Saturday, September 05, 2020

A Crisis of Conscience?

 I'm voting my conscience.  That's what I'm hearing from a few conservative Christians who have stated they either won't vote for Trump, or aren't likely to.  Fortunately their conscience won't let the cast a vote for the Biden ticket, but the reality is that not voting for Trump <i>is</i> a vote for the Biden ticket.  And just as voting for Trump is in reality not simply voting for Trump, but rather, for a more conservative administration, letting Biden win is voting for a severely socialist agenda that is unquestionably harmful to our nation. 

The fall back position for these who feel this way is that regardless of the outcome in November, God is sovereign and whomever is elected is basically put their by God.  The excuse is to avoid doing nothing that does not honor God.  In short, vote one's conscience.  The irony in that with regard to this election is the candidate for which these gentlemen cannot vote and still be cool with their conscience is the president who has done much to protect rights of conscience as regards things like abortion and the LGBT agenda.  Conversely, the party that opposes this president is strongly in favor of denying Christians their right to act according to their conscience...of forcing Christians and other people of faith to act contrary to the teachings of their faith in behalf of abortion and LGBT "rights".  What this means is that the very act of "voting my conscience" will result in a greatly higher likelihood that their conscience will not be considered when faced with acting in support of that which conflicts with their faith.  They'll be forced to abide under penalty of law. 

Worse, others will be as well.  This was easily predicted...by me as well as by smarter people, demonstrating just how obvious it was at the time...that the Constitutionally enumerated rights of the faithful will be subordinated to the invented "rights" of the immoral.  This certainly is that which my own conscience cannot allow.  Thus, my displeasure with a candidate with the character and personality of Donald Trump is far outweighed by my displeasure and horror at having even more cultural decay codified into law, which is exactly what is in store should the Biden ticket prevail.  

And this is the point of this post:  how can one vote one's conscience if that vote results in so much that is presumably in conflict with one's conscience?   Let's back up and look again at what the choice is.  Donald Trump and Republican policy versus Joe Biden and Democrat policy.  That's the choice in the simplest terms.  There is no "third party", "write in" or "not voting for president".  There is only those two choices, because there is no chance whatsoever of any other option coming to fruition.  There is no overwhelming support for any third party or write in that will result in anything more than allowing one or the other of the two major party candidate win.  Thus, a vote for either is a vote for Biden if one is normally inclined to vote for the Republican candidate.  As such, every non-vote (that's what third party, write-in or not voting is) is a vote for the guy one likes least.  The greater of two evils as it were...in this case, Biden.

And what will we get with a Biden win?  THAT is what must be considered and because one is allowing that by deciding not to vote for the only guy capable of defeating Biden and what his party represents, how does one square that with one's conscience if voting one's conscience is the argument?  The Democrats are the party of:

Abortion

Sexual immorality

Heavy regulation on business which stifles growth and expansion

Heavy taxes which restricts one's ability to live one's life due to having hard earned monies reduced

Entitlements, the cost of which our descendants will be paying off for generations

Porous borders and all the ills that come with that, including threats from criminals and terrorists, added expense due to uneducated, unskilled people with no ability to be productive on behalf of their new country.

More anarchistic morons protesting violently without any notion of what they want or how to get it without costing actual productive citizens more of their hard earned money.

Less ability for people of faith to live their lives according to that faith.

Greater loss of liberties, such as freedom of speech, religion, association.

Less ability to protect one's self as more restrictions on gun ownership is codified.

A weakened military as Democrats are known for ignoring what's necessary to maintain and effective fighting force.

Anti-science policies such as the "Green New Deal" that are no more than new ways to redistribute the wealth of the producers for the sake of the takers.

Language distorted to mean whatever is needed by the left to push their agenda.

Socialism writ large.

These are just the overall problems a Biden win will impose upon us, and the list is neither comprehensively complete nor does it give one a clear notion of what any single point on the list means in detailed reality.  They're too broadly presented here and this post is not meant to give that detail, though it's easily found.  What I fear is that those who won't vote for Trump, despite their objections to the contrary, have not truly looked at what the Democrat Party is, so distracted are they with the comparatively insignificant foibles of one Donald J. Trump...foibles that in the grand scheme of things mean nothing, particularly at this stage and in light of his great track record thus far.  I do not support Trump's flaws.  God knows this.  Why would He not be honored by the reasons compelling my support for his presidency, and how could He possibly be honored by any Christian NOT voting for Trump given the alternative?  How can one's conscience not be screaming at the thought of what withholding a vote for Trump means to one's fellow Americans given what the Dems clearly have in store?

It doesn't matter what state one calls home and how blue it is.  There is only the choice between Trump/GOP and Biden/socialism.  No Christian can dismiss his duty to choose between the two and pretend to be honoring God. 

A man was on his roof while the flood waters rose.  He prayed that God would save him and as Donald Trump rowed up and offered a seat in his boat, the man waved him off saying, "God is sovereign and He will save me from the rising socialist waters and all the harm that will bring."  And the waters engulfed him.

5 comments:

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Yesterday I had a neighbor black LEFTIST-claiming-to-be-Christian telling me what a horrible person Trump. My response was that I don't care how horrible the candidate is because I vote for the Republican platform over the Demokrat platform; i.e., against all that is unholy and lawless. After some screaming at me she walked away. She's still a slave. OH, she's a highly educated intellectual, by the way. And she told me that abortion right protect a woman's right to do what she wants with her own body, and Republicans are against that, to which I replied rightly so because the body inside the woman isn't the woman's body. She then said it isn't my business and I replied with a H/T to A Christmas Carol with "mankind is my business." Then she said she's had 4 abortions and if we are so against it then we should be adopting these babies. Of course the fact that most baby-murderers don't want to carry their baby to term didn't seem to faze her.

