“I am not voting for the person, I am voting for the platform”.
This has become the new justification for supporting the GOP candidate in the upcoming election. I will admit, at first glance, it appears to be a compelling reason to hand the reigns of the presidency to a GOP candidate especially when the candidate cannot qualify under the simple and easily reached requirements of Exodus 18:21. I will also stipulate that the GOP platform may indeed be one of the strongest worded platforms written in recent memory that is incredibly sympathetic to a Christian Worldview. The GOP should be commended for that. The question which arises at this point however is…
“Is the platform enough of an incentive to elect Donald Trump?”
Let’s explore that…
If you say, “Yes, the platform is enough for me to vote for Trump”, then you are acquiescing (consciously or unconsciously) to certain philosophical compromises. To vote for a piece of paper rather than a person has some repercussions. That may be perfectly acceptable for many, but I would think it to be a good thing to at least know what some of those compromises might be and whether a Christian feels personally comfortable doing such a thing. Let me suggest some of those concomitants:
1. Leadership is unimportant or secondary.
A party platform does not negotiate treaties, evaluate global hot spots, or command our military. A piece of paper does not appoint judges, cabinet or staff. When a nation is in mourning or facing a tragedy a piece of paper cannot speak to their hurts or fears. The presidency by it’s very nature demands leadership. It is bigger than the person, yes, but it embodies a person nonetheless. We must trust the person, not just the piece of paper. Our country has numerous important documents that guide it (The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, etc.). However, even those documents find their power through the leadership of people committed to them. To simply vote the “platform” without considering the person seems to undermine the principle of leadership. This is particularly ironic since so many Christian leaders and pastors are using biblical characters to illustrate Donald Trump as a leader. If it’s about the platform, then why the leadership analogies? Why compare Trump to Cyrus, Samson, David, Peter, or whomever when it’s all about the platform? The answer is that the vast majority of people are so fearful of Clinton that they are throwing contradictory reasonings on the wall hoping to find something that will stick and convince principle-based Christians to change their mind.
2. The logic is not transferable.
What other area of life could this logic be transferred to? Would you, for example, select a pastor based on the same principle? It really doesn’t matter what his character may be like as he holds to the Bible.
“I am voting for the Bible, not the man”.
If character really doesn’t matter, then why do we require drug tests, background checks, and felony arrest reports for job hiring? In fact, if this really is sound logic then let’s simply create party platforms and simply put anybody who breathes in the slot. Does that sound incredulous? Of course it does because it is. In fact, you could simply interchange republicans and democrats back and forth between parties because all that matters is what is on the paper.
3. Character doesn’t matter.
If we really believe that paper is more important than the person, then why did the Christian community and republicans specifically take Bill Clinton through the impeachment process over his Oval Office experience? I totally understand that policy positions are vastly different from what either group would want, but the character of the person really doesn’t matter does it? How can you hold Bill Clinton to any moral standard when you are clearly communicating that a moral standard no longer matters. In fact, why even bring up Hillary’s criminal offenses? It’s not about her actions as a person, it’s about the paper. Now don’t misunderstand me. I think Hillary Clinton is atrocious as a candidate and the Democratic Party is diametrically opposed to anything righteous. However, your voting for the paper reasoning is going to come back to haunt you.
4. You are being set-up for exponentially worse candidates (if that were possible).
Your voting for platform over person is basically a concession that your candidate cannot stand on his own character resume and merits. It is a concession that you will be able to hold your nose and vote no matter the depth of depravity that is presented to you. Please do not start with the tired old retort of, “Well just how good does a person have to be?” -or- “There’s no such thing as a perfect person”. The real question is, “Just how bad must a person be before you can no longer hold your nose?” You are admitting and conceding that any dysfunctional person will be acceptable for you to vote for because it’s really all about the paper. Mark my words. The day will come in the near future when the GOP will present a homosexual person as candidate who is in a same-sex marriage and supports SOGI legislation (restriction of religious liberty) but the person adheres to 80% of the party platform (may even be pro-life) and you will be asked to “vote the platform”. And should you have reservations on that day concerning the casting of your vote for that person, you will be reminded of the election of 2016.
I fully understand that this election the vast majority of the citizenry has ostensibly cemented itself to one of the two party candidates and there is little to no chance of changing any minds. Honestly, the point of this blog isn’t to change people’s minds concerning 2016, but to cause you to think for 2018, 2020, and beyond. If the Church doesn’t return to the expectation of biblical qualifications for civic leadership and soon, we are going to find ourselves in a place justifying the very things God hates.
God help us….
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