Who Am I Voting for and Why?

Actually, I am deeply disappointed in our choices for President this year.
If McCain is elected, I hold out no illusions that we will be happy with his presidency.
He will do some things that are good, but he will also disappoint in many ways.

On the other hand, I believe Obama will be disastrous for this nation.

Therefore, I am voting AGAINST Obama and for McCain.

(Note: I realize a strong case can be made that

neither candidate deserves our support and we should vote for a third party candidate instead. However, in light of the damage I fear Obama will do, I conclude I must do all I can to help elect someone else and, in this case, there is only one other viable candidate.)

Why I am FOR McCain
1. I strongly support his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. Although this woman has been vilified by the liberal media, she appears to be a woman of deep core convictions that line up with my Biblical worldview. She also has the backbone to stand up and say what she believes.

2. I believe he will appoint judges that will INTERPRET the Constitution rather than make up new laws because they see it as a "living document" (especially concerning abortion, gay marriage and other social issues).

3. I believe he will help us win in Iraq and come home with honor.

4. I believe he will work to limit our out-of-control government spending.

5. I believe he understands the threat of terrorism and will continue our war against Islamic extremism.

6. I believe he will be a pro-life President.

7. He has demonstrated his love for our nation by heroically suffering in a POW camp and refusing personal release because it would dishonor those captured before him.

8. I think Cindy McCain is a marvelous example of voluntarily serving the less fortunate and she will be a wonderful First Lady.

Why I am voting AGAINST Obama

1. I honestly don't think he has been properly vetted by the media and, therefore, I don't think we really know who he is and what he will do. I say this relating to the following issues:

    a. What influence did his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, have on him? This has not really been explored by the media. Jeremiah Wright preaches a false gospel -- a gospel not of personal salvation and redemption through Jesus Christ, but a "gospel" of political and economic "liberation" for the poor and oppressed. Black Liberation Theology interprets the ministry of Jesus in Marxist terms. All of this is very obvious from the church website, and yet this has barely been explored by our media. NOTE: Since I a Christian who believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ, this one area of false theology and its implications is enough to make me vote against Obama.

    b. Obama has a whole slew of other relationships with radicals that really have not been adequately explored and explained. A person is known by the company he keeps and Obama has kept company with people whose values are so anti-American that I believe we are owed an explanation by him. He has provided none. How people can give him a pass on this is totally beyond my comprehension. If McCain or Palin even attended an event with someone on the radical right (say a KKK leader), they would be forced from the race. Obama has not only met with people on the radical left, he has worked with them on boards, projects, the distrubtion of funds, etc.

2. Obama would be the most radically pro-choice (i.e. in favor of abortion) President we have ever elected.

3. Obama would be the most radically pro-homosexual President we have ever elected.

4. I do not believe Obama understands the threat of Islamic extremism and would not be an effective leader in combating this threat.

5. I shudder to think of the leftist judges he would appoint to the Supreme Court -- judges who would help shape the policies of our country for years to come.

6. I believe his economic policy of "spreading the wealth around" is socialism. I've never seen socialism work. I believe socialism punishes success and, rather than eliminate poverty, it tends to impoverish an entire country.

7. I believe his foreign policy is tilted too much towards getting along with other nations rather than focusing first and foremost on the interests of the country he seeks to lead.

8. I fear what an Obama Presidency along with Nancy Pelosi (Leading the House of Representatives) and Harry Reid (Leading what may be a super majority of Democrats in the Senate) will do to our country. In addition to all the things I've mentioned above, I've seen how people on the radical left think of conservative Christians. I face their hate and intolerance nearly every day. Mark my word, if these people have unbridled power in our nation, they will take dead aim at people like me and other leading Christian evangelists and spokesmen -- and perhaps at people like you! (Note: An example of how intolerant and hateful these people are can be seen in the "lynching" of Sarah Palin at a home in Hollywood. Can you imagine anyone doing this with Obama? See this web site Sarah Palin Lynched

What do I Think will Happen?

    Personally, I think Obama and his team have run a superb campaign both in beating Hillary Clinton and now having a consistent lead over John McCain. On the other hand, McCain has been weak in communicating his message and has not zeroed in on Obama's greatest weaknesses. Obama has energized his base supporters and McCain has failed to energize his base (although Sarah Palin sure has!). For these reasons alone, Obama deserves to win this election and probably will.
  
