In the wake of the current political whirlwind we’ve all been living in for the past few months, I’ve had a few people challenge me on my political position, given that I am a one issue voter. As a candidate, if you are not pro-life in both personal belief and political practice, then you are not my candidate. When I am determining who to vote for, I ask one question? What is your pro-life record? It’s as simple as that. Based off that kind of thinking I once posted the following on Facebook:
For those of you who are followers of Christ, today as you vote keep in mind that we must vote our moral values (i.e. pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, etc.) first. Economics comes secondary as God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Our government leaders can’t reward us…only God can. So as we get these moral issues right, God will take care of the rest.
This one issue inhibits me from ever voting for a Democrat. I can’t do it given the political party’s platform on this issue. So until there is another option, this makes me a Republican, and I am one of those “can’t get any further to the right” kind of voters. You can’t be too conservative in my book. As a Christian, that is my emphatic position.
However, there are Christians who would be on the other side of the political spectrum from me because they would say that God cares about things like tolerance, equality, the poor and the environment. To those Christians, this would be my response.
Yes! God is deeply passionate about the poor, the environment, unconditional love (don’t think I can use the word “tolerance” in the context in which our culture means it these days), and equal opportunity for all. But in all those things, the pro-life issue becomes the “tell all” issue about how a candidate feels about these other things.
You see, man is created in the image of God; and if we willingly destroy that image through abortions, we are shedding innocent blood and thus bring a curse on the land according to Genesis. We do indeed need to properly steward the earth as we are instructed to do in Genesis Chapters 1 and 2. But what hope does our God given environment have if it is cursed by our own actions and official stance on God’s commandment not to murder? If we don’t get this pro-life issue right, we can’t get the environment issue right.
As for “tolerance”, if we love human life, then we will love our neighbor with no preference to race, color, or creed. If, on the other hand, we have no regard for the life of the most innocent among us, how can we possibly display unconditional love to those with a different moral bent than us? I do not have to agree with my neighbor or condone his sin in order to love him. Or how can this pasty, white woman possibly say that I love my friend of color if I promote abortion which destroys more babies of color than anyone else? Again, if we don’t get this pro-life issue settled, we will never see “tolerance” much less unconditional love as commanded us by God.
In consideration of the poor, the same pattern holds true. How can we pretend to care for the poor, when we have such disregard for the most helpless among us? How can we possibly help people come out of poverty (not continue to keep them in it with our oppressive social welfare programs written by liberals who pretend to love the poor but only continue to keep people in their current status) if we so casually toss aside these unborn babies who, if given the chance, could solve systemic poverty. Simply put, if we don’t get this pro-life issue straight, we will never see people advance out of poverty.
I could go on and on with this same kind of logic. The reality is that God does indeed reward a nation when they follow His ways and His precepts. When we align our policies and practices with His greatest love, human life, then America can’t help but prosper. All the issues we fight about will fall into place when we get this pro-life issue right. Simple as that!
