Editor’s note: This is a guest opinion piece from a reader. The opinion section of the Clarion is intended to facilitate public dialogue on current issues and events. This section is also a place for letters to the editor and responses to Clarion stories. If you would like to submit an opinion piece or have any questions, email [email protected].
In a world that is ideologically captured by two strands of devotion, it has become increasingly challenging to partake in fruitful discourse of any sort. Through the dogma-like ideals that found both the liberal and conservative world orders, I am captivated by how these dominant belief systems feed off of one another, perpetuating their occupation in the structure of Western society.
With great apprehension, yet little concern for dissenting opinion, I would like to offer food for thought on what it means to vote as a practicing Christian.
Emerging in the anticipation of the 2016 presidential election, our modern political division has long been in the making. The election of Donald Trump set in motion the political landscape in which we currently reside.
Aside from Trump’s religious following, his spotlight in the presidency brought low approval ratings and ultimately provoked a shift towards what had worked in the Obama administration. At this point, the desperation of the Democratic party manifested itself in the career politician Joe Biden, who is recognized by both parties as cognitively inept. Rather than choosing to combat the moral folly of the Trump persona with a moderate and unifying candidate, liberals entered the game with a divisive political puppet of their own making.
While many Republicans long for a nation that embodies Judeo-Christian values, they continue to support a crooked businessman with an endless rap sheet of allegations. Committed to opposing Trump in all they do, the Democrats have now responded with their presidential nominee from among the most radical in Congress.
In a world with two feasible options, the left and right are not bound by any party principles. Some argued that this two-party system is escapable. But we saw the refreshing thought of Robert Kennedy Jr. abandoned at the first opportunity to join a more promising administration – bringing this visionary hope to a screeching halt.
The ability to establish and maintain power is the primary deciding agent in each faction’s policy manifesto. The right and left leaders alike manipulate jargon like “free speech”, “democracy”, and “dictator” to further latch onto their willing victims. These political groups are unbearably hypocritical in their usage of these loaded terms, all while being destined for the same fate: a milieu entrenched in identity politics.
Many Americans cast negative votes. We no longer sign our name on the ballot of whom we support the most but rather vote for whoever we hate the least.
In degeneration, we have become unwaveringly content in a culture that settles. We vote with conviction, assuming that our poll against the ideologue we despise is a smaller part of the process of saving our society. We vote for the lesser of two evils. Inadvertently, we preserve the factions that divide us.
It is no longer acceptable for conservatives or liberals to downplay the atrocity that is presented through the leadership of their own political parties. Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are inescapably subversive to the utopian West. The highest office in the land is fundamentally unattainable to the one who resists corruption.
With every president in history claiming the title of “Christian”, we have slowly merged a life of spiritual lowliness with political action. What’s worse is we have either stood by and allowed for this grotesque depiction of our faith or have wholeheartedly abandoned the values we hold most high to support a man who is everything Jesus wasn’t.
Incidentally, the cohort of Christians who have largely been outspoken against Trump for justified reasons have turned to several candidates with slightly less despicable records, and just as foul of character, in the name of “saving democracy.” Few speak out against these actions, yet they are every bit as detrimental to this country and to the Christian designation.
Before I am forthright in showing my cards, I must clarify a few things. First and foremost, modern suffrage rests on the shoulders and graves of social activists who fought for the opportunity of all people to partake in political endeavors. Your right to vote is valuable and should be treated as such.
Secondly, my opinion on this matter is due to my own spiritual conviction and political standing. In no way am I suggesting that this position is necessarily a feature of the Christian faith nor is it even something I would urge others to pursue. However, I have arrived at this decision as someone who strives to embody the life, mission, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in all that I do.
For all these reasons, I will not vote in the 2024 presidential election.
While this decision did not come readily, a line of moral reasoning has emerged to me as convincing. This notion assumes that the good news of Jesus came not through military, political, or rabbinical leadership, but rather in the act and essence of Christ on the cross.
The Gospel accounts implicate that Jesus was far more concerned with ways in which he could transform society without the intervention of the Roman Empire. More so, it is an evident theme throughout the New Testament that the institution of government is not the means through which Christianity spreads but rather the convention in which the Church is persecuted.
While Jesus did not resist Rome and its laws, he worked within the corrupt system to support the marginalized communities. This concept does not promote a revolution against governmental powers but instead, a willingness to live within the human kingdom while still holding allegiance to the heavenly one. After all, we are temporary residents and foreigners here on Earth.
More than anything else we are called to carry our own cross, sacrificing our own desires in order to love self, others, creation, and the Lord more sincerely. For me, this means losing my right to vote so that I may gain Christ.
What then shall we say? Even without the consideration of Christian thought, the American political system is caught in an endless game of partisanship; one that prioritizes a power imbalance and incentivizes corruption.
It has become a common practice to demonize the opposing party’s candidate while dehumanizing those in support of such a leader. As we further root our identity in race, sex, religion, and political affiliation, we enter a dangerous contest of virtue signaling. As I strive to stand out from the ways of this world in my conduct, my vote matters little in comparison to the ways in which I must choose to give my time, resources, and ultimately my life for the betterment of the Kingdom.
