Saturday, September 04, 2004

Not Single Issue Voters

In America, 46% of voters will likely vote for Kerry and 46% will likely vote for Bush.

It seems to me we don't really think through a lot of our beliefs whether political or religious, and when push comes to shove we start calling each other names and saying that if we go the wrong way on this one, it will be the end of the world.

I want to take some time here in the future as the elections are coming up to answer 4 questions:

1. What I like about the Democrats?
2. What I like about the Republicans?
3. What I don't like about the Democrats?
4. What I don't like about the Republicans?

Brian McLaren's website points to Take Back Our Faith, which he helped write that says he is not a single issue voter when it comes to his Christian faith. This has intrigued me.

Here are the list of issues that they say should be considered for a political candidate.

We are not single-issue voters.

We believe that poverty - caring for the poor and vulnerable - is a religious issue. Do the candidates' budget and tax policies reward the rich or show compassion for poor families? Do their foreign policies include fair trade and debt cancellation for the poorest countries? (Matthew 25:35-40, Isaiah 10:1-2)

We believe that the environment - caring for God's earth - is a religious issue. Do the candidates' policies protect the creation or serve corporate interests that damage it? (Genesis 2:15, Psalm 24:1)

We believe that war - and our call to be peacemakers - is a religious issue. Do the candidates' policies pursue "wars of choice" or respect international law and cooperation in responding to real global threats? (Matthew 5:9)

We believe that truth-telling is a religious issue. Do the candidates tell the truth in justifying war and in other foreign and domestic policies? (John 8:32)

We believe that human rights - respecting the image of God in every person - is a religious issue. How do the candidates propose to change the attitudes and policies that led to the abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners? (Genesis 1:27)

We believe that our response to terrorism is a religious issue. Do the candidates adopt the dangerous language of righteous empire in the war on terrorism and confuse the roles of God, church, and nation? Do the candidates see evil only in our enemies but never in our own policies? (Matthew 6:33, Proverbs 8:12-13 )

We believe that a consistent ethic of human life is a religious issue. Do the candidates' positions on abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, weapons of mass destruction, HIV/AIDS-and other pandemics-and genocide around the world obey the biblical injunction to choose life? (Deuteronomy 30:19)

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