Is It Your Christian Duty to Vote?
This was an article that I wasn't sure I wanted to write this year (2016). There has been so much said by so many that I hesitated to add my thoughts as it seemed like there was too much already. The thing that made me reconsider is all the drama I've seen and heard about how it is supposedly a duty before God for American Christians to vote. The misuse of scripture in some instances has been very bothersome. Added to this is the overwhelming pressure that various Christian people and groups are putting on others to try to force them to vote for the person they deem to be "the right one." In the hopes of helping a few people get a little peace about this, I decided to venture forth into a topic that is generally odious to me, in short, politics. So, here we go.
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American Christians have been told for years that it is their "duty to vote." The preachers, pastors, and evangelists have stomped up and down this country in and out of election years, telling people that if they don't vote for the "right" candidate (meaning the one of that man's choice) or for a specific issue then it will be their fault when this country goes to the devil. Prohibition was passed largely based on this type of pulpit politics, and after some years and total failure, it was repealed and, strangely enough, we are not all drunkards now. (Yeah, the nation is a mess, but you can't honestly blame all of this on alcohol.)
The false "responsibility" to "influence America for God" has been shouted long and loud from the pulpits in the U.S.A., until a lot of Christians can no longer believe anything else. To them, voting is our "duty" to our nation, our pastor, and God (often in that order). Because of this, the suggestion of another option - in this case, not voting at all - is heresy or treason to some and gross irresponsibility to others.
But, if it is our duty before God to vote in government elections, why didn't He clearly say so in New Testament teaching? Where is the command? We are told to do and not do a lot of things, but the command to vote is absent, and voting certainly existed in the Roman Empire at that time.
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