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Christian voting myth No. 3: 'I don’t like either candidate, so what’s the point?'
Christian Post ^ | 10/21/2020 | Joseph Backholm

Posted on 10/21/2020 8:37:11 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

This is part 3 of a 4-part series debunking four common myths Christians use to not vote. Read myth #1: “One Vote Doesn’t Make a Difference” and myth #2: “God Is in Charge Anyway So It Doesn’t Matter if I Vote”

This article tackles the myth: 'I don’t like either candidate, so what’s the point?'

In an ideal world, you would always have the option to vote for really great people that you agree with in every respect. In the real world, however, your ballot may give you choices that make you feel less like you’re choosing someone to represent your values and more like you are choosing a cancer treatment. In that situation, what you want most is a different option. But sometimes there is no different option. What should you do then?

For a lot of people, the answer is “nothing.” Instead of voting, they choose to be absent from the process, absolve themselves of responsibility, and blame God for allowing it to come to this.

One reason it’s sometimes difficult to vote is because we want to support someone without reservation. On social media, we “like” people that we care about, things that makes us laugh, or ideas that we agree with. Our “like” is our stamp of approval. If we only like it a little bit, we’re likely to move on to something else.

There’s a temptation to treat our ballot the same way. If we can’t give unqualified support, we are tempted to abstain and wait for something better. But voting is not like social media. It’s more like filling a job vacancy. The job has to be filled and the Constitution has dictated the timeline. The fact that you haven’t found the ideal candidate may be frustrating, but it is not relevant to the fact that the job is going to be filled.

Your desire to find someone you can give unqualified support to is noted but not especially helpful under the circumstances. In that situation, it may be more helpful to think less about good and bad and more about better or worse. Is that possible? Maybe.

Character always matters, but if a completely virtuous person is not one of your choices, maybe the policies represented by one candidate are more virtuous than the policies of the other candidates. Is one candidate working on behalf of the abortion industry while the other works to defend life? Does one candidate defend conscience rights while the other supports suing nuns and churches that live out their faith? Does one candidate want parents involved in their child’s education and health care decisions while the other wants the state to interfere with parental rights? In a situation where all the candidates are flawed, we might be able to find clarity if we allow ourselves to think less about people involved and more about policies that will be affected.

In addition, if there is no “best candidate,” it may be helpful to think about the “best team.” No politician works alone. Most candidates are part of a political party, and all candidates have donors and supporters. Executive offices, like mayors, governors, and presidents also appoint cabinet members, judges, ambassadors, and thousands of other positions that affect how government operates.

Which candidate, for political reasons, is going to be pressured more often to do things you like and which candidate is going to face pressure to do things you won’t like? If the two foremen are not people you especially care for, is there a reason to prefer one crew over another?

Though it sometimes seems the end is near, we do still live on earth and that means we will be consistently faced with imperfect choices. It would be nice if the choice was always clearly good or evil, but it’s not. Sometimes the choice is better or worse, and if you aren’t willing to choose better, you may find yourself stuck with worse.

___________________________________________

Joseph Backholm is Senior Fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement at Family Research Council.


TOPICS: Moral Issues; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: christians; elections; voting

1 posted on 10/21/2020 8:37:11 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Republicans vote for the lessor of two evils, democrats vote for the greater of two evils.


2 posted on 10/21/2020 8:43:23 AM PDT by Cold Heart (Portland Voted for IT)
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To: SeekAndFind

One of the rolls of Christians is to reduce evil, however they can. Not all rulers were just, but Christian advisors would try to influence them to be just.


3 posted on 10/21/2020 8:44:37 AM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is thp at they are both death cults. N)
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To: SeekAndFind

Not too long ago, CA voted for a senatress.

Kammelll versus Loretta Sanchez.

What a choice.

I said, Loretta, she is as crazy as Boxer, and maybe will be voted out later.

Kamelll was smoother, but I said she is headed for a life in the senate. Well, she was headed higher, I didn’t expect Queen VP—>President.

Is it down to ‘the devil you know’ vs ‘the devil you don’t know’?

They are both devils.

And many election races are quite similar.


4 posted on 10/21/2020 8:45:15 AM PDT by Scrambler Bob (This is not /s. It is just as viable as any MSM 'information', maybe more so!)
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To: SeekAndFind

I will say: VOTE anyway.

