by Jake Betz

Created on: May 28, 2009

Faith, if practiced with a sincere heart, is not something you leave at the church door. The religious beliefs you profess and the moral principles you value should provide a roadmap for everyday life. Faith expressed, but not truly lived, is a faith without foundation, empty words recited by a hypocrite.

There are those who argue that religious faith should be banished from the public square. Their interpretation of the Constitution allows for a nation in which we have freedom from religion, not freedom of religion. Political candidates and public officials are expected to respect individual rights, even when these rights run contrary to morality. Voters are criticized as zealots if they withhold support to candidates whose positions on important social issues are at odds with what their faith teaches.

Yet faith implies acceptance of basic and universal moral teachings. Those who forget their faith beliefs when they walk into the voting booth substitute political correctness for moral courage.

Voting is the supreme act of civic responsibility. When a voter pulls a lever, pushes a button or checks off a box, his motivation should not be to further the personal ambitions of a candidate or to demonstrate. Each vote is nothing less than one's best hopes for the future.

In our time, legalized abortion has been the hot-button issue where individual faith most frequently collides with political realities. Some voters, though believing that human life begins at conception, hold their noses and pick avowed pro-choice candidates because their message on other issues is so appealing. Other members of the electorate follow their consciences and cast their ballots for pro-life candidates, although they are collectively criticized as one-issue voters. How can they do otherwise when they consider abortion to be the overriding human rights issue of the age? Theirs is the principled and moral choice.

Legalized or government-sponsored gambling is another social issue that is at odds with some people's faith. If a voter believes that gambling damages the fabric of community life, how can he justify support on Election Day to candidates who lead the charge for games of chance in the name of tax relief?

In America, we are free to worship any way we choose, and we are likewise free not to worship at all. But each person, in his or her own way, accepts moral guidelines that govern how life's basic decisions should be made and how we ought to interact with others. The faith we follow helps make us the people we are. If we ignore our faith when we vote, we show disrespect for who we are and betray not only our fellow citizens but future generations.

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