What Exactly Does Voting Signify?


Voting is not a question of “I don't like that person or their policies so I will vote for a different person.” It is a question of voting for the person whose policies you approve of and support. When you vote for someone, you are, in essence, saying the following:
1. I approve of their policies,
2. I agree with their policies,
3. I support their policies, and
4. I am granting my candidate, if they win, the right to speak on my behalf regarding foreign and domestic policies.
If you vote for a person who is pro-gun control, that means you support gun control. If you vote for a person who supports open immigration, that means you support open immigration. If you vote for a person who is pro-choice, that means you support their pro-choice policies, and if you vote for a person who supports the LGBT agenda, that means you support the LGBT agenda. When you vote for someone, that means you support their policies as they relate to the governing of the nation.

Voting the Lesser of Two Evils

This is more for Christians than anyone else, as it is Christians who are impacted the most when faced with this decision. Should Christian's vote the “lesser of two evils?” Before answering this, there are certain things that should be taken into consideration. Firstly, we have to understand that Jesus is not on the ballot, therefore, when we vote we will be voting for one sinner or another. When we vote, casting our vote for a sinner is something that cannot be helped. It is something that we are just going to have to deal with. Deciding which sinner to vote for is going to require some research in order to determine which one to cast our vote for, and it can be a challenge. We should take into consideration whether a candidate is, based on their words and actions, anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-Israel, and anti-Bible.

In other words, does he or she support or reject the Biblical moral values that God has established? Does he or she support the LGBT agenda? Does he or she support abortion? Does he or she support assisted suicide or euthanasia? Does he or she support corruption, inequality, discrimination, or the subversion of justice? As Christians we should vote for and support the candidate whose positions are most closely aligned with the word of God; otherwise, we are voting for and supporting someone who is actively against God, and Scripture has something to say about this.

The Apostle Paul urges us in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 to “abstain from every form of evil,” to eschew every kind of evil and not partake in it. This is not very different from the LORD's command in Exodus 23:2, “you shall not fall in with the many to do evil.” The reason for this is because God does not delight in evil! (Psalm 5:4). In fact, part of being a Christian, the primary essence of Christianity, is loving the Lord, which includes following His example and hating evil. Period. (Proverbs 8:13). There is no legitimate excuse for supporting or justifying evil of any kind, and doing so is an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 17:15); and as the prophet Isaiah said, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20).

There are those, however, who argue that voting the lesser of two evils is necessary in order to prevent a greater evil. The problem with this argument is that voting for the lesser of two evils – especially when one considers that evil, as understood in this context, means anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-Israel and anti-Bible – is still voting for and supporting evil! There is no justification, no rationale, no logic that can change that. The only way to not vote for evil (again in the context of this article) is not simply not vote for evil. Again, voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil. The idea of supporting the lesser evil in order that the greater good might prevail is soundly condemned in Scripture (Romans 3:8) and should be avoided by Christians. And, “whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17).

If You Don't Vote, You Can't Complain

Recently, during a political conversation with a very good friend, the comment was made, “if you don't vote, can't complain” about the policies and actions of whomever is elected. I have heard this before and I have to say that I have never agreed with it. [Note: since the person with whom I was recently having this conversation will be reading this, I hope they will not take what I am about to write the wrong way. I have issue with the statement, not the person making it.]

The implications of this statement are serious. This statement implies that voting is somehow connected to the First Amendment, and by not voting a persons First Amendment rights are somehow nullified. In reality, however, nothing could be further from the truth. If a person chooses to abstain from voting they still retain the Constitutionally protected right to complain to their hearts content, not only about how the government it being run, but about any and every thing else as well.

Additionally (and I apologize for making this somewhat personal), like me, there are many who have served in the United States armed forces, and many of have served in Law Enforcement. Those who have done so have, in many cases, voluntarily offered to sacrifice their lives in order to not only protect this country and her citizens, but also to ensure the many freedoms this country enjoys; including the freedom to either vote or not vote, and to freely express one's opinions in the public square. If I choose not to vote (and to date I have every intention of voting), not only does the Constitution guarantee me the right to voice my opinions, but wearing both the uniform of the United States Navy and the uniform and badge of state law enforcement have earned me the right to voice my opinions regarding the policies and actions of my government.