Yes, a Christian. So-Called.

Craig said...

"The fall back position for these who feel this way is that regardless of the outcome in November, God is sovereign..."

To the contrary. It's much more accurate to say that the Sovereignty of God is one of the fundamental starting points, not simply an excuse.

"And what will we get with a Biden win?"
Without knowing the composition of the legislature, that only real answer is that we don't know. Clearly, you're projecting a worst case scenario, yet just like the worst case folks were wrong with both P-BO and Trump, they'll likely be wrong with Biden as well.

"No Christian can dismiss his duty to choose between the two and pretend to be honoring God."

I'm thinking that the honoring God part isn't connected to specific candidates as much as it is to how we relate to government in a broader way that includes participating in the process.

Have you got Dan writing your analogies for you now? This notion that a second Trump administration is automatically going to be all positive isn't realistic. Let's say that we kick the can down the road on the things you mention as reasons to vote for Trump and the trade of is adding 3-5 trillion per year to the national debt? You'll remember that Trump promised to lower the debt, not raise it.

Again, if this is how you want to waste your time, feel free.

Craig said...

You know, I've heard a lot of people bitching for a long time about the US being entangled in military alliances and wars overseas that never seem to end, and that the Us commitment to help Israel protect itself is a problem. Yet the current president is pulling troops out of war zones and facilitating treaties to make Israel safer, and we hear nothing about those things from the usual idiots.

Marshal Art said...

"To the contrary. It's much more accurate to say that the Sovereignty of God is one of the fundamental starting points, not simply an excuse."

And yet it comes up as that fallback I mentioned, even if it begins the discussion. "First, God is Sovereign", and then everything follows with that cover protecting one from criticism. God's Sovereignty is a rather moot point...a given...and as such does not matter much in the discussion of whether or not one must choose between two candidates. I believe that choice is still a matter of duty and obligation, even if it comes down to a "lesser of two evils" situation. Between two evils, one is always greater and thus, to allow the greater to prevail without any move to prevent it is akin to supporting the further drift of the nation from God...evil being the polar opposite of God. As such, the lesser is to mitigate that drift, ostensibly to allow time to find better in time for the next election.

"Without knowing the composition of the legislature, that only real answer is that we don't know."

Actually, we have a really good idea of what a Biden/Harris win will mean. It's all over their platform...it's in every speech or public pronouncement they make...and it's clearly manifested in the rioting and covid-related mandates. To what extent it can all come to fruition is not a legitimate argument, given because we can't know the future, we must base our choices on what we do indeed know. We know that party is not good for America, and we know Biden/Harris will do all they can to bring about that which is not good for America. Can you truly think of anything either of them is likely to do that IS good for the nation? Dan's offered ten possibilities, but there's not a one that isn't anything more than ignorant wishful thinking.

"I'm thinking that the honoring God part isn't connected to specific candidates as much as it is to how we relate to government in a broader way that includes participating in the process."

But I'm thinking everything we do either honors or dishonors Him more than we imagine as we make our choices and decisions. This is far more obvious given what the Democratic Party represents versus what the GOP represents and how Trump has done so much more good than bad as president. And don't forget that we aren't voting merely for candidates, but also for the ideologies attached to them.

Marshal Art said...


"Have you got Dan writing your analogies for you now? This notion that a second Trump administration is automatically going to be all positive isn't realistic."

First, though I've compared you and/or Stan to Dan in some of what you've said (I haven't the time to be specific as to which of you this is more apt), you both have now done as much to me, but with far less legitimacy. It's like saying we're the same because we both claim to be Christian, without taking into account how such a thing manifests in reality. But so be it.

There's nothing automatic about anything. This is true. But I would say that it's an incredibly safe bet that a second Trump term will be far more positive and beneficial for the nation than a Biden win. Indeed, I'd say that's indeed pretty automatic.

" Let's say that we kick the can down the road on the things you mention as reasons to vote for Trump and the trade of is adding 3-5 trillion per year to the national debt? "

OK. Let's. We can both speak to possibilities of which we'd much prefer not come to pass from a second Trump term. But now we're getting back to the fantasy of a perfect candidate. If we're going to lean on such things with regard to Trump, we must also consider the far more likely and numerous negatives attached to a Biden win and in doing so, we're back to the "lesser of two evils" argument, of which the lesser is the Christian move.

I would also say that it is just as likely that Trump's debt reduction ideas could be a cornerstone of his second term. Just because he didn't get all his promises fulfilled the first time around, doesn't mean he'll blow them off with a second term.

"Again, if this is how you want to waste your time, feel free."

I'm not really a "shake the dust from my sandals" kinda guy in the first place, but this issue has a deadline of only a couple of months. Trying to convince another to a better path is never a waste of my time.

"You know, I've heard a lot of people bitching for a long time about the US being entangled in military alliances and wars overseas that never seem to end, and that the Us commitment to help Israel protect itself is a problem. Yet the current president is pulling troops out of war zones and facilitating treaties to make Israel safer, and we hear nothing about those things from the usual idiots."

Kinda indicts those who do that type of bitching, doesn't it? Are they really concerned about the things they say concern them, or is it all about taking or maintaining control?

At the same time, chalk that up as another promise kept by this guy whose marital infidelities put his promise making in question. He's one case where that hasn't been shown to be a legitimate concern.