In this primary season, as no other in my memory, the stands of the presidential candidates on issues of importance to a Christian have been very difficult to determine. Even though there is broad agreement among Christians on a great number of moral issues, there has been no agreement on the best presidential candidate who supports those positions. National Christian leaders seem as confused as rank and file Christians, one endorsing one candidate, one another and some not knowing who to endorse.
The media has made things much worse. It is almost impossible to determine where candidates stand on important issues, either from the mainstream media or conservative media such as Fox News or Rush Limbaugh (see my post Should Christians Listen To Rush Limbaugh?). The candidates themselves, as well as separate groups, have been distorting or outright lying about the positions of their competition. On top of that, multiple candidates have been very inconsistent in their stand on a number of issues. What they are saying today is not what they voted for or governed by in the past and who knows where they will come down to in the future. Inconsistent positions on fundamental moral issues is a dangerous character flaw which leads to governing by watching the polls, rather than by moral principle.
Recently, the respected Christian organization, American Family Association, published their Voter Guide for the 2008 Presidential Primary. It features the stands of the Republican and Democratic candidates on eight issues. The issues are the human life amendment, traditional marriage, gun rights, business freedom (opposing laws forcing business to favor homosexuality), limit taxes, opposing gay pride, Iraq war and moral education. Even though I have been following the campaign, I was shocked at the stands of a number of the candidates. There was a lot that I didn’t know.
Download the Voter Guide and find out what you didn’t know about the Presidential candidates. Then forget what the media is telling you about who’s in or out of the race at this point. As a Christian, your responsibility is to vote for the candidate that best stands for biblical principles and let God sort out the election.
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Thanks Pastor Dan – I’ve searched the Internet for just such a review and it is amazing how little direct comparisons there are with reference to the source documents. This has made the decision of who to vote for on Super Tuesday much easier. There clearly is only candidate that passes the test and the media has lost interest in him in favor of the much more liberal candidates (of both parties).