Alternatives

At the end of the day, when it's all said and done, the hard truth that we must accept is that our personal decision to regarding who to vote for is not going to have any effect whatsoever on the identity of our next President. Presidents are not decided by popular vote, but by the Electoral College, and the electors who make up that body are not bound by any law, or any Constitutional amendment to vote the will of the people. They are completely free to vote for whomever they choose. But that does not mean our vote is useless. When we vote we are expressing how we want our government to be run. When we vote we are expressing our values and our morals. And, while others may not know who we vote for or why we voted for them (unless we tell them), we can be sure that we are not alone in that voting booth. The Lord is right there beside us, watching us and evaluating our decisions and the thoughts behind them.

As it currently stands, as of today, it looks like we will have at least four candidates to choose from on election day this upcoming November. In reality, however, we actually have far more to choose from. There are about 1,300 third party candidates to choose from this year, all seeking our votes.

So there are plenty of candidates to choose from, all it takes is a little time to do the research and determine which candidate supports the issues that you support. And, if a suitable candidate is not found, there is always the option of simply abstaining, refusing to waste your vote on a candidate who does not support the issues you care about.

I am a conservative Christian, and I am not voting for Donald Trump. Normally I wouldn't post something like this, however, there are many professing Christians who all for supporting Trump, and cannot seem to grasp why every Christian doesn't support him. I have even heard a nationally known pastor imply that not voting for Trump would somehow disappoint God. I can't even pretend to understand that one.
But the fact is, I will not vote for Trump, and to be even more explicit, I cannot vote for Trump, even if I wanted to. And this may surprise you, it has nothing to do with his well known intimidation techniques, or his alleged ties to organized crime, or the financial scams he is supposed to he involved with or even his admission that he has bribed politicians. No, it is not for these reasons that I cannot vote for Trump and why I encourage every Christian not to vote for him. I will explain why I cannot vote for Donald Trump in just a moment, but first there are a few things that I believe are important for each person, and especially each Christian to both know and understand.
When you cast your vote for your presidential candidate, you are making a conscience decision to elect that person. You are choosing that person to be your designated leader, your representative – your voice – for the next four years. Your vote or selection indicates that you have chosen that person to make decisions on your behalf regarding both foreign and domestic policy, and to enact laws or executive orders in that regard. In effect, you are choosing that person to be your voice and you are agreeing to support that person in those decisions, laws and/or executive orders should he or she become president. This is how our political system – a representative democracy – works.
All people will one day be held accountable for the decisions they make. As Christians we know this, since Scripture is very clear about it. Romans 14;2 tells us, “So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God”; and 2 Corinthians 5:10 states, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” This simple fact makes voting a very serious responsibility, and not one to be taken lightly. We will be voting for someone whom we are giving our permission to speak for us, to make decisions on our behalf.

Therefore, it is imperative, as Christians, to ensure we do not vote for someone whom we know, based on their verbalized stands and opinions, as well as their voting record and the organizations they support. If we vote for someone who has made it clear that they support unbiblical and sin-promoting laws and causes, then we are approving of those unbiblical and sin-promoting laws and causes. In other words, if the person we vote for supports abortion, then we support abortion. If the person we vote for supports homosexual activities then we support them as well. We may be supporting these things vicariously through the person we vote for, but we are just as guilty as if we openly supported them.
The reasons I have for not voting for Trump are based on this truth, and those reasons (there are four of them) are as follows:
1. Donald Trump supports and promotes homosexuality.

