be Guiliani and Hillary, we’ve got two pro- choice candidates, and that would be a disaster.”
This is what I call the politics of fear. Because we fear a supposedly evil person, we will stop at nothing, including the compromise of principles and conviction, to prevent their election. Often times, we decide to back a lesser evil person who we deem not as bad. Of course the problem is that the lesser of two evils is still evil.
That is what Dr. Jones is clearly guilty of. He deems Hillary and Rudy to be so scary, he has decided to back a flip-flopping cultist responsible for legalizing homosexual marriage here in Massachusetts. Is this really something the Lord would want us to do?
The Bible tells us that we have not been given a spirit of fear. But, one thing we have been given is a sound mind. A sound mind does not make decisions based on fear or polling data, but on prayer, Biblical principal and Scriptural convictions. A sound mind is not easily led astray by anxious worry neither is it bullied into bad decisions by bad situations.
As Christians, we do what is right and leave the consequences to our sovereign, Almighty Lord. We are not to do what is right only when we think the consequences will be favorable. We do not know how the Lord will work.
People think the election of Hillary Clinton would be the worst thing ever to happen. Therefore drastic measures, even the abandonment of principle, are in order. Let us remember that Christianity flourished under the persecution of evil Roman dictators such as Nero. God Himself declares in Romans 9 that He raised up the wicked Egyptian Pharaoh for His purpose. God is not limited or His work thwarted by any human ruler. “The king‘s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” – Proverbs 21:1.
Of course, another thing we must consider is the false dilemma Jones creates in the first place. Jones suggested we would only be limited two one of two options – Rudy or Hillary. That is not a true dilema. There will be other candidates on the ballot. Yet, again, because Jones deems these to be the only credible candidates, they are the only options available.
I am a member of the Constitution Party, America’s third largest party. Our motto is “principles over politics.” We will offer a true alternative to either party’s candidates. We are a party that is 100% pro-life, against gay marriage or civil unions, and will fight for the freedoms and liberties that we as Christians hold dear. On top of that, we are the only party still dedicated to upholding the Constitution.
It has been my experience that most Christians agree with our party in principle, but still feel the need to vote for one of the major party candidates. This is out of pragmatism, not principle. Again, the politics of fear.
Notice that Dr. Bob does not even take third parties into consideration, or even one of the other Republican candidates such as Tom Tancredo, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter or Mike Huckabee. We often complain about the lack of choices we have in elections like this. Yet, we have exactly the political atmosphere we have voted for. As long as Christians are willing to vote for pro-abortion candidates, that’s what we will get. As long as we continue to reject pro-life, Christian candidates(because they are third party or not top-tier), the less we will have to choose from. We have what we vote for.
Many people wish Republicans would start acting like Republicans. I just wish Christians would start voting like Christians. If we would simply start to vote our consciences, we would see a dramatically different political landscape.
As one who has run for office (with the Constitution Party), I can testify that there are more people out there that believe as we do than most people are aware of. We often assume that in places such as liberal New England, Christians cannot make a difference. But as one who has been out there on the campaign trail, I know that not to be true. Remember, that in many elections, most people do not vote. In my election, which received a lot of press attention, only 30% of voters came out to the polls. That means we still do not know what 70% of voters actually believe. What I came to see was that many people agreed with my views, yet simply believed nothing could be done and stayed home on election day. Those who did cast their votes yet were too willing to waste their votes on candidates who did not stand where they would stand. Yes, we can make a difference – if we are willing to pay the price to do that.
However, even if the Christian vote meant nothing, Christians still ought to vote like Christians. It is the right thing to do regardless of the perception or result. I wish someone like Dr. Bob Jones, III would take a stand for righteousness and not for pragmatism.
The Thompsonian Times 