Breitbart News is wrong…
…Christians don’t have the liberty to vote for Democrats.
Breitbart News Deputy Managing Editor Ezra Dulis published a great refutation of the Mark Gallis and Christianity Today partisan attack on Donald Trump. Yet, it isn’t perfect.
Let’s start with the good.
Dulis wisely points out the duplicity of Big Evangelicalism (Big Eva for short). Gallis wrote a book praising a theologian who appears to trivialize Soviet atrocities. Dulis writes, “In his book, Galli’s harshest criticism on the topic of Soviet mass murder reads: ‘in retrospect, Barth does seem naive on this issue.’ No accusations of disloyalty to the Decalogue.”
Gallis and his fellow Elites love to focus on any sins of Trump voters while minimizing the sins of the Democratic Party. And yes, Gallis referred to himself as an elite evangelical in a recent book. This was pointed out by Dr. Robert A. J. Gagnon.
But here is what Dulis gets wrong. He writes,
“Democracy — that is, majority rule — and the narrow way (Matthew 7:13-14) are at odds with one another. Thus, Christians have liberty to vote for whoever they want — to abstain from voting, to cast protest votes, or to cast pragmatic votes given a choice between two major candidates — and trust that God is sovereign over the outcome. What Christians are not free to do is condemn their brothers and sisters for how they vote, just as they are not free to condemn each other for whether they bought an Xbox or a Playstation.”
Christians do not have the freedom to vote for Democrats. Democrats support abortion and the reduction of Christian religious liberty. These are moral and political issues. It is impossible for a Christian to countenance their own persecution (reduction of religious liberty) or the murder of innocent life (abortion). Why?
While the Bible is not a political manual, it provides a great deal of data on the purpose of the state.
As Christians we must vote in a manner that helps the state fulfill its God-given mandate. the state exists to create order so that Christians can have lives of safety and quiet. Here are a few key texts:
Romans 13:3, “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. 4 For it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For it is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong.”[1]
1 Peter 2:13-17: “Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority 14 or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. 15 For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16 Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”[2]
These verses provide a clear image of the state. It exists to create order by punishing evil.
This is God’s purpose. Why is it God’s purpose? The New Testament scholar C.E.B. Cranfield explains it as part of God’s salvific plan. Cranfield writes:
“It is implied that God wills the state as a means to promoting peace and quiet among human beings, and that God desires such peace and quiet because they are in some way conducive to human beings’ salvation. It is God’s purpose that the state should, by restraining chaotic tendencies of human beings’ self-assertion, maintain those outward conditions under which the gospel may be preached to all and sundry without hindrance.”[3]
In Cranfield’s view, even a secular state can be a tool that helps people toward salvation.
Since Christians are called to be good citizens, our role in a democratic republic would be helping the state fulfill this God-given mission. It has the added benefit of aiding the spread of the Gospel.
There are many good things in the Dulis column. You should read it. However, while the Bible is not a political policy book; it doesn’t provide us a manual for picking the right healthcare policy nor how many B-2 bombers to procure for our defense. Rather, it provides general moral principles.
As Christians cast their vote, we should ask ourselves: Which party restrains chaos? Which party enables chaos?
The answer is clear. At this moment, the Democratic Party’s policy goals are evil. Abortion, reduced religious liberty and socialism are all hostile to a biblical worldview.
So, feel free to ridicule and rebuke any Christian who says they vote Democratic or won’t vote for the only pro-life and pro-religious liberty political party.
[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), Ro 13:3–4.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1 Pe 2:13–17.
[3] C. E. B. Cranfield, The Christian’s Political Responsibility According to the New Testament, SJT 15 (1962), pp. 176-192. (Also in Cranfield’s The Bible & Christian Life).
2 thoughts on “Breitbart News is wrong. Christians don’t have the liberty to vote Democrat”
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I agree with you on most of your points about Modern Democrats, though, I do not agree about your point on who restrains chaos, or that Democrats, alone, are the bad party.
The Republicans have, first and foremost, been the party of the One World Order Corporate Globalist trade which has unleashed the brutal chaos of the smalltown rural South been decimated by our industry having been shipped out and our m om & pop stores completely undermined.
Our buildings are fallen in, we have few goods and services, and next to no opportunity for youngsters to stay with us. So, they move away, and, thus, our families are torn apart, neighbourhoods are gradually composed of people who do not know each other and our churches are dying because the congregation are septagenarians and octagenarians who will not be replaced.
Moreover, the Republicans have were the champions of the Secret Police state that The Dems’ have seized upon to overturn Trump, and, as well, Republicans posture being pro-family and anti-abortion, yet they have never attempted to mount a challenge to unconstitutional and immoral laws like Roe vs. Wade in 50 years +.
And The Republicans are every bit behind the open borders schemes (for different reasons) as The Dems.
It’s a very bad situation in my view – Republicans a bad party and The Democrats even worse. Come to think of it, The United States’ Government pretty much stinks, or, at least, as a whole.
With Populism and Nationalism reforming the Republican Party, there may be some hope for the future, (politicians like Josh Hawley – freshman senator of Missouri )but, as of yet, not much.
As a born and raised Dixiecrat I am left with voting for with the Dems for bread and butter issues, and dealing with the stink of horrible values, or I vote for Republicans, get decent on values’ issues and get clobbered financially.
As a Rural Southerner, I have to admit that there is no one candidate for president in 2020 who is really going to represent the welfare of Dixie, as a whole, and, so I will have to make a choice.
How I make that choice has a lot to do with what The Democrat Primary decides.
In any case, Merry Xmas!
Thanks, but I’ll stick with a party that allows God’s idea of Free Choice before I’ll align myself with a man who talks about grabbing women’s genitals. You seem to have a very selective idea of what evil is. The Right is sick, sick, sick. How can a Christian stand with the evil that is oozing out of the White House? Oh yeah, I forgot. It’s the same Christianity that thinks it’s OK to lie in the name of Jesus. WRONG!