    A wise friend of mine asked me if Obama's election is a judgement on America?

    It just might be. Only time will tell.

    However, this election is not over yet. Make sure YOU get out to vote and speak to your friends about this election. Do your part. And PRAY for our country at this crucial time!

   
   
   

Comments

[Truth speaker]

Tom, the war on terrorism is a hoax. 911 was done by criminals in this govt and all signs point to their involvement to other terrorist attacks. Satan is more entrenched than 99% of Christians ever realize in this world. The central bankers have funded and started most of the world wars in the past. RESEARCH this. You WILL NOT find this on the media. Go to

infowars.com

Our country is in deep trouble. The central bankers and the vatican control this WHOLE world and are hardcore satanists. the Catholic faith is full of heresies and blasphemies to God. Revelation describes the Catholic church VERY well!
Research such false religions/prophets at this site:
jesus-is-savior.com

RESEARCH please. Thanks for your stand for the gospel, while 97% of Christians are lukewarm and could care less about sharing their faith.

[Meshach Kanyion]

I read your article and your decision to vote for McCain. From listening to you speak at different campuses I don't think you would have bought that argument if it were presented to you. Your list of pro-McCain reasons were highly biased as well as your anti-Obama list. To me it seems as if you got your info from Fox News or any other highly biased news sources. I'd compare it to someone wanting to learn more about the Bible by going to a website that list 'mistakes' in the Bible. I think Obama will be the best choice for the country at this time so its fair to say that I am biased. Anyway, I believe we ought to pray for whoever is in authority and not criticize. I'm certain that you will do this regardless of the results.

[Randy]

I'd have to agree with Meshach on how biased your opinions seem. I also was troubled on your stance that the gospel has nothing to do with politics or liberation and that it's just a personal salvation with Christ. Jesus had quite a bit to say about those things, and he typically talked about salvation as a nation/city/or community. Also the distribution of wealth among Christian communities among first century Christianity was very common, some would fast until everybody in the community could eat. I would also have to say that the general concept of capitalism is unchristian in the way it promotes self-progress and winning out at the expense of others.

I don't know if you've noticed the recent trend in this election in how many Christian voters seem to be switching from the typical republican candidate to the democrat candidate because of how he will deal with more social justice issues. I personally am pro-life (including being against the death penalty, war, abortion, etc.) and realize that with all the republican appointed judges we have we still have not been able to stop abortion. I honestly don't think McCain will do much for it either.

On the topic of Sarah Palin, I find that she is quite appalling. She was not even the governor of Alaska before McCain started running for presidency. She has so little experience of a state that has less people the the metro area of DC that I am led to believe she would be an awful VP and president if McCain died. She is a prototypical mindless conservative zombie that will probably be of no use in office. She only hurts the idea of what Christianity truly is among America, being a Christian does not mean you have to vote Republican or even at all.

Honestly on my ballot I will be writing in Jesus and Stephen Colbert for president and VP (the only reason I am voting is because of a school levy that really needs to be passed in my area). In the end our votes do so little that they pretty much don't matter. We vote with everything else we do (what clothes we buy and wear, what we eat, what action we take in our community, etc.) We will do so much more for the body of Christ without voting but by actively being the Church.

With love,
Randy

P.S. Truth Speaker sounds crazy, please don't believe everything the internet says.

[Jim Fedako]

Tom,

You're splitting the Solomon baby, politically speaking. "Actually, I am deeply disappointed in our choices for President this year." So why a vote for McCain?

Put your faith in God and vote for a godly man. If none exists, do not vote.

Do you believe that God will ignore your cry? Do you believe that God wants us to rally behind the lesser of two evils? I don't. And you would be hard-pressed to use God's words to show otherwise.

I hold out little hope for this country (we are a country, not a nation) as long as we live on debt. A good man provides for his grandchildren (Proverbs 13:22), yet this country is leaving our posterity nothing but debt and ruin. And, sadly, many Christians -- just like the Israelites before us -- have taken a lead in the demand for greater debt, for greater sin.