One demon tactic is to make the whole process so revoltingly disgusting that decent folks just quit.


5 posted on 10/21/2020 8:47:31 AM PDT by Scrambler Bob (This is not /s. It is just as viable as any MSM 'information', maybe more so!)
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To: Cold Heart

No lesser evil with Trump. He is an American patriot, and these stuckup “Christians” judging him are enemies of the nation and of God.


6 posted on 10/21/2020 9:10:57 AM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: Cold Heart

I say to those who denounce Donald Trump, “I can understand that there are things about the Donald that you don’t like but what I can NEVER understand is how anyone who objects to Trump can believe that Joe Biden is worth voting for.” I really don’t get it even with the understanding that Biden, if elected, would simply be a placeholder for Harris and worse, how can anyone believe that the democrats will be the bringers of a great future. Do they actually think that Obama and Biden were on the side of America? They may as well believe that sleeping with rattlesnakes ensures good health.

Even in the worst days of the Republican party I have believed that the democrats would be the ones to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, not the GOP.


7 posted on 10/21/2020 9:15:10 AM PDT by RipSawyer
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To: RipSawyer

Christians: You have God’s nature, says Peter, now concentrate and form habits! No person born either naturally or supernaturally has character, you have to make character! We have to form habits on the basis of the new life in Christ that God has put into us.
*O Chambers


8 posted on 10/21/2020 9:16:25 AM PDT by RevelationDavid (Don't just 'know about God'...... KNOW GOD....!)
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To: SeekAndFind

‘I don’t like either candidate, so what’s the point?’

Translated: “Everyone look at me! I’m the big-brained centrist!”


9 posted on 10/21/2020 9:27:18 AM PDT by cdcdawg (Biden has dementia.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I often say that the time for electoral purity is during the primary. Vote for your pure candidate. In the general election, you must support the best party candidate.

The ultimate answer is easy. It’s impossible for a Christian to be a democrat.


10 posted on 10/21/2020 9:33:38 AM PDT by cyclotic (The most dangerous people are the ones that feel the most helpless)
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

I was speaking in generalities.

Trump, greatest president since George Washington.


11 posted on 10/21/2020 9:37:22 AM PDT by Cold Heart (Portland Voted for IT)
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To: RipSawyer

“Republicans” and “Christians” who vote for the one they like instead of the most honest and equipped to do the job might as well become demoncraps.


12 posted on 10/21/2020 10:18:48 AM PDT by MikeSteelBe (We will be safe from terror when we treat Islam like postwar Germany treated Nazism)
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To: cyclotic

“It’s impossible for a Christian to be a democrat.”

I agree %100.

I like to clarify that their platform of homosexuality and abortion is an abomination to God, and cannot be supported by a true Christian.


13 posted on 10/21/2020 10:22:12 AM PDT by MikeSteelBe (We will be safe from terror when we treat Islam like postwar Germany treated Nazism)
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To: SeekAndFind

It’s not about LIKING the man.

It’s about voting for his platform.

It’s not a popularity contest. It’s about who is going to lead this country as the representative republic it was established as.


14 posted on 10/21/2020 11:02:53 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: metmom

It’s not about LIKING the man.

It’s about voting for his platform.

It’s not a popularity contest. It’s about who is going to lead this country as the representative republic it was established as.

********

A problem has been that for the last handful of decades, that “platform” was nothing more than a series of sound bites and slogans put together by committee and tested in focus groups to ensure they were what the targeted demographic wanted to hear. But there was never any intention of following through on any of it.

Uniparty rules.

Tell the rubes what they want to hear in public, then continue raping them bloody behind closed doors. And do whatever the left demands because, uniparty.


15 posted on 10/21/2020 11:10:36 AM PDT by Grimmy (equivocation is but the first step along the road to capitulation)
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To: metmom

It’s not about liking the man.

But he Tweets! /s


16 posted on 10/21/2020 11:42:42 AM PDT by cyclotic (The most dangerous people are the ones that feel the most helpless)
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To: SeekAndFind

I have voted straight Republican for 45 years… But I confess I could not vote for Romney. I simply sat out the election


17 posted on 10/21/2020 2:30:44 PM PDT by RevelationDavid (Don't just 'know about God'...... KNOW GOD....!)
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