Why I Think Its Important To Vote As A Christian

(My sister and I after registering to vote)

A couple weeks ago a friend asked why I was so excited that I got to vote this year and why I was so into politics. I kind of just looked at her like 'Why wouldn't I be?????' But I bit my tongue and just shrugged- after all, we all know the line; Never talk about politics and religion in polite company. {Enter the absolute unladylike snort} yeah right. If you hear someone laughing after that one it's my mom. After 18 years she knows me way too well.

In my family voting is a HUGE honor and a very great responsibility. Not just because as a girl it was not always a right. For 17 years I watched my grandmother show up to the voting office to cast her ballot. Even when she couldn't see the screen very well and had to use her wheelchair she showed up. She would have me read it and tell her where the buttons were and then she would be so proud when she pushed that last one that cast her vote. My grandma was a woman of prayer. She did everything with it- I think she even pushed that button while saying a prayer for our country.

Maybe this is why I am so excited. Or maybe it's the fact that several of my family members signed the Declaration of Independence all those years ago, an act that resulted in my ability to vote for what I believe in. Maybe it's because I am a second generation Navy brat. I don't know really- maybe it's all of them. Maybe it's just that I refuse to apathetic. Maybe it's because I love this beautiful country too much not to help direct her course.

As a student and a Christian, I have grown up on a steady dose of the original writings and speeches of the men who founded this country and the Bible. I firmly believe that it is not only our right as Americans but our duty to vote. Not just for a party... not for a 'first' but for a candidate that represents our values and will not be swayed by pressure.

It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the bible. ~ George Washington 

At the end of our discussion, she said something that amounted to she still didn't care about politics and it was a waste of time. To be honest I am kind of struck by the apathy of people- especially Christians who refuse to get into politics or in some cases even speak about their faith in  public or in their homes. Why is this? Since when has it become wrong to respectfully disagree with another person? My friend and I disagree - quite a bit actually. We're still friends. So why have we become so apathetic? We're all big kids- we can take someone disagreeing with us. Maybe it's time we grew our skin a little thicker and start changing the direction of the ship- because if we don't someone else will and you may not like it. 

• So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. Revelations 3:16

• The price of apathy toward public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. ~ Plato

• The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil but by those who watch them without doing anything ~ Albert Einstein 

• The hottest place in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict ~ Martin Luther King J.R. 

• Any society that will give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. ~ Benjamin Franklin 

 If you haven't gotten out to vote yet, please pray and then get out there cast your ballot. Personally, I've had enough change and promises of something new. I think it's time we restored our country to the values and standards we were founded on. 

"Whereas true religion and good morals are the only solid foundations of public liberty and happiness . . . it is hereby earnestly recommended to the several States to take the most effectual measures for the encouragement thereof." ~ Continental Congress, 1778

"[T]he Christian religion, in its purity, is the basis, or rather the source of all genuine freedom in government. . . . and I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of that religion have not a controlling influence." ~ Noah Webster