Christians Expected to Flood Polls in the Name of Jesus and Other Causes in Midterm Elections
Christians prompted by churches and a host of faith-based advocacy organizations to exercise their right to vote and help shape America's culture and future, are expected to flood the polls in the name of Jesus Tuesday.
From abortion to racial justice, Christians prompted by churches and a host of faith-based advocacy organizations to exercise their right to vote and help shape America's culture and future, are expected to flood the polls in the name of Jesus and a long list of other causes Tuesday.
"We wanted to encourage our people to register to vote and to vote. We believe that voting is a Christian responsibility in the government that we live in. We are the government. We can't blame the country's problems on someone else except for ourselves," said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel in an interview with The Christian Post Monday.
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"As Christians, we have an obligation to be involved in our culture and voting is an extension of our values. If we believe in the sanctity of life we can't appoint an agent that opposes the values that we believe. … Silence is not an option, voting is a responsibility we want to make," noted Staver.
Liberty Counsel is one of several Christian organizations that have joined together to form a coalition called Christians Vote.
"Many Christian organizations, ministries and churches have joined together to form a coalition committed to mobilizing and educating Christian voters for the midterm elections on Nov. 4. Wins in the midterms will give us a changed Senate and the leverage to prevail in 2016. Believing that there is power in unity, the coalition is committed to partnering together to achieve common goals and impact the future of our nation," explains the coalition on its website.
"We encourage people to vote their biblical values. We don't tell them who to vote for. We encourage them to match their biblical values with the candidate's position. For tomorrow (Tuesday) we are looking forward to a good voter turnout. I think our constituents really believe that America is on a lost track and in dire straits," said Staver.
Allan Parker, president of the Justice Foundation, said his organization was inspired to join the coalition because of America's departure from traditional Christian values and the government's attack on those values.
The Justice Foundation promotes pro-life issues and school choice.
"I think that the assault on Christian values and the abandonment of government by Christians convinced us that it was very important, theologically, to get Christians involved in righteous government again," said Parker.
"I believe that when Christians don't vote and don't participate in government they are demonstrating lovelessness for their neighbor, and they are not being salt and light as Jesus commanded us. And when we abandon the field the darkness wins. Only by being in the sphere of government can we influence government, and Christians need to vote and be willing to serve in government because they love their neighbor as themselves," he continued.
Asked how his organization has been working to get out Christian voters, Parker said they focused on general education.
"We've just been talking with pastors about the need to promote civic duty and Christian love of neighbor and preach biblically based sermons on the issues of the day. That's all we've done," he said.
Based on the reactions he has seen in the Christian community to this message, however, he wasn't very impressed.
"I think there's still a lot of lethargy and slumber in the church and neglect of duty that I'm hopeful we'll see a slight increase in (voter) turnout," he said.
In a release promoting the coalition, Sam Rohrer, president of the American Pastors Network, said religious liberty will be at stake Tuesday.
"This will be perhaps one of the most important elections of our time," said Rohrer. "Those we elect to office have a lasting effect on every community in America. Our voice as the people protects our constitutional rights and God-given liberties as they are attacked every day in this nation. And our voice as Christians protects the religious freedoms and rights to conscience that we hold dear. Should we abdicate our duty to vote, we will find our freedoms a thing of the past."
Pointing to a 1781 statement made by one of America's founding fathers, Samuel Adams, Rohrer noted: "Let each citizen remember at the moment he's offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual — or at least that he ought not to do so; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country."
"It is the duty and obligation of Christians to vote for individuals whose character and beliefs comport with the Word of God. Casting our ballots for any who openly disregard God's law and the rule of law is not simply a poor decision; it is a dereliction of our Christian duty, and we will be held accountable for it," he ended.
Other efforts from organizations like the PICO National Network, which describes itself as the largest grassroots, faith-based organizing network in America, noted in a release that they intend to do intensive voter outreach until Nov. 4 with a focus on black and Hispanic voters.
"Volunteer faith leaders from PICO have already had more than 400,000 conversations with voters about faith and voting. They plan to talk to 125,000 more people in these final four days leading up to Nov. 4," explained the release.
The organization noted that the get-out-the-vote efforts are being led in key battleground states, such as Florida, Louisiana and Colorado. The efforts focused on ballot initiatives such as Question 4 in Massachusetts regarding earned sick time and California's Proposition 47 that would reclassify many non-violent felonies as misdemeanors, according to the release.
"As a person of faith, every single conversation we're having on the doors or on the phones is a sacred act that will bring people to the polls whose voices would not otherwise be heard," said Rosie Washington, a lead community organizer with the Micah Project in New Orleans. "As faith voters, especially those of us in the African-American community, we cannot and will not stand on the sidelines while families around us are struggling to make ends meet, to find good jobs, to take care of their kids, and to get back on their feet."
