Not "Wasting my Vote"
Here in Canada, the entire nation is watching the US Presidential Election with a mixture of horror and desperation. As one of the few dual citizens of my acquaintance, I get blasted by the desperation when my friends learn that I get to cast my vote. They paint me a picture of the devastation that will occur if a certain major candidate wins. And I agree. So they urge me not to waste my vote, but to hold my nose and vote for either Trump or Hillary, because he or she is the only one who has a realistic chance of stopping the other.
And I refuse.
I have tried to explain it, but it falls on deaf ears. "I would rather put a monkey in the White House than Hillary Clinton," a friend recently told me. Well, if it were a monkey, I could maybe vote for it. But Donald Trump? Not ever.
I'm accused of not caring that Hillary will nominate an activist Supreme Court. I do care. Immensely. I just care about some other things even more. Things like civil society, rule of law, equality before the law, and the Constitution of the United States. Things that are too sacred for me to gamble on a compromised character who promises both to destroy all of the above and also that he will nominate conservative judges.
Donald Trump is a demagogue. He appeals to the fears and prejudices of his audience, then claims to be surprised when, in the real world, his supporters turn on the minorities he targets. He riles his people up to violence and promises to pay their legal fees if they get in trouble for beating up protestors. He is a powermonger who threatens to wield the law like a club, who boasts that being "a star" gives him licence to be a predator, who threatens to dispense with constitutional protections in order to get at terrorists' innocent families. Yet decent, honourable people counsel me to vote for him, because he's the only one who has a hope of stopping Hillary?
How different was the counsel Isaiah gave to Ahaz, king of Judah, when Syria and Israel joined together to take his throne (Isaiah 7). Ahaz figured he had no choice but to make an alliance with the king of Assyria but Isaiah urged him not to. "Don't worry about Syria and Israel," he said (and I'm paraphrasing). "They're old news. In fact, they're about to be destroyed themselves. It's the King of Assyria you need to worry about. Do not make an alliance with him. He will devour you. Trust in God instead and He will deliver you."
Ahaz ignored Isaiah's counsel and sure enough, the King of Assyria did "protect" him against Syria and Israel, whom he overthrew. The cost was merely that Judah was taken into bondage by Assyria. Was it that alliance that compelled King Ahaz to sacrifice his own son to the fires of Molech (see 2 Kings 16:3)?
In any case, it was left to Ahaz's remaining son, Hezekiah, to stand up to the King of Assyria, who retaliated by laying seige against Jerusalem. But Hezekiah had learned from his father's errors. He listened to Isaiah, built a tunnel to supply drinking water during the seige, and trusted that God would deliver Judah. Sure enough, the King of Assyria woke up one morning to find his entire army had mysteriously died during the night, and returned home in disgrace.
I believe that God has a vested interest in our nation and our liberty. I see His hand in the founding of both, and I know that believers across the nation have been pleading with Him to intercede in our nation's behalf. I believe that God has a plan for the preservation of this nation and it's Constitution. And my job is to use my vote to express that faith.
I'm not wasting my vote when I cast it in behalf of the patriot who has a one-in-a-million chance of making it to the White House but who champions the principles on which this nation was founded, instead of the demagogue who has relentlessly pursued his own interests, even at the cost of turning neighbours against each other. That's not wastage. That's faith. And where there's faith, I believe that God can do miracles.
And I refuse.
I have tried to explain it, but it falls on deaf ears. "I would rather put a monkey in the White House than Hillary Clinton," a friend recently told me. Well, if it were a monkey, I could maybe vote for it. But Donald Trump? Not ever.
I'm accused of not caring that Hillary will nominate an activist Supreme Court. I do care. Immensely. I just care about some other things even more. Things like civil society, rule of law, equality before the law, and the Constitution of the United States. Things that are too sacred for me to gamble on a compromised character who promises both to destroy all of the above and also that he will nominate conservative judges.
Donald Trump is a demagogue. He appeals to the fears and prejudices of his audience, then claims to be surprised when, in the real world, his supporters turn on the minorities he targets. He riles his people up to violence and promises to pay their legal fees if they get in trouble for beating up protestors. He is a powermonger who threatens to wield the law like a club, who boasts that being "a star" gives him licence to be a predator, who threatens to dispense with constitutional protections in order to get at terrorists' innocent families. Yet decent, honourable people counsel me to vote for him, because he's the only one who has a hope of stopping Hillary?
How different was the counsel Isaiah gave to Ahaz, king of Judah, when Syria and Israel joined together to take his throne (Isaiah 7). Ahaz figured he had no choice but to make an alliance with the king of Assyria but Isaiah urged him not to. "Don't worry about Syria and Israel," he said (and I'm paraphrasing). "They're old news. In fact, they're about to be destroyed themselves. It's the King of Assyria you need to worry about. Do not make an alliance with him. He will devour you. Trust in God instead and He will deliver you."
Ahaz ignored Isaiah's counsel and sure enough, the King of Assyria did "protect" him against Syria and Israel, whom he overthrew. The cost was merely that Judah was taken into bondage by Assyria. Was it that alliance that compelled King Ahaz to sacrifice his own son to the fires of Molech (see 2 Kings 16:3)?
In any case, it was left to Ahaz's remaining son, Hezekiah, to stand up to the King of Assyria, who retaliated by laying seige against Jerusalem. But Hezekiah had learned from his father's errors. He listened to Isaiah, built a tunnel to supply drinking water during the seige, and trusted that God would deliver Judah. Sure enough, the King of Assyria woke up one morning to find his entire army had mysteriously died during the night, and returned home in disgrace.
I believe that God has a vested interest in our nation and our liberty. I see His hand in the founding of both, and I know that believers across the nation have been pleading with Him to intercede in our nation's behalf. I believe that God has a plan for the preservation of this nation and it's Constitution. And my job is to use my vote to express that faith.
I'm not wasting my vote when I cast it in behalf of the patriot who has a one-in-a-million chance of making it to the White House but who champions the principles on which this nation was founded, instead of the demagogue who has relentlessly pursued his own interests, even at the cost of turning neighbours against each other. That's not wastage. That's faith. And where there's faith, I believe that God can do miracles.
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