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| Yes | 60% | 2182 votes | Total: 3635 votes | |
| No | 40% | 1453 votes |
Yes
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We have all heard the saying, "you have to stand for something, or you will fall for anything". I believe this is completely true. A person's faith is the core of their being. Whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc. it does not matter. If you truly believe in the faith you proclaim then your life should reflect that faith.
Faith is an issue that has no room for compromise. This does not mean I believe you should be confrontational or that you should push your faith on other people. I simply think that if you truly believe what you say you do then it will show without any conscious effort on your part.
Voting is a very personal issue. I find it hard to believe that there are people who say they are Christian but will look you in the eye with pride and announce "I voted for (whoever is running at the time), I know he (or she) is for abortion but I really like his (or her) views on taxes and education". You cannot say you are against abortion and then turn around and vote for a president who supports abortion rights. That is just hypocritical.
If your faith is not strong enough to be the foremost basis for your votes, then your faith is not strong enough. When we vote for our elected officials or on important issues, we are helping to form the future, not only for ourselves but also for generations to come. It is important to vote in every election. It is more important to vote with a conscience. Popularity is not a reason to vote for someone. Certainly, a candidate's hairstyle is not. Even so, I have heard both issues discussed in the national news during coverage of past presidential elections. How can we expect our children to take the voting process seriously if we do not? For some reason, looks have become very important to people when considering for whom they will vote. Would you rather have a moral person who has a little extra weight and is balding, or someone who looks like a body builder and has the morals of a stripper? I will take fat and balding any day if that person lives a moral life.
If we do not consider our faith when we consider who we vote for, we are cheating our children and ourselves. We all have a list of likes and dislikes when we consider each candidate. We think about how he or she will effect education, taxes, human rights, etc. If a person feels strongly about their faith then it is only natural that they will vote for someone who mirrors that faith.
People scream "separation of church and state". Most of these people do not know anything about any history that occurred over 50 years ago. Separation of church and state is not for the protection of the state's rights; rather it is for the protection of the rights of citizens. I believe there can be no true separation of church and state, not in the way most people want to define it. In the end, it boils down to this: either you believe what you say or you do not. If you are truly religious, your vote will reflect those beliefs.
Learn more about this author, Anne Thrasher.
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No
When a person is a citizen of a vast empire, or of a great, heterogenous society, one must accept a multitude of faiths and ideals that may not necessarily fit in with one's world view.
So, the obvious answer, truly, the only answer, to the question of whether or not a citizen's vote should be influenced by their faith, or the candidate's faith, is no.
America is constantly battling against becoming a theocracy, and that is why the seperation of church and state exists.
In a theocracy, judgements cannot be challenged or questioned, and often in countries transforming into theorcracies, the tactic of labeling any who oppose the authorities as infidels, heretics, or those whoare not loyalists, causes massive conflict.
A nation that votes based on faith, is a nation that will be permanently divided, and the foundation for a civil war will be prepared.
After all, this childish logic has been applied to the war in Iraq. If a person is against the war, Bush and his people said, then they are against the troops.
With this false catch-22, the person who did not agree with the conclusions that lead us to war all of a sudden was not a patriot because they questioned the decision to go into a questionable war.
This is absurd, and this is the childish, fascistic thinking of our current ruling class.
We should vote on the issues, and how they will affect everyone, not just ourselves.
If I am a billionaire, and will get taxed more, I really would not care. After all, I have billions of dollars at my disposal. I am not making 35 thousand a year and seeing 10 or mroe thousand taken out in taxes.
When you are making only 35 thousand dollars a year, ten or more thousand is a lot in taxes. BUt if you have 50 billion dollars, and you are taxed 3 billion, relative to what you have, it is nothing. You still have 47 billion dollars, more than enough to take care of yourself and your family forever and ever.
But some families, that 35 thousand dollars, and after ten thousand in taxes taken away, you are left with 25 thousand, that hurts way more.
If you do not understand this as an idea, then what can I tell you. you obviously just like having the budget of an entire wealthy nation at your feet, and soup and bread will not be good enough for you.
People do not vote for the interests of the nation, they vote in a social hive way, where they think, what are my people interested in, I should vote for my people, who will always vote for my interests.
And this is simply not true. People are interested in what most benefits them. I think a truly greedy person would want everyone to be prosperous, so that they can prosper even more. But Greed makes the greedy stupid, and they devalue their own dollars and lay people off to get some money back, all the while losing the consumer dollar they need spent for their corporate goods, because they did not want to pay someone an extra seventy five cents.
One's faith should never influence their vote, one should vote on the issues, period.
Learn more about this author, Thaxton Lewis.
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