Voting for one the of two less evils biblical?

[TheGloryLand]

14 minutes ago, BrotherTony said:

How can people NOT VOTE, period? We're NOT voting for a pastor, someone to be our spiritual guide, we're voting for the president of the country. We're ALWAYS going to have a certain level of distrust in politicians. Yet, if we're only given the choice of one or the other we have to choose the one we believe will be closest to our beliefs. Don't you think you've beat this dead horse long enough?

Yes, I agree in the freedom to vote. I have voted for many years. But for me, it might become to an end. Others can vote for the lesser of two evils.

[BrotherTony]

1 hour ago, TheGloryLand said:

Yes, I agree in the freedom to vote. I have voted for many years. But for me, it might become to an end. Others can vote for the lesser of two evils.

If for you it's "come to an end," that's between you and God. Don't be complaining about the government if you don't participate with your vote...and not voting isn't doing anything but cancelling out a vote and allowing the greater of the two "evils" to come to power. Sad.

[Napsterdad]

1 hour ago, TheGloryLand said:

Yes, I agree in the freedom to vote. I have voted for many years. But for me, it might become to an end. Others can vote for the lesser of two evils.

There is never going to be the perfect candidate until Jesus returns, and then there won't be a need for any candidates.

You can choose not to vote at the polls but that, in and of itself, is a vote because that takes a ballot away from the candidate with the better moral standing, which in turn favors the candidate that is less moral. By not voting, you are giving up and freely handing over your portion to the enemy. By not voting you are remaining silent. Your voice for God will no longer be heard in this venue. If all Christians were to remain silent at the ballot box how much more quickly would our constitutional republic dissolve? 

Edited June 22 by Napsterdad

[TheGloryLand]

1 minute ago, BrotherTony said:

If for you it's "come to an end," that's between you and God. Don't be complaining about the government if you don't participate with your vote...and not voting isn't doing anything but cancelling out a vote and allowing the greater of the two "evils" to come to power. Sad.

The Lord will be the final one who decided to put in office. Not you, others, or me.

[BrotherTony]

1 hour ago, TheGloryLand said:

The Lord will be the final one who decided to put in office. Not you, others, or me.

True,. But he's given us the opportunity, privilege, and RESPONSIBILITY to participate in this process. Those who don't have no place in complaining about what our government is doing. Remember the story the Lord told about the talents being given to his three servants with one receiving ten talents, the second five talents, and the last one just one talent? The first two used their responsibilities to grow their stake. The third buried his, not using it at all, and therefore misused his opportunity. Your postings/remarks here sound identical to the one who squandered his opportunity. Do as you wish, but, I am going to use the opportunities that the Lord gives me. 

[TheGloryLand]

2 hours ago, BrotherTony said:

True,. But he's given us the opportunity, privilege, and RESPONSIBILITY to participate in this process. Those who don't have no place in complaining about what our government is doing. Remember the story the Lord told about the talents being given to his three servants with one receiving ten talents, the second five talents, and the last one just one talent? The first two used their responsibilities to grow their stake. The third buried his, not using it at all, and therefore misused his opportunity. Your postings/remarks here sound identical to the one who squandered his opportunity. Do as you wish, but, I am going to use the opportunities that the Lord gives me. 

Let’s say you’re correct with the verses above, my question to you is if the person you choose, turns out to be totally contrary to what you believe and thought would be,  do these verses you applied above still apply?

[BrotherTony]

7 minutes ago, TheGloryLand said:

Let’s say you’re correct with the verses above, my question to you is if the person you choose, turns out to be totally contrary to what you believe and thought would be,  do these verses you applied above still apply?

You're being overly contrarian and continue to look only on the negative, seemingly overlooking the fact that WE are not responsible for THEIR actions. Your hypotheticals are continually popping up just to attempt to make your negative views on everything relevant. We can only vote for the one who most closely reflects our beliefs as Christians, pray for our leaders as commanded in scripture, and continue to share the gospel with others, sharing our faith. You can't do that with the negativity that you are showing. 

Edited June 22 by BrotherTony

[BrotherTony]

3 hours ago, TheGloryLand said:

The Lord will be the final one who decided to put in office. Not you, others, or me.

I forgot to add, Eddie, that this attitude is a cop out to support your lax and negative views. Sad.

[HappyChristian]

3 hours ago, TheGloryLand said:

The Lord will be the final one who decided to put in office. Not you, others, or me.

Well, here's where we disagree a bit: the Lord does not "decide" who goes into office. Far too many people crowed about God ordaining Trump, yada, yada (they forget if that's the case then He also ordained Biden - which He did not...he ALLOWED the evil that is there because of US allowing evil to flourish in this country). But here's the thing: our system of government is not a monarchy. God allowed our founders to set up a system where the PEOPLE decide who goes into office.  All through our history one can see the condition of the electorate by those who obtain the office of public servant. Telling ourselves that God ordained POTUS and other offices completely removes our responsibility to do what we should: keep ourselves informed, inform others, and vote. God ALLOWS our selections, HE does not decide them. We do reap what we sow and that is why the "choices" become more and more icky.

As to voting for someone we don't trust: I don't trust anybody, honestly. There are few people who have proven themselves to be consistent in  their public service. Those few, if they were to run, I might be able to wholeheartedly endorse. However, there are those who I distrust LESS than others. Not a perfect, nor even happy, situation, but it is what it is and we work with what we have.

Let's not blame God by claiming He decides who's there. It sounds spiritual to say we get what we deserve and God ordains it to teach us a lesson, etc. But what He ordained is the sowing/reaping process. Harvest often takes a while, but it comes...and, sadly, we are reaping now. That is why I will vote for Trump. Because there's a little less reaping, more chance of some decent sowing. At least for a little while.

