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Let's begin by defining terms; that's always a good place to start when there's a debate about a significant issue between people of intellectual and ethical sincerity.

First, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. That means that faith is that belief we have in things that we would be unable otherwise to prove. We must have faith, for instance in God. No one can prove or disprove his existence logically, so we must have faith that he either does or does not exist. I have faith in gravity, even though Einstein tells me all sorts of things about it that I refuse to accept rationally. When I get up in the morning, I have no doubts that I will not fly away because of my complete and utter faith that gravity is the same today as it has been every day of my life. We develop faith through our experiences, but faith in spiritual things is a gift from God.

Next, let us examine what the second part of the sentence is getting at. "Influence a citizen's faith." That seems obvious, but let's be clear from the start. What should influence a citizen's vote on any issue. Only one thing. The truth. You vote for a candidate because you know he is the better person for the job. For you, it is the truth at that moment. Now we may be disappointed later when we discover that what we thought was true was in fact not. But that is the best we can do. As citizen-patriots, we must attempt to discover the truth about those important issues we are called to vote upon. Only the truth, straight up facts, should influence our vote. Appearance, charisma, religious background, ethnicity, or gender should have no place in our thoughts, for those are changeable aspect of personal opinion, and have no place in judging a person.

So, knowing this, it should be apparent that our votes SHOULD be influenced by our faith. Our faith is truth. Remember, faith is EVIDENCE of things not seen, it is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for. It is the truth as God puts it into our hearts. This is exactly what should influence our votes. If a candidate tells us that every woman has the right to abort a child at any time, even at tax-payer expense, and God tells us that this is wrong, we should be influenced by our sure and certain faith in God's truth. If a measure on the ballot supports the marriage rights of gay couples, or adult marriage with a minor, or human marriage with an animal, or polygamy, or any other such nonsense, and God tells us that this is wrong, we should be influenced by our faith in God's truth and vote our conscience.

Faith is and has always been a central factor, a critical and vital part of the democratic principal. This republic shall not stand unless it is based in the truth of Faith and the protection of Divine Providence.

Learn more about this author, John Devera.
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