While I realize that Trump has repeatedly stated that he is all for traditional marriage, and in saying this he sounds as if he does not support the homosexual agenda, but the fact of the matter is, he does.
Trump has stated that transgender people should “use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate.” He has said that if Caitlyn Jenner (Bruce Jenner's alter ego) were to walk into Trump Tower, “she” could use whichever bathroom “she” wanted, including the women's restroom, even though Jenner is a male. He has also stated that he would push “equality” for homosexuals even further forward. He has no intention of doing anything to overturn the Obergefell decision (allowing homosexuals to marry), saying, “You have to go with it. The decision's been made, and that is the law of the land.”
Additionally, in 2012, Trump's foundation donated, in Trump's name, money to support the “Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network” (GLSEN) and the “Gay Men's Health Crisis,” organizations that promote teaching middle school students various homosexual activities, recommend books for the classroom that excuse homosexual pedophilia, and have stated they want to promote homosexuality in the public schools beginning with children in kindergarten. Although some claim that Trump's financial support of these pro-homosexual organizations was 2012 and therefore of not current consequence, it should be noted that Trump has never said that he would no longer support them. He has remained silent on this subject, thus implying that he still supports them.
It is clear that in spite of his campaign rhetoric, Donald Trump is pro-homosexual, and he intends to remain pro-homosexual.
2. Donald Trump supports and promotes abortion.
Trump has stated repeatedly that he is now pro-life. I say “now” because he has been pro-abortion for many, many years, and only switched to being pro-life when he began his presidential campaign. I would suspect that his conversion to being pro-life was and is nothing more than a campaign stunt. I base this on his statement that he wants to change the Republican Party's platform position on abortion to be pro-abortion in certain cases, specifically in cases of rape, incest, or the health or life of the mother and/or child.
Since Trump agrees to abortion then he is pro-abortion. He may be limited pro-abortion, but he is pro-abortion just the same. Especially when he supports abortion in cases of incest and rape. Murdering an innocent child (which is what abortion is) for a crime committed by his or her father is abhorrent. Since Trump agrees to end a child's life because his or her father committed a crime, then it follows that Trump must obviously agree to let Gary Ridgway, the notorious “Green River Killer” out of prison and imprison his innocent son in his place. It also follows that Trump must obviously agree to releasing every rapist from every prison and then killing their innocent children as punishment. Of course I do not believe that Trump really wants to release Gary Ridgway as well as every single imprisoned rapist and then kill all of the innocent children (I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here), but in principle, this is exactly what Trump is saying.
And just to set the record straight, I wholeheartedly believe that rape and incest is completely unacceptable. They are horrendous crimes! But punish the perpetrators, not their innocent children! You cannot compound the crimes of rape and incest by committing murder and call it just, and make no mistake about it, abortion is murder.

