The conventions for both parties are over. America has been told what each party believes. More than any other time in my lifetime there is a clear difference between the major political parties.
I believe that the picture above accurately characterizes the difference between the platforms of both the Democratic and the Republican party. Please read both lists carefully and decide what last most accurately fulfills your vision for The United States Of America.
As for me, I interpret life through the lens of the Scriptures and therefore I must turn to them for guidance in making the correct decision. After thinking about the lists a bit, my decision is clear – Republican (In Red, above). The following is my “why”….
Christians are to be good citizens.
We live in The United States Of America, which is a republic based on democratic foundations. We obey its laws, work in order to provide for our families, pay taxes and try to live in accordance with the teachings of the Bible. This means our submission to God in all things, which yields a peaceable, godly life. We try to be a good neighbor to all and to seek guidance from the Scriptures in all things. Communism and Socialism are both opposed to Christianity and will attempt to destroy Christians at every opportunity and is therefore unacceptable. Our responsibilities to our country are clear, to support and defend the Constitution of our nation, to obey its laws and live peaceably with our fellow citizens. The Apostle Paul said...
Romans 13 ( World English Bible )
1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God.
2 Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment.
3 For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the same,
4 for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil.
5 Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, attending continually on this very thing.
7 Give therefore to everyone what you owe: taxes to whom taxes are due; customs to whom customs; respect to whom respect; honor to whom honor.
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” * “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.
12 The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the works of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.
Christians are to put their trust in God
True belief in God means trusting him to guide our life in all things. This has been proven to me over and over during my life. Others may hate me for this, but God is always there, gently helping and guiding me. And the more I read HIS WORD, the more I understand HOW HE wants me to live. I cannot and will not allow any government to absolutely control all my thoughts and actions, for that is ultimately God’s rightful position in my life. Government is NOT GOD, only GOD is GOD!
Psalm 56 ( WEB )
1 Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up.
All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.
2 My enemies want to swallow me up all day long,
for they are many who fight proudly against me.
3 When I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.
4 In God, I praise his word.
In God, I put my trust.
I will not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they twist my words.
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They conspire and lurk,
watching my steps, they are eager to take my life.
7 Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, God.
8 You number my wanderings.
You put my tears into your bottle.
Aren’t they in your book?
9 Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call.
I know this, that God is for me.
10 In God, I will praise his word.
In Yahweh, I will praise his word.
11 I have put my trust in God.
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Your vows are on me, God.
I will give thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
and prevented my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
Aborting an unborn human life is wrong
God has formed us and has known us even before we took our first breath. We are not just a clump of cells before our birth; we are a creation of God and known by HIM. This relationship starts even before our birth and continues until our death. At which time those who have truly followed him will be with him eternally; those who have rejected HIM will be destroyed forever.
Psalm 139 ( WEB )
1 Yahweh, you have searched me,
and you know me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up.
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in behind and before.
You laid your hand on me.
6 This knowledge is beyond me.
It’s lofty.
I can’t attain it.
7 Where could I go from your Spirit?
Or where could I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in Sheol, * behold, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there your hand will lead me,
and your right hand will hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me;
the light around me will be night”;
12 even the darkness doesn’t hide from you,
but the night shines as the day.
The darkness is like light to you.
13 For you formed my inmost being.
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to you,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful.
My soul knows that very well.
15 My frame wasn’t hidden from you,
when I was made in secret,
woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my body.
In your book they were all written,
the days that were ordained for me,
when as yet there were none of them.
Jeremiah 1 ( WEB )
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
2 to whom Yahweh’s word * came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
4 Now Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. Before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord * Yahweh! Behold, * I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.”
7 But Yahweh said to me, “Don’t say, ‘I am a child;’ for to whoever I shall send you, you shall go, and whatever I shall command you, you shall speak.
8 Don’t be afraid because of them; for I am with you to deliver you,” says Yahweh.
Christianity means prioritizing our obedience
Yes, Christians must obey the laws of our country, but where those laws plainly contradict God’s explicit will for our life, they cannot be obeyed. There may be consequences for this, but which is better; to suffer for doing God’s will or accept blatant sin and be condemned to hell? Untold numbers of people have had to make a choice like this over the millennia and I hope and pray we will never be put in such a position. But, if we are, I pray that God will give us the courage to obey HIM rather than wicked men. Here is but one example of this choice from the Scriptures…
Daniel 3 ( WEB )
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and its breadth six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
3 Then the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4 Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages,
5 that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up;
6 and whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
7 Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and brought accusation against the Jews.
9 They answered Nebuchadnezzar the king, O king, live for ever.
10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;
11 and whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not respected you. They don’t serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar answered them, Is it on purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
15 Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, good: but if you don’t worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
17 If it happens, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
So much for my insights, now the choice is yours - vote according to your conscience. Obviously, I hope that you choose based on the Word Of God, but whatever you do, please be sure to exercise your RIGHT TO VOTE. Also, I would encourage you to vote in person, in order that others may not nullify your wishes through mail fraud.