Election Discernment

Do you plan to vote for the Culture of Life - and how will you know? As Christian Americans, we are called to vote for the candidate who most closely stands with our own faith practice. Not perfectly, mind you, but most closely. However, sometimes the decision is easier than others. This election is one of those times when clarity is not the norm and discernment is necessary to sort through the thickets of the voting process.

In this election, election 2016, we have heard many say that the candidates are both deeply flawed. And that is true. This election campaign has been the most contentious ever, but that does not give us permission to give up on the process. We are still called to vote as is our civic duty and to preserve religious rights and other freedoms we hold, lest we lose them under a regime of tyranny.

There are so many issues to consider before voting, and in the Truth Famine in the Age of Media, it is especially hard to sort through the barrage of news reports about each candidate. Yes, one candidate is brash and harsh at times and difficult to embrace, the other's speech and presentation are smooth, polished, eloquent, and promising. The latter is under investigation for criminal wrong doing, but it is still up to the American people to decide for themselves.

One candidate is very cautious about immigration to preserve the integrity and religious freedom of our country without Sharia Law, the other proposes open borders and welcomes tens of thousands of immigrants, legal and illegal, into the US with cursory, if any vetting. One candidate says he will work for smaller government, the other promises to preserve status quo as part of the government we now endure-even as the constitution is in the balance. One candidate supports the selection of conservative, faith-filled Supreme Court justices that will rule the land for generations to come, the other plans to select liberal judges. One candidate and his chosen Vice-President stand for the meek among us, the Civil Rights of the unborn, and the other stands for funding Planned Parenthood, for the merciless killing of the unborn in the womb even through the 9th month just before birth.

The truth is that abortion is the gateway to euthanasia of the sick, disabled, mentally ill, and elderly, per Margaret Sanger's vision, the founder of Planned Parenthood. Neither candidate has it all right, but we have to choose one of them to vote for in discernment and good conscience, one who is in closest keeping with our professed faith.

"If then my people.humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and heal their land."

2 Chronicles 7:14

It is vitally important for each voter to stop and take a careful look through the eyes of faith at what is most important to them, what is closest to their faith beliefs rather than their political opinions or bent. Long gone are the days when one could stand blindly with their political party, as the paradigm has shifted in recent years, requiring more discernment that ever.

For me, the Sanctity of Human Life stands above all my personal opinions on how other government policies should be implemented. It is my own litmus test for politicians. For as Mother Teresa said, "Civilization is judged by how it treats the most vulnerable citizens." In as much as the Bible is the inspired Word of God, we are mandated to consider what we know is good and right and true. The 10 Commandments have great clarity, especially when we are instructed, "Thou shalt not kill." This mandate is basic to Judeo-Christian teaching.

America was founded on the core belief, "In God we trust." We need to decide whether or not that is still our mantra, and live with the consequences of our voting choices. For a godless country is doomed to fail, but a God-loving country will be lifted up and thrive. The choice is ours. We are at a crossroads, and the decision is ours and ours alone. I am praying that when I wake up the day after the election, that this great nation will have chosen the Culture of Life. For without the preservation of the Sanctity of Life, whatever will come of America???

                                        Copyright 2016, Distributed by News Consortium

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