3. Donald Trump's “Showmanship Religiosity.”
Donald Trump claims he is religious. He waves a bible around at campaign appearances and speeches, he says he believes in God and that he is a Christian. He claims to have attended First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica Queens, New York (which that church as confirmed) and that he now attends the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, though not regularly. Trump says that he attends church, “as much as I can. Always on Christmas. Always on Easter. Always when there's a major occasion. And during the Sundays. I'm a Sunday church person. I'll go when I can.”
Trump calls himself an “evangelical” Christian, saying, “I'm one of them in a true sense. I'm protestant. I'm Presbyterian. … I believe in the Bible. I believe in God. … I'm a total believer.” He calls the Bible, “the Book, it is the thing” and says he even collects Bibles. He has said, “I will be the greatest representative of the Christians they've had in a long time.”
Contrary to the opinion of some, as Christian's we are to use the wisdom that God has given us as His children (Colossians 1:9) be discerning, to “test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and to judge with a “right judgment (John 7:24). To do this we must look at the facts regarding Mr. Trump's claim that he is a Christian.
As already shown above, Trump both supports and promotes (by his support) abortion and homosexuality. His former church, the First Presbyterian Church in Queens, New York is part of the Presbyterian Church, USA denomination, which also supports and promotes abortion and homosexuality at the denominational level. His current church (which he only attends on special occasions and those Sundays when he can), the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan is part of the Reformed Church in America denomination, which also supports and promotes unbiblical teaching, and had as its pastor from 1932-1984, Norman Vincent Peale, the author of the unbiblical “Power of Positive Thinking” book. Peale was succeeded as pastor by Arthur Caliandro. It was during Caliandro's tenure that the church continued it's unbiblical practices by ordaining women ministers and women elders. Clearly, the churches Trump chooses to fellowship in are apostate at best, which calls into question the validity of his claim to be a Christian.
Trump also denies the need to seek forgiveness of sin and repentance, both of which are essential to salvation. In other words, one cannot be a Christian and neither seek forgiveness for one's sin, nor repent of one's sin. When asked about this, he has said, “why do I have to repent or ask forgiveness if I am not making mistakes?” When asked if he has ever asked God for forgiveness, he stated, “I am not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don't think so.” In another interview, when asked about seeking forgiveness he said, “I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't.” He has excused his lack of seeking forgiveness and repenting of his sin by taking communion which he considers a form of asking God for forgiveness for his sin. He has said, “I've gone to communion so often, and I love going to communion. I feel it makes me feel so good and so pure.” Additionally, in other interviews Trump has bragged about his adulterous affairs, he has joked about having sexual relations with his own daughter, and he has spoken about the necessity for physically abusing women.
So again, I ask, how can one be a Christian and still support and promote sin? The obvious answer, the Scriptural answer is, one cannot, and by his own actions and words, Trump has shown that he is not a Christian. So why does he insist upon calling himself a Christian? I believe the answer is clear. Very clear, in fact. Claiming to be a Christian is a benefit for Trump. It is an effective campaign tool which he uses to garner support and which he hopes will also garner him votes on election day.
He is using God for self-promotion, as a marketing tool, and in doing so Trump is exhibiting extreme disrespect and dishonor to God. He is, in other words, mocking God and he is doing this openly. This is a serious offense that is committed by those who have no fear of God, no respect for God, and no love for God. Mockery dishonors God, shows contempt for God and shows that the one engaged in it actually holds God in low esteem. Scripture says that those who mock God are fools (Psalm 74:22), they are wicked (Psalm 1:1), they are enemies of God (Psalm 74:10), they are proud (Psalm 119:51; Isaiah 37:17) and they are unteachable (Proverbs 15:12).
God warns that those who mock Him will be punished (Zephaniah 2:10) so I would hope and pray that Mr. Trump would repent and turn to the Lord in humility and seek His forgiveness, and take the words of Galatians 6:7-9 to heart: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
Donald Trump's showmanship religiosity is the third reason I cannot and will not vote for him. I neither like nor appreciate his use of the Lord God Almighty and the Bible as a campaign tool. Trump is openly mocking the Lord and His word and I cannot support that. God is the Sovereign Lord of all creation, not a marketing tool.
4. Scripture states that supporting others in their sin makes one guilty of their sin.
Christians have an obligation, a responsibility to vote biblically, to vote according to biblical Christian values, and not according to the world's values, and although a particular candidate, such as Donald Trump may endorse certain ideas that appeal to us as beneficial for our nation, it is imperative that as Christians we remember that our first loyalty is to God, and that our true citizenship “is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20)
As Christians we are to have nothing to do with the sin of others and that includes supporting them in their support of any sin, including the sin of abortion and homosexuality (Ephesians 5:3-7; 1 Timothy 5:22; 2 John 10-11); and it would be to our benefit to also remember the teaching of Romans 1:32, which tells us that to support someone in their sin makes us guilty of that sin as well.
2 Corinthians 5:16 tells us that we no longer view any one (or anything) from a worldly point of view, but rather from a spiritual point of view, and as such we are to no longer have anything to do with spiritual darkness, and that includes supporting such things in any way.
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, 'I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.'” –– 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
And, finally, I would remind those fellow Christians who insist upon voting for the “lesser of two evils,” even taking such a stance, to vote for the lesser of two evils, is still a vote for, still support of and still an acceptance of evil.