"Thy silver is become dross" (Isaiah 1:22) is one of God's indictments of the Judeans. Isaiah delivered the message, and God then turned his back. McCain and Obama, as Bush before them, will continue the destruction of our currency. Is essence, we exchange goods for paper lies. Do you believe God will reward us for that?

Look, we've known this for years, we knew this time was coming. Yet we blindly continued our worship of the government of the US. We have allowed -- and encouraged -- a truly sinful state of affairs. We ignored history and our Bible. A vote for McCain is a vote for the status quo. By the way, I fear fascism the same as socialism -- they are two sisters of the same evil.

In this election, Baldwin is the godly man. Reconsider your choice. Have faith.

Jim

Note: Regarding socialism -- some key passages are:

1. Mathew 13:44 -- You own that which is yours. The just price is the price paid, not the assumed value to the buyer or owner after the trade.

2. Mathew 20:1-13 -- The fair wage is the wage settled between laborer and entrepreneur, it is not based on the amount of work or sweat.

3. Exodus 20:17 -- Envy (covetousness) is a sin.

4. Mathew 25:14 - 30 -- Interest and profit are the expected return from a business investments. Of course, usury, the expectation of any return from benevolence, is ungodly.

5. Then there are the passages in Titus which instruct us on how we should take care of our own.

[Jim Fedako]

Randy,

There is a huge difference between Christians sharing freely and Christians using the arm of government to force redistribution.

Similar to the reasoning behind Christians not suing each other in civil courts (it's ungodly to let an unbeliever decide such issues), we should ask an ungodly government to dictate charitible giving.

Reconsider.

And keep in mind that if you use government for your purposes, do not object when others use it against you. That is how politics are played.

Also, as you vote for your school levy, consider the financial yoke you seek place on your neighbors. Is that godly?

By the way, I am likely voting for Baldwin. He can't win, but neither could David against Goliath.

[Jim Fedako]

mistake ... "we should ask" is really "we shouldn't ask."

[Matt Wagner]

Tom,

I whole-heartedly agree with you. With regard to your last point, if Obama's election is a judgment on America, I retreat to the words of Jesus when he said, "...it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!" (Matthew 18:7) That's why I am with you in voting for McCain and Palin. Surely, they are not perfect, but I think they represent the better choice for the nation and for the world.

With regard to socialism and redistribution of wealth, I think your recent Short Report gives a very well-reasoned argument for why both are wrong. Socialism gives freedom to the government to distribute wealth as it sees fit. In other socialist countries, this usually means the government distributes a disproportionate amount of wealth to itself, leaving the poorest of its citizens worse off than before (e.g. North Korea). I liked how you pointed out that the redistribution of wealth in the first century church was born out of the individual Christians' FREE WILL donation of their personal possessions, rather than a rule imposed upon them by the church leaders. In essence, they gave out of response to the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit at work in their hearts. With socialism, the government does not give individuals the choice of whether or not to give of their excess to help those less fortunate. If one is a Christian and believes in the sinful nature of human beings, then it seems irrational to put faith in a human institution like the government (one which must, by law, be separated from the church) to fairly and justly redistribute the wealth.

I think we can get additional insight into Jesus' probable views of socialism by his statement in Matthew 22:21. He said, "...render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." He said this in context of the question of whether or not it was lawful for Jews to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus took his answer a step further to address the issue of where we put our trust. If we truly want to see God's love and mission succeed in our world, we should not rely on Caesar (i.e. the government) but on God himself. The government is a human institution, after all.

Keep up the good work!

Matt

[Andrew McDonald]

Heh this:

"Mark my word, if these people have unbridled power in our nation, they will take dead aim at people like me and other leading Christian evangelists and spokesmen"

is that EXACT reason I am voting for Obama.

[Ed Gross]

Tom,

Great post. "Wisdom is justified by her children", and your wisdom will be also. I think I know you well enough to know that you won't be too wrankled by some of the rather insane ramblings above; you hear enough of it on the campuses. The happy thought is that someday they grow up and their brains congeal.

It's my understanding (though not much was made of it) that McCain gave his heart to Christ about 3-4 years ago, and joined a Baptist Church in AZ. And we know Palin is a believer. So I"m hopeful, even on the issues with which we might disagree with them, that there can still be movement in the right direction.

