"Not Voting" As An Act of Prophetic Resistance
Posted: Sunday, November 21, 2010
by Aaron Taylor
Aaron Taylor
Last week someone gave me a CD of a sermon by Lou Engle, a well-known charismatic preacher who's also a leader in the "Apostolic and Prophetic" movement. The sermon was entitled "Voting as an act of divine governance." I was so impressed by the title that I thought I should make the title of my rebuttal sound equally spiritual. If voting can be an act of "divine governance", then certainly not voting can be an act of "prophetic resistance." If I ever get to interact with Engle or any other leader of the "Apostolic and Prophetic" crowd, I wonder if my not-so-subtle attempts to co-opt their language would make them more likely to hear me out?
For my friends that think of themselves as progressive evangelicals, if you think I'm writing this to make us all feel smug in our supposedly enlightened views of a "consistent ethic of life." Think again. Lou Engle did say something that got me thinking, and thinking hard. He said that if you knowingly vote for someone that sanctions murder, then you're just as guilty as the person you voted for. In the context of the sermon, Engle was saying that Christians have a kingdom duty to vote for anti-abortion candidates. Not voting is simply not an option in Engle's worldview. But the more that I listened to what he was saying, the more I felt that Engle was actually making the case for not voting.
I'll admit. I think of myself as sorta kinda "progressive" in my political views. A lot of evangelicals that think like me were appalled at the lack of respect for human rights demonstrated during the Bush Administration. We saw the hell and destruction unleashed on the Iraqi people. We saw Abu Graib, Gitmo, waterboarding, the Patriot Act, extraordinary renditions, the supporting of totalitarian regimes, and we concluded that it would be hypocritical to call ourselves "pro-life" and then turn around and vote for someone who supported things like torture and pre-emptive war. We justified voting for Obama, even though he was "pro-choice", because we honestly believed that from a human rights perspective he was the lesser of two evils.
Now that we know that Obama has continued many of the Bush policies, and in some cases has increased them (as in the case of drone attacks killing civilians), can we really say that we support a "consistent ethic of life" and cast a vote for Barack Obama in 2012? Might we be guilty of the same hypocrisy we accuse the other side of? I realize that one key difference is that most of us that voted for Obama weren't deluding ourselves into thinking that our vote was an act of "divine governance." But still, even if we recognize that our vote has absolutely zero to do with expanding God's kingdom on earth (after all, the Kingdom of God as revealed in Jesus is a non-coercive kingdom) voting is never morally neutral. So, thank you Mr. Engle. I may not vote in this next election because of you. May God lead us all to follow the dictates of our conscience in 2012.
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Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)It's great to see you around here again, Aaron, and not just because you constantly write my thoughts with much greater clarity than I ever could!
I think there is a Biblical basis to believe that for every 'Worldly' right that we exercise, we give up a greater spiritual right. Much like if we give to charity and receive some sort of recognition or reward, the giving loses some sort of spiritual reward, I think when we exercise our right to vote, we give up some other spiritual power. Of course I'm as big of a hypocrit as anyone, having voted in almost every major election in the past 20 years. And there are a lot of people on SearchWarp who would rather I didn't vote :)Great point Bruce. For every worldly right we exercise, we give up a greater spiritual right. I'll have to chew on that some more.
I always enjoy reading your articles, Aaron, because you see through the double standards. I love what you say about pro-life before and after the womb.Is it possible to live completely untouched by and not participating in double standards to a certain extent? I'm not sure. I think unless we want to live in isolation in a cave we're always going to have to choose between the lesser of two evils in some ways.Thank you Jennifer. I think that it's very, very difficult to live without double standards in this life. The problem is that most people don't realize that they have double standards. I think at least being aware of our tendency for double standards would cause us to be a lot more humble in our interactions with others.
As not an American citizen I have followed the elections quiet closely. One thing makes me always think…The great power in hands of preachers, ministers and you name it, to influence the voters of American in a totally unethical, unhealthy way.Why is this great manipulation being so smoothly accepted by voters, politicians, preachers, ministers?
A lot of people derive their significance by the amount of control they hold over others, because for the most part they have no control over anything else, much less themselves, and can only achieve this dynamic by collaborating with others who share these oppressive goals, because by themselves they have no hope of achieving this power, or significance. Wonderful article.
Aaron, you really got me thinking on this one. Which is the greater sin, to not vote out of a moral conscience that won't allow me to choose a killer as my leader, or to vote so that fewer killers get into office? I'm not sure there is a lesser of these two evils, but you certainly got my mind pondering it. Thanks for writing this.
Hi Aaron.
That's a lot to think about. Great job!
Hugs,
Dianne
You bring out some very good points here Aaron, thanks for sharing.
Interesting article Aaron. I personally had to give up trying to blame this one or that one's beliefs for my actions or inaction's, ie, voting. Yes the world is not always pretty and no we don't have to agree with everyone's beliefs. After giving it much thought I still hold the voters responsible for today's corruption and breakdown in the government just as much if not more than the lawmakers.
We were handed this country in the beginning with a clean slate and it was left up to the people to vote from generation to generation. We became lazy and began to let the lawmakers run the country and make all the decisions without so much as a glimpse as to what was really going on, we started making excuses for the bad choices the leaders of the nation started making and justified their behavior. We the people made it easy for corruption in our government. If we are to ever live in a country that is based on spiritual and moral values again then we the people must change within ourselves and wake up.We must once again begin to question the lawmakers and expect verified answers, actions leading to turning our country around instead of excuses about what they can't do. We must grow our backbone and stand up.
We must look to God and go forward to do the right thing.
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