WWJV?

A few years back a lot of people wore bracelets that read "WWJD" for "What would Jesus Do?" This is a great question. After all, our lives should be all about looking more like Him today than we did yesterday. Being sinless, we know that whatever He would do is the right thing. He shows us how to live.

But what would Jesus vote? There seems to be an implied understanding in the United States that any good, Bible-believing Christian would vote Republican without thinking twice. And, given the issue of the millions of unborn killed in this country, this seems to be sound on the surface. But is this so cut & dried?

I saw a bumper sticker one day that read "Jesus is not a Republican". At first I blanched. But as I got to thinking about it, I'm pretty sure that's right. I don't think He's a Democrat either. In fact, I think He'd be sickened by the whole mess of our government that we try to call "God-ordained". He certainly wouldn't want to protect "reproductive rights". But I also think that He'd want to do a lot more for the poor. Not from the government, most likely, but as a society.

I've always defended voting Republican by the fact that I'd rather give my money to my church and my local rescue mission than to the government. Chances are, I'll keep voting Republican. But to call the GOP the clear Christian choice seems a little flawed to me. I don't follow politics too closely, but I do know about the whole business with Tom DeLay when he was indicted. Per an ethics policy originated by the GOP, he should have had to step down. But they decided they weren't going to do that. Need some touch-ups on that wall's whitewash?

My mom likes to tell the story of my Grandma Chamberlain who was a staunch Republican all her life. At the end of Nixon's final press conference as President she said, resignedly, "Well, I guess he had to do it." Of course he did! How could anyone not want him to step down after what he did? It doesn't invalidate the great things he did in office, but he still had to resign.

In other words, I don't see this as simple as black & white or red & blue. I see good and bad in both parties and we have to decide where we fall on the spectrum. I guess I'm still red and I feel like it's my duty to vote, but I'm not about to instantly say that all the Republicans do is good while all the Democrats do is bad.