Some have speculated that, in the fall election, the evangelical vote will have an important role to play in the selection of our next president. Is there really such a voting block that walks lockstep toward evangelical goals? Does the evangelical voting block have a clear choice for a presidential candidate? Here’s how to identify that evangelical political mind:
1.
Acknowledgment of God in Public life. Evangelicals see God as the author and
sustainer of all that is. In public
life, He is the one who gives mankind his inherent human rights. He is the one who gives religious freedom
because He does not coerce His followers.
He is the standard of right and wrong.
A nation who does not recognize His authority makes both laws and rights
arbitrary and invites those with lust for power to rule with only consensus and
coercion as tools for advancing an agenda.
2.
Sanctity
of Human Life. Evangelicals see
human life as specially protected by God.
Human life is valuable, whether healthy or compromised, whether old or
young, whether in the womb or outside of it.
A nation that does not recognize the sanctity of human life is going to
become a terror to the weak, infirm, mentally ill, aged, and those children not
yet born.
3.
Sanctity
of Marriage. Evangelicals see
marriage as one of the basic institutions of society. It protects children and provides for their
needs, allows for their education and nurture by both a maternal and a father
figure. Sociologists have traditionally
assumed that such a traditional covenant give children the best chance at a
stable home and future. The definition
of marriage comes from God’s design. A
nation that does not recognize marriage as a covenantal relationship of a man
and woman will promote a horror both in the home and in the society.
4.
Sanctity
of Work. Evangelicals see work as a
fundamental human vocation through which we receive respect and value for our
contribution in the world. It is a
primary tool for teaching individual responsibility. A nation that does not promote the value of
work breeds both depression, victimization, and entitlement.
5.
Sanctity
of Law. Evangelicals see ethics in
an objective way. Right and wrong are
not subjectively based on events, circumstances, or political maneuvering. They are grounded in the unchanging character
of the Christian God. A nation whose
leadership believes legal decisions should be made from the wisdom of man
alone, without regard to the wisdom of God, will breed immorality, and run the
risk of approving that which is objectively wrong because it is politically correct.
6.
Limited
Government. Because Evangelicalism
sees mankind as fallen, they believe that all men, given power and political influence,
will be tempted to abuse that power and influence. To prevent the rise of an intellectual elite
or an arbitrary lawmaker, Evangelicals see the need to limit the power of
government officials to specific political goals. The Framers would have agreed. A nation who sees no threat in the national
accumulation of power among a small group of progressive theorists is a nation
about to victimized on a grand level.
These fundamental values are not respected in the current
political climate. If the Evangelical
Voting Block were real, these values would be respected. These values would shape the
legal and judicial landscape as they once did.
It is possible that an evangelical voting block could exist if they
centered around a core set of beliefs as outlined above and began to push for
the protection of those values. Until
then, an evangelical voting block is really just another interest group.
