Just as our elected officials are enabled to use their religious beliefs to inform their decisions in office, Christians can and should use Biblical principles to guide their voting. But which political issues today correlate to moral principles found in the Bible? Below are a few to get you started:
HUMAN LIFE: We believe human life is sacred and should be protected at every stage and at every opportunity.
- “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. made. (Psalm 139:13, ESV)
- “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” (Psalm 127:3-5a, ESV)
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: We believe, and the science confirms, that religious observance and faith in God have an overwhelmingly positive impact on society, families, and children.
- “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1, ESV)
- “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.” (1 Peter 2:16, ESV)
- “Absolute freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief and worship, shall be guaranteed to every individual, and no one shall be molested or disturbed in person or property on account of religion; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state.” Washington State Constitution: Section II Religious Freedom
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY: We believe, and the science and history confirm, marriage and the nuclear family is the most significant relationship and institution in existence.
- “So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man … Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:21–24, ESV)
- “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” (Hebrews 13:4, ESV)
Life-long, heterosexual, monogamous marriages provide unique benefits to children, families, and society that cannot be matched by any other relationship. As a result, we believe marriage and family should always be defined as a union of one man and one woman, and that marriage and family must be promoted and preferred above other relationships and institutions, while recognizing the right of individuals to live freely outside the institution of marriage.
PARENTAL RIGHTS: We believe that both the responsibility and the authority for raising children rest primarily with their biological or adoptive parents, and not the government.
- “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6, ESV)
- “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6–9, ESV)
- “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4, ESV)
Government must empower parents to control the upbringing of their children and minimize its interference with the exercise of parental authority, except in cases of demonstrable abuse or neglect. Specifically, public policy must protect the right and maximize the power of parents to choose the form of education they wish for their children, be it public schools, secular or religious private schools, or home schooling. Public schools must avoid undermining parental authority or interfering with transmission of religious or parental values to their children.
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There are many cultural issues our society is struggling with today, such as gender and sexuality, that may seem insurmountable. But as the Bible says, there is nothing new under the sun – we can find the solution to all these problems and more by digging into the Word of God and seeking His divine revelation for our culture today.
We hope the examination of cultural issues from a Biblical perspective above is helpful as we approach the November elections, in which we will not only choose our president, but many other elected officials as well as ballot initiatives and constitutional amendments. It is absolutely imperative that we use Biblical values and wisdom as a guidepost for our votes. If you would like to read further on this subject, click here to download our free booklet on Voting the Bible.
