Mt Soledad
Welcome to the
Christian Citizenship Council
of San Diego
San Diego
“When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.” (Prov 29:2)

“End Game ”

With the election upon us, you have a decision to make.  Are you willing to go out and vote, even though the quality of the “best” candidate in a number of races is less than stellar?  I’ve personally wrestled with this question in prior elections and always come back with the same answer – Yes!  We may not like all the options at the top of the ticket (State-wide races for example), but there are many other races just as important.  Remember, the crop of men and women elected locally become the bench strength for higher office in the years to come.  Too many times we get discouraged when someone like Governor Schwarzenegger is the most “conservative”, electable candidate we have to choose from.  He’s made some great decisions on fiscal matters, but has reluctantly sided with us too few times on major moral issues – like protecting the uniqueness of traditional marriage rights and preventing our children in government schools from being forced to accept perverted lifestyles as normal.  This is frustrating, and will cause some very real apprehension for anyone exercising a Biblical worldview in voting. 

Though we may be tempted to just stay home, what will that tangibly accomplish?  I understand the idea that this will “send a message” about our dissatisfaction.  But the reality is that it will only demonstrate we’re not influential in the political process, that we don’t understand how to make hard decisions given poor options, and in effect we will be casting a vote for a viler candidate.   We don’t stop the bleeding by allowing even greater bleeding to occur.  We don’t further our cause in any elective race by allowing candidates that are even more morally compromised to win.  As unpalatable as the options may be, at times we need to vote to prevent the greater evil from occurring.  If we walk away completely, we concede not only the election, but we turn our backs on many “down-ticket” good candidates that worked very hard to gain the opportunity to represent us.  Also, if we walk away, we demonstrate we truly are irrelevant to the process and end up forcing future candidates to become more liberal to gain broader support.  I don’t like it, but we’re in the “end-game” of an election cycle that began years ago.  If we withdraw from the process now, because we dislike some of the options, we stand a good chance of making things even worse.  When voting, consider this question – who will you have a better chance of influencing to make right decisions if elected?  Remember, not voting for any candidate is tantamount in this state to voting for the vilest opponent. 

Looking ahead, if we’re serious about the war we’re in, we must start to identify those we can encourage and mentor to take on positions of authority in the future.  This is the time to find them, encourage them, support them, and begin to help lay the foundation for the next generation of leaders, consistent with our Biblical worldview.   Praise God our confidence and trust in the future are not dependent upon a political party, or a particular candidate.  God is sovereign in these elections, and He’ll continue to use us to impact them for good.  Obviously, I don’t want to shame you into voting in a manner that’s against your conscience.  I only ask that you consider the alternatives carefully and vote in a manner you think will ensure the best outcome – given poor alternatives in some cases.  I suggest you vote to support those candidates you know support our values, and vote to prevent unnecessary bleeding when the options are poor.

Finally, remember there are some very important issues to be decided by local and state-wide Propositions.  If you stay away from the polls you minimize the possibility of passing some key legislation that helps our cause.  Vote to protect children (Prop 83), to restore parent’s rights (Prop 85), and to protect our property (Prop 90).  The options we have when we look at our ballot have been decided some time ago – we need to make the best of it.  I’m not saying to vote for someone you detest, but I am saying you need to vote, and vote in every race and for every Proposition you can while maintaining a clear conscience before the Lord.  That is how we can send strong messages to our representatives, no matter what the outcome.

- Frank Kacer

First published as a Guest Commentary in the October 2006 issue of Good News Etc.

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