It is important to vote in EVERY election, not just the Presidential or gubernatorial elections every four years.
You may have heard it said that “The government belongs to those who show up.”
You may have also heard it said that “The only thing necessary for evil to succeed in the world is for enough good people to do nothing.” Edmund Burke said that, famously.
And, if you are a student of President Reagan, you may have heard it said, that “we have problems in our country, and many people are praying and waiting for God to do something. But I wonder…if maybe God isn’t waiting for US to do something.”
It may surprise you that many of those good people who are currently doing little or nothing are sitting in church pews across the state and across the nation.
That must change. Good people must show up…and do something.
We often find ourselves on the brink of a general election, and people of faith back away from the responsibility claiming “there are no good candidates; I cannot vote for any of them.” This is why it is important to vote in the Primary.
Some may say, “Well, there are no good candidates in the primary either.” That may sometimes be true as well to an extent, but even that does not absolve us of our responsibilities as citizens and Christians. We must consider all candidates and their positions — holding those positions up to the light of God’s Word for inspection and alignment — and then choose the one who comes the closest to meeting that standard.
Others say, “It doesn’t matter who gets elected. They are all the same, so why should I care?” President Calvin Coolidge spoke to that mindset in a radio broadcast on November 3, 1924:
All of the opportunity for self-government through the rule of the people depends upon one single factor. That is the ballot box. The people of our country are sovereign. If they do not vote they abdicate that sovereignty, and they may be entirely sure that if they relinquish it other forces will seize it, and if they fail to govern themselves some other power will rise up to govern them. The choice is always before them, whether they will be slaves or whether they will be free. The only way to be free is to exercise actively and energetically the privileges, and discharge faithfully the duties which make freedom. It is not to be secured by passive resistance. It is the result of energy and action…
~ President Calvin Coolidge
Persons who have the right to vote are trustees for the benefit of their country and their countrymen. They have no right to say they do not care. The must care! They have no right to say that whatever the result of the election they can get along. They must remember that their country and their countrymen cannot get along, cannot remain sound, cannot preserve its institutions, cannot protect its citizens, cannot maintain its place in the world, unless those who have the right to vote do sustain and do guide the course of public affairs by the thoughtful exercise of that right on election day.
As Christian citizens we must consider our biblical values in conjunction with our Constitutional responsibilities, and put our faith into action by going to the polls and voting our values!
Explore this section to find out more.