But the core issues you outlined are, by themselves, reason enough to vote for them. Even though there will doubtless be some disappointments from a McCain administration, they would not match the horror we would face of 4-8 years of Obama, Reid, Pelosi, and the real power behind the Dem throne, Barney Frank. When Ronald Reagan was asked for whom he would vote in 1976, though Gerald Ford was not a conservative, Reagan said he'd vote for him "because the alternative is so unthinkable". Ditto here.

Ed

[Randy]

Jim,

I was merely talking about redistribution of wealth in the non-government sense of it, and how I thought Tom's theology was off in accordance to the gospel not having anything about liberation for the poor and oppressed. Also your key verses for socialism from Matthew are completely out of context. Also for voting for the school levy I am allowing kids to go to school, severe cuts will be made to the point where the schooling is completely inadequate. With good schooling more people will move to the area increasing the value of homes much more than the tax payer will be paying, also it will cut down on the amount of crime (I have no kids so this will not be directly affecting me through any kids). Honestly I wouldn't mind a privatized schooling system with government vouchers, but that's something for another time.

Some good passages for Christian community redistribution of wealth include but are not limited to:
Lev. 25.8
Matt. 19.16
Luke 3.11
Luke 11.41
Luke 12.13
Acts 4.32
Please read the context around these to fully understand. I also don't believe communism works, it obviously doesn't work without everyone being fully devoted to the greater good and listening to the perfect leader (Christ).

[Tom Short]

Randy,
You have misrepresented my position. My ShortNotes was clearly about "Socialism." I made a clear distinction between something good (charitable giving to the poor on a voluntary basis) and something bad (government forcibly redistributing the wealth). I certainly do not oppose anyone choosing to share their wealth as this is a very Christian thing to do.

Secondly, I never said "the gospel has nothing to do with politics or liberation and that it's just a personal salvation with Christ." I said Jeremiah Wright and Black Liberation Theology teaches a political message of the oppressed rising up and overthrowing the oppressor -- a theology based in Marxism -- instead of the gospel of personal redemption through the death of Jesus Christ. I believe this to be a false gospel. I certainly believe Christ's message has implications for government and, thus, in our case, guides us in how we should vote and what we should support.

Communism doesn't work because it is atheistic by nature. In Communism, the STATE is supreme. In Christianity, our Lord Jesus Christ is supreme. While communism may say it wants to help the poor and oppressed, when you examine it carefully, it is the antithesis of what Jesus taught, which explains why Communistic countries have ALWAYS ruthlessly persecuted Christians.

Was my post biased? Of course it was! It's a blog in which I am telling you who I am voting for and then give my reasons for that decision. I have a predisposed position in favor of life, the importance of the traditional, Christian family, of limiting the role government, etc and I conclude that John McCain, while far from the perfect candidate, is an immensely better choice than Barak Obama

[Jim Fedako]

Randy,

Your heart is in the right place, but you are not applying biblical principles or ethics.

It is imperative that you filter both your means and your ends through the truths of the Bible. Just because something sounds good doesn’t make it good. Let’s look at your school levy.

You state that you believe you are helping the students by voting yes. While I believe that public schools are a true evil, I will set that aside and assume, for argument’s sake, that your sought after end (public education) is good.

What you propose is to use the ballot box to justify government taking money from every property owner in your school district. Two biblical issues arise: 1. taxation is based on theft; 2. taxation is based on envy.

The majority can not justify its actions by the ballot box. And democracy absent ethics is a nothing less than tyranny. The point is that you cannot hide theft behind democracy.

In addition, your vote is really your means to obtain that which you covet – taxes from your neighbors. Consider this: You want to (inter alia) protect your property value by forcing others to pay a tax. Now I know that you don’t make this conscious connection, yet it is there, and it is an underlying reason for your vote (you even state as much).

If you can justify your yes vote based on the ends, regardless the means, you upend the truths of the Bible and allow anything to be justified by the vote of a majority. The Israelites tried that when Moses was on the mountain and the result is well known.

The key is that you must start from a biblical perspective when looking at both means and ends. And your means and ends must never violate biblical principles. The key here is that you must have faith in God, not the world. So, if your ends are impossible without breaking biblical principles, you ends are biblically invalid no matter how good they appear.

