A short talk with Christian Voters

On Tuesday will your faith guide your vote?

We know there are political issues, economic issues and moral issues in every election. Those issues will be discussed, debated, analyzed and collectively will determine voters’ choices from a variety of perspectives. But Christian voters have clear guidance from the commandments of Jesus when thinking about the moral issues in an election. The commandments help resolve the moral issues.

Life can change as a result of elections. Elected officials actions can change the mood, culture and morality of a nation. The actions of those seeking re-election are known. The promises of new candidates are known. Both can be assessed from the Christian perspective. A vote to re-elect a previously elected official is a personal statement by a Christian voter that the actions comply with Jesus commandments.

We are each responsible for the actions of the people we vote for.

On moral issues the Gospels give Christians clear instruction on what to support and what to reject: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you” {Mathew 7:12}; “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:31}; “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

Culture, moral practices and religious beliefs have a profound influence on how a nation functions. Elections can change all those factors. When Christian voters use the code of the Gospels and vote by their faith, the result can impact national morality and culture as well as changing the actions of government. Christians know and can use the code of the New Testament to guide their vote and to guide the nation.

It takes thought, time and resolve to examine and judge government actions. That will mean more than looking at the price of gas. One way to approach that task is look at the actions taken by elected officials one at a time. We propose a Quiz to do that.

The Moral Issues Quiz.

The government actions listed below were carried out by officials who were elected in the last election. We know about these actions as they have been widely reported. The Quiz asks you to assess, from a Christian perspective, which actions you approve of, which you reject. The answers may guide your vote in the next election. Politics is essentially a simple process. Usually it is “Yes, let do it” or “No we won’t”.

One might ask if it is actually practical for your faith to govern your vote. Could voting your faith be against your financial interests and your business interests? If you take the quiz you may find out if it does.

Readers are invited to comment if the description of the adminstration’s actions is in any way inaccurate or not impartial. Your votes will be calculated and the results reported to you on this site.

No personal data of persons participating in the quiz will be used or copied or distributed in any way. All communications with this website are private. Comments are public. The publisher of this website is not connected with either the Republican or the Democratic party.

The Moral Issues Quiz

Answer any questions you choose. Select at least one answer before submitting. Unanswered questions will not be counted.

Voting to support the Constitution.

In addition to judging government by the moral principles of Christianity, there are other guides to show what is needed for a strong effective government.

One such early guide was the 17 Article Constitution adopted in Japan in 604 CE. It was applied across Japan and the nation changed from a rural society full of conflict and became successful for centuries. The full text can be found here.

Several of the 17 Articles, now approximately 1,400 years old, remain a solid guide to good government today.

Article One: Harmony should be valued above all to avoid senseless quarrels and factions.

Article Two: Deeply respect the peoples’ religions.

Article 4: Officials must behave with proper manners and righteousness to maintain order.

Article 5: Rejection of bribery; deal with legal matters impartially.

Article 11: Distribute rewards and punishments clearly based on actual merit, not favoritism.

Christian voters assess government actions by Christian principles. The same examination of government action can be conducted using the 17 Article Constitution. A Christian can approve them all. Readers are invited to judge the schedule of actions listed above by these articles.

America is blessed to have a Constitution that is a superb guide to good government. The actions of candidates seeking re-election can also be assessed by the United States Constitution, a document written by men genuinely concerned to create a free, equal and prosperous nation under God. That is why the balance of power is so important. The actions referenced above can also be assessed by the terms of the United States Constitution.

Note from the publisher

I spent two great years in Grand Rapids, Michigan, studying at Calvin College, now a university. That experience included campaigning for Gerry Ford and other Republican candidates and working as co-founder of the Calvin Young Christian Political Society. At Calvin in 1952 we were all Republicans. I finished my time at Calvin and became a lawyer in Ontario. That meant no more US politics. It also meant I cannot vote nor fund a candidate in the United States. But I can do what Thomas Paine did – deliver essays to voters.

Over the years many friends and family members have lived and worked or vacationed in the U.S. as have I. The connection stayed strong.

What prompted this website were government events that are an echo of government action in countries which operate as dictatorships or oligarchies or theocracies. The trail leads through Iran, Russia, now Hungary and eventually to the Third Reich. The pattern is consistent: control the media, control political expression, use the education system to build support among young people, put the lawyers in jail or exile, reward a small number of very wealthy oligarchs for their support and give them a stream of government subsidies. I saw a start of each of these in the United States in recent years. It made me very fearful about I country I have admired and enjoyed.

Christians have a unique role to play in responding to this development. There are examples. Churches working as refuge for persons chased by government. Churches like Riverside in New York City and its associated religious organizations holding a vigil for democracy in Columbus Square every Friday night. Writers like Russell Moore, the former editor of Christianity Today (Losing our Religion) and Calvin professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez (NYTimes best seller: Jesus and John Wayne) who have patiently documented the relationship between fundamentalist Christian Churches and the current political system.

I have always paid particular attention to 1934, the year of my birth. That was the time when oligarchs like the Krupps and the Bayers were funding Adolph Hitler as was Henry Ford. The churches celebrated Hitler’s birthdays. The photograph below was taken 8 months after my birth.

It has stayed with me through my life that if my grandmother had not left Holland to come to Canada before 1934, she would have ended in a camp and I would not be. She was a member of a well known Dutch Jewish family that accepted children marrying goyim. Although she married a protestant, she would have been classified as a Jew. Those were the years when the government of Germany attacked lawyers, media, labour unions and universities and German Protestant and Catholic bishops celebrated Hitler’s birthday in their churches.

These are lessons that need constant refreshing because once they start, the forces of dictatorship, oligarchy, theocracy grow when resistance is low. Hopefully this website may help keep the resistance growing. It is so easy to slide backwards, give up, and lose elections. Elections have been won by the votes of people who hate. They always vote. People who are concerned but not angry may vote or they may be busy.

Herman Turkstra

Herman.Turkstra@trcv.info.

Church Leaders — September 1934

I was born in 1934, the year this photograph was taken. It has particular significance for me because it illustrates the relationship that can develop between political power and religious leadership. There is no suggestion that the current administration is like the persons in the photograph. I ask you to consider where the present trends take us and to remember that Adolph Hitler was elected in an election in a democratic state. It was the last election.

History provides examples both of religious cooperation with authoritarian governments and of courageous resistance to them.

The relationship between Christian faith and political power deserves continuing examination.