I Googled “voters guide” today. Want to guess how many results? Try 49,200,000. Really! So rather than promote someone else’s voter guide, I want to hype my own. Now instead of goofy candidate pictures and simplistic answers to complex issues, I thought I’d give some practical wisdom about living well this final week before election day.
Don’t put too much stock in a printed or online voter guide comparing candidates and issues. Voter guides are typically propaganda or at least viewed as such by most. I’ve never known a voter guide to sway, inform or change someone’s mind about a candidate or an issue. Instead of handing a slick half-sheet of paper to someone, try engaging them in a meaningful conversation. Seek to understand before you’re understood.
There’s an enormous surplus of false and half-truthed articles online today. Before you post, repost or tweet, please check for its validity and truthfulness through credible sources. If you’re promoting inaccurate information, you’re losing credibility with others. Know what’s truth and know what’s not. Just because you read it online doesn’t make it true. There are solid “fact” sites out there, use them. And, no, don’t use a candidate’s “fact checker” to validate claims. 😉
Nearly every editorial and endorsement is biased. Be aware of the slant and weed your way through to the facts.
If you didn’t early vote, when you stand in the line on Election Day, pray for the people in line with you, pray over your ballot, pray for the names on the ballot and pray for the election officials working the polls. Pray for peace and for the future of our nation. I often volunteer as an election official and spend much of that day in prayer as I serve.
I’ve heard some say they’re just not going to vote. Don’t even think about not voting! It is not only your right, but it is your civic duty. There are other items on the ballot. Exercise your right to vote. Be a good citizen.
In this age of individualism, divide and tension, Christians need to exemplify peaceful and quiet lives. Don’t get caught up in the hype. We’re called to a difference grace in our current culture. Some trust in governments, but we trust in Christ. It’s this grace which gives credence to the gospel. Personally, I believe the greatest opportunity for spiritual awakening will be found in the balance of this decade as culture continues to polarize. There is something more, there’s Christ.
I agree with you Brad that the majority of voter guides are slanted and biased. But there is at least 1% out of the 100% that are correct and factual. Those would be the Christian voter guides. These are the ones that Christians who are not very well informed should rely on. Not everyone keeps up with the political agendas of the day and are therefore uninformed on major political issues. Who better for a Christian to trust than other Christians . I have seen the American Family Association voter guide for Christians and find no fault or bias in it. Everyone needs to make a seriously educated choice for the leader of our country. The bottom line is that informed Christians should educate uninformed Christians. The abortion and religious freedom issues are of utmost concern for us Christians. And uneducated vote is a potential vote for the wrong candidate. I think that we should be helping the uninformed rather than telling them to go and check out things for themselves. They could end up with the wrong information unless they’re guided towards the Christian voter guide. If we can’t trust other Christians who then can we trust at all.
Hi Doug, thanks for commenting. I guess my struggle with voter guides is the misconception. I think well meaning organizations like AFF produce documents they believe will help assist and educate voters. The misconception is that these documents actually educate or sway voters. In my experience in congregational life, I’ve never heard a single “thank you” for providing a voter guide because it helped to inform a decision. On the other hand, I’ve heard the very opposite.
I’d like to give people more credit – that they’ll actually research and think for themselves. I want people to pray, research and engage the conversation in the public square. I really believe we need thinking voters, not just people who do what they’re told. I think bad things happen when people quit thinking.
We’re probably gonna disagree on the effectiveness and use of the voter guide, but that’s okay. Good disagreement helps to further the conversation and cause.
If a Christian compares the platform of the two leading parties, there really should be only one choice. One has a candidate that is, in fact, a bully. The other has a candidate that, in fact, lies habitually and is a crook, while she and her party support the killing of babies in the womb, the celebration of sin, and the removal of our God from discussion in the public square.
I will vote for the bully, not because he is one, but because his platform represents a better alternative. I pray that other Christians will do the same.
Hi Tom, thanks for the comment. The way in which you’ve come to your decision is by in large the way may people have come to their decision as well, they’re looking well beyond the candidate to the platform of the represented party. Definitely helps to clarify decisions beyond personality.
Yes Brad you’re right we can agree to disagree with no harm done. But I would add that information comes from many different sources and people form their opinions based on the information that they receive.. may God help us all if those opinions and decisions are made based on the information being received from the liberal media. I talked to a lot of people and have found that Christians yes even Christians believe everything they hear on television. No one can reach a conclusion about anything without having received information about it. Informed Christians teaching uninformed Christians sounds like iron sharpening iron to me.
In every organization, commitee or small group success rises or falls based on leadership. When leadership falls to be out front in a decisive manner it to me is “lukewarm” and we all know what the bible says about this. When I listened to the leader of Denton Bible College, Tommy Nelson’s sermon called Continental Divide I know what a leader sounds like and had no question about my vote in the upcoming election. He is to me a “one man voter quide”. Remember if our church stays in the middle of the road we are subject to be run over from both sides!