We are not to be part of this world.

Next, let me address your claim of taking passages out of context. A statement cannot be validated by an invalid analogy. So when Jesus uses examples to support his statements, the example themselves must withstand scrutiny (they must be true), otherwise you are left with Jesus attempting to prove his point with invalid arguments.

So, yes, the passages I noted are contextual, and stand by themselves.

Note: re. Public education – The Bible notes that children will return in adulthood to the way they were raised. If the state educates and provides, children will turn toward the state. This is a biblically true statement. And it trumps any concern over property values.

[Randy]

Jim,
What do you suggest for an underfunded and failing education system? People can't afford private school or homeschooling, yet they need schooling. We have the church to bring up kids to be able to discern what is from God and not from God. Also how we raise our kids as parents should have a lot more affect on them than the school. We are to be not of this world, but we are called to be in it, we can't alienate ourselves as Christians.

Also I do not envy the tax payers money, that is a little ridiculous to say considering I have no kids in the schooling system and I don't own property. I justify my vote for the school levy because without it kids are more likely to get involved in crime, drugs, alcohol, etc. The levy is not in any way unjust and I do believe in lessening to role of the government but this is something that is desperately needed and there is no other solution right now to the public schooling.

Also give to caesar what is caesar's and to God what is God's, when Christians vote Republican for lesser government/taxes I really wonder what those motives are. Are they so they have more money to personally put into the church and ministries, or to greedily keep for themselves? Does the church even properly spend their money, giving rightly to the poor?

Also being a biblical scholar I have to say out of all honesty that those passages you pulled out were out of context and your justification for their use is wrong.

Tom,
Recently republicans have been really bad at lessening the role of government and not spending much so I am very wary if they will do what they say (i.e. $700 Billion bail out, war, government debt, etc.). Also with all of the republican judges and nothing happening with abortion I don't really see it happening very soon. I also think that pro-life means more than just abortion, but being against the death penalty, war, etc. I also think that the government shouldn't have ownership over marriage rights, and that it should come down to the church and the government and just give out civil unions for legal reasons. That's my two sense, God bless.

Randy

[Jim Fedako]

Randy,

There is nothing godly about taking someone else's money, under any circumstance. You can rationalize it, but you can't justify it with the Bible.

I know a lot about public education firsthand as I spent almost 7 years on a local school board.

When you sit on a board and face residents who will lose their homes due to your board- and resident-approved tax increase, you can be as gentle as you like. But under no circumstances will you be emulating Jesus as you state, "Sorry about your luck, but it is for the public good. Er, I mean the public absent you."

We tend to forget those harmed by our actions. I can no longer sit opposite such folks and feel that I am doing good. That takes a truly hardened heart. Selecting the "yes" button at the polling station only removes your from the eye-to-eye experience, not the end result.

"I justify my vote for the school levy because without it kids are more likely to get involved in crime, drugs, alcohol, etc."

But your vote pushes folks into debt. You balance salary increases for school employees against (say) dental visits for children (in a world of scarcity, the marginal resident can't pay for both taxes and dentists), and you choose teacher salaries in the end.

That is the reality, no matter how you rationalize it.

Here's a moral dilemma: You are held captive in a room with 10 children. Your captives state that if you shoot and kill one of the children, the rest can go free. What is the moral response?

To Augustine, the moral response is to say that you will not participate. The actions of the captors are their's alone. They will have to face their consequences before God.

Given what Jesus told Peter in the Garden, I believe that the Augustinian response is the godly response.

[Jim Fedako]

Randy,

"Also being a biblical scholar I have to say out of all honesty that those passages you pulled out were out of context and your justification for their use is wrong."

I forgot to address this. I did not arrive at those verses on my own. I used Bible scholars are resources.

Regardless, you cannot simply wave exegesis away with an appeal to your authority -- the appeal to authority being a common logical fallacy. Instead, you must address my premise head on. You have not done that.

[Greg T.]

Government redisribution isn't really giving is it? Government redistribution of wealth robs Christians (and non-Christians) of the opportunity to give out of their abundance (and the govt. always takes its cut doesn't it).