To Vote or Not to Vote?

Q: What advice can you give me on the upcoming Presidential election? I have a hard time supporting any of the candidates. Should I vote for the lesser evil or would it be best to just not vote at all this time?

A: The area of politics is a place Pastors need to enter into very cautiously. It is one thing to have a position on a particular issue, it is quite different to be endorsing one candidate over another for political office.
The truth of the matter is that there are no perfect candidates. When we endorse a candidate we may base it on one position the candidate supports that we agree is both Biblical and culturally beneficial. In the process however, we may be supporting other positions that we may have a much more difficult time reconciling to our cultural value system or the values espoused by a Biblical world view. That is why I have always taken the position that people should very carefully research the positions of candidates on the real issues of our time and then make an informed decision on who to support with their votes. People who vote a party line seldom are informed and seldom put any real energy into finding out the consequences of supporting one candidate over another.
One of the real problems of a democracy is that to not vote is in fact a vote without responsibility. What I mean is that by not supporting one candidate or another, you are effectively supporting the candidate that you are least satisfied with. Our system ...