HOW I DECIDE WHO TO VOTE FOR
I posted this prior to the 2020 election. I credit David French for some of these thoughts.
One: I vote for the person who most broadly shares my values.
(No one agrees with me entirely nor I them, so I say “broadly.” There will always be things I don’t support in my support of a candidate, but he or she will have to hold my values for the most part. And I make every effort to develop those values that are most parallel with Scripture.)
Two: I vote for the person who has a character commensurate with the office.
(No one’s perfect, but the position the candidate is running for determines the “character quotient.” If you’re running for dogcatcher, I don’t care if you’re a really good person as much as a really good catcher of dogs. But if you’re running for the biggest bully pulpit in the world and will be put in a position to make decisions with millions of lives on the line, you have to have a working conscience and a modicum of character.
Lincoln said, “If you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Problem with that is then it’s too late. It’s closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. Character counts. Morality matters.)
Three: I vote for the person I think is most apt do the greatest good and least damage to the country.
(Sometimes I can’t in good conscience vote for a candidate on his or her merits, but I can be convinced to vote against a candidate who will do the more damage. David speaks of a “throne that brings on misery by its decrees” Psalm 94:20. I’m speaking of damage not only to the economy, but to the national psyche, to the reputation of the Church, to our country’s place in the world, to justice, to the environment…)
Four: I vote for the person who is able and willing to do the most good for the “common good,” and not just for me and my tribe.
(I always lean toward the one most disposed toward the most vulnerable and most apt to alleviate as much of their suffering as possible. If we only vote for candidates based on what they’ll do to benefit us and don’t consider the common good, especially those below us financially and in terms of social agency, we’re acting like the rich young ruler who wouldn’t give everything up to follow Jesus. Jesus told us to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves.)
Five: I vote outside partisan confines.
(I don’t just go down the ticket and check all the boxes for Republican or Democratic candidates. That would amount to letting other people do my thinking for me. In other words, I am an independent voter, unwedded to a party. No party perfectly represents the priorities of the God’s vision for the best society. C.S. Lewis said, “The demon inherent in every political party is at all times ready enough to disguise himself as the Holy Ghost.” I don’t vote for a party but for a candidate, the one who best aligns with my conscience, which hopefully is informed by God and the Bible.)
Does this sound like voting for the lesser evil? Yes. Everybody has some evil in them. Some more than others. Solzhenitsyn said: “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains… an un-uprooted small corner of evil.”
I hope this helps at least a little as you go to vote in November.
Do you have other tips or guidelines you use when voting?