Heh - you posted the cop out idea while I was writing, Tony. Absolutely true, but folks don't realize it...we've been trained, like seals, to accept that it's out of our hands so why bother.

[TheGloryLand]

This is getting a little confusing according to some of these replies, how can prophecy be fulfilled, if we who are here are in charge or choose?

[Napsterdad]

1 hour ago, TheGloryLand said:

This is getting a little confusing according to some of these replies, how can prophecy be fulfilled, if we who are here are in charge or choose?

You don't have much faith in the Lord, do you TGL? Why do you believe in a God that can't even overcome your one vote to fulfill His prophecy. Pretty lame. If that is the case, then maybe we should all isolate ourselves in our houses and remain silent on all issues; for if we say or do something for the Lord, we may completely derail the Lord's plan for mankind. I never realized man had that much power.

Edmund Burke is quoted as saying: "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing". 

The Bible likewise says:

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

There are no perfect candidates, but to not vote for the best available from those provided is to not do the little bit of good that you could have done. Would that not be sin?

Also, if you decide not to vote, please don't express any opinion on the current political climate or issues as you will have surrendered your right to speak on such matters.  

 

[HappyChristian]

1 hour ago, TheGloryLand said:

This is getting a little confusing according to some of these replies, how can prophecy be fulfilled, if we who are here are in charge or choose?

Remember I said God allows...that is because God is sovereign. He knows the beginning from the ending. In His sovereignty, He allowed our founders to create the absolute best political system of any country in the history of the world...with the exception of the theocracy that Israel was under during OT times.  Now, let's take a little rabbit trail. lol

The Puritans wanted a theocracy here in America. That was their entire goal when they came over from England. They considered it their manifest destiny (which term came to represent American expansion, not just a theocracy). They believed that they were supposed to create a new Israel. To do this, they would need to (and intended to) re-implement the law as God gave it to Israel. It's a long story, and one worth learning, so I'll just cut to the chase. The problem with creating a theocracy is manifold. First, we cannot re-implement the OT law because Christ died and rose again. The law was fulfilled and is done. Resurrecting it is anti-biblical. Second, even if we could re-implement the OT law, who would decide which law to obey, how far to go, etc., etc. IOW, it would not be a theocracy, it would be a man-controlled religious oppression. Which is what existed with the Puritans here in what would become the US...MEN decided what would happen to whom. Men who claimed to understand the sovereignty of God. 

Baptists came along and presented the idea of soul-liberty, religious liberty, and true freedom. These Baptists understood the sovereignty of God and also  understood that governmental law was necessary because man is evil. However, they and our founders understood that because man is evil, government needed to have boundaries. Which is what the Constitution is all about.

This knowledge that man is evil was a nod to the sovereignty of God, who allowed what became the USA. A perfect country? Oh, no, no! Because man is not perfect. Our founders intended a Constitutional Republic, with each state being its own Republic, guided by individual Constitutions (check them out...just about all, if not all, of them have Bills of Rights that mirror the federal Bill of Rights...for which we can thank Baptists). Now, this was, again, because man is evil and the founders knew that law and boundaries were needed to keep chaos and oppression at bay.

This was done under God's sovereignty, His allowing of the founding of this country. As time went on, folks began to try and undermine (it actually started very early on) the Constitution and destroy the beautiful governmental system God gave us. God fully knowing this, allowing it because He gave man free will.

Now, because the imaginations of man are evil from his youth up, even a great system began to crumble. Slowly, slowly. Until now in our day we see it snowballing. None of this took God by surprise, because He is sovereign. Yet, He continues to ALLOW us to choose.

Please note, when I speak of choosing our leaders, I am referencing only the US. I do not claim to know how other countries are run. Yes, there are elections in many other countries, but each country was set up differently. Again, choice of man (even if the rank and file citizenry did not choose, like in N Korea).

So, fulfillment of prophecy...how can it be if we are allowed to choose? Again, look at the history of the country, the choices made, the evil growing. Because God is sovereign and yet allowed man to choose, man largely chose to do evil. Hence the beginnings of our downfall...prophecy will be fulfilled because God is always true. It is in God's timetable, again because He is sovereign, and will happen. Because man is evil, and his choices  - by and large - are evil.  There are people who choose to do right, but evil has a way of growing larger and larger. Ignorance sets in. And along with ignorance comes oppression and troubles. One day there will be no choice here in America. One day VERY soon. And so we vote NOW to try and stem the tide.  We KNOW the end is coming, but Jesus told us to occupy til He comes.  When we vote, we are occupying - a military metaphor that is both defensive and offensive. Will that stave off the inevitable? Of course not, but we are to occupy nonetheless. Until He comes and prophecy is fulfilled.

Hope that makes sense. =D

[SureWord]

Not voting will just ensure things will get worse even more quickly. We may not be able to stop the decay of our country but we can slow it down. 

Just like we will all die some day (unless the Lord raptures us first) we still take care of our health as much as possible and try to build a good life for us and our love ones here on earth. We don't say "Oh, we are going to die anyway so why bother". No, we do our best to keep up our health and provide a good life for family. 

The same principle can apply to our civic responsibilities.

If you are waiting for an IFB KJV Only preacher to run for office you'll be waiting a long time.

Edited June 25 by SureWord

[TheGloryLand]

Sadly, today, I believe there are folks that will sell their vote for a bucket of Kentucky fried chicken.

[BrotherTony]

1 hour ago, TheGloryLand said:

Sadly, today, I believe there are folks that will sell their vote for a bucket of Kentucky fried chicken.

Oh, good grief... enough of the negativity, Eddie. You've got an awfully low opinion of people. Sad.