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When Deciding for Whom to Vote, it All Depends on Your Version of the Bible
by James Glaser November 3, 2008 Something like 85% of Americans claim that they are Christians. With numbers like that, you know that most certainly "Christians" will control the coming presidential election. But in trying to anticipate how they will vote, there is a problem. There are many different Christian churches, and on top of that, there are many different "Christian" Bibles on which that those different denominations base their faith. It would seem so easy to predict the winner this year if one of the major candidates were pro-life, but neither John McCain nor Barack Obama holds life as sacred. McCain claims to be anti-abortion, but both he and Obama are ready and even willing to wage war any place on the globe. Both have said that even the use of nuclear weapons are on the table if they have to deal with Iran. The largest Christian church in America is the Catholic Church, and if you go by their teachings and their version of the Bible, then you would think that they would be abstaining from this year's election. After all, their fifth commandment states, "Thou Shall Not Kill." So, if God is admonishing you not to kill, how could you vote for either Obama or McCain? King James Bible believers are in the same boat as the Catholics. Their Bible says, "Thou shalt not kill." So between the Christian fundamentalists and the Catholics, presidential voting should drop by about 40%, but then just how many Americans really follow the teachings of either Jesus Christ or their church? Most of the other Christians are let off the hook with their version of the Bible saying, "Thou shall not murder." That way they can talk about "Just War Theory" and convince themselves that America is only out to "kill" while not murdering anyone. Oh yeah, all those women, children, elderly, and infirmed that we kill in every war—well their deaths are just a mistake. We even have a name for those deaths—"collateral damage." Definitely not murder. So, if your Bible tells you not to murder, then feel free to pick the killer of your choice for president. However, if your God told you not to kill, then you better think really hard before you vote for a Democrat or a Republican. |
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