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With all due respect Alex,

That is quite possibly the silliest statement I've ever heard - Politics is all about beliefs, we vote for politicians based upon how their ideals, beliefs and the policies they wish to enact line up with our own. You're saying that because I'm Christian I should ignore my belief that all life is sacred and should vote for Bob "Abort all babies" Bradstrom.

Why not legislate morality? All laws are legislated morality. So either you're an anarchist, or you're not so opposed to legislated morality as you thought.

Like what?

@ Ironica:Yes most laws are bsed on morality save abortion/Health care and some of the more ungodly laws(The health care isn't ungodly just wrong)

I don't think anyone ever said they wanted that.

Wrong.

I will try to keep the negative rhetoric down, and just explain things the way I see it.  

I feel I have to vote my conscience, but my conscience should be trained by God's word, not by uninspired men.  Here is why my family's situation is especially ironic.  My wife is a stay at home mom and I do not make very much money at all.  The oldest of our two boys was born with severe autism.  He does not speak or have a reliable means of communication, so he is in special education in the public schools (since we can't afford private school).  Our other son is homeschooled by his mother now (the reason for which you'll see later).  We live in a 90 year old house that is falling apart, but at least we own it.  Almost all of our kids' clothes and toys are handmedowns or from the flea market (and I'm not complaining).  We just dropped our health insurance at work because I cannot afford the $721 a month that it would cost to insure the whole family, and because assistance that VA was providing just ran out (budget shortfalls).

I point all of this out because you would think the party I should vote for would be obvious.  There is a party out there whose policies WOULD benefit my family more than the other.  That party will give us more affordable health care (whether we want it or not), it will increase government funding for special needs children like our son, and it would love to help lower income families like ours in many other financial ways.  Yet in all my years I have yet to vote for this party, and I will try to explain why.

The short answer is because of what I believe from God's word.  That same party that would like to help us out financially, and help my son, also believes that a pregnant mother should have the right to kill her unborn child.  Can I justify this from God's word?  They also believe that a man should have the right to marry another man, and the same for a woman marrying a woman.  How does God feel about this?  This party also wants to educate my 6 year old about why its OK that Jennifer has two mommys, about all the horrible things that a stranger might do to them, to give my child condoms when he is older so that he can practice safe sex, etc.  (Hence our homeschooled son.)  They claim to be the most caring of groups, but when there are the worst kinds of human suffering being inflicted in other parts of the world they don't want to commit our military might to stopping it.  They provide our tax dollars to people who can work but choose not to, and we know how God feels about these people.  They do not enforce the laws we already have when it comes to illegal immigration and drugs.  They say they want to increase the number of jobs in the country, but they also want to raise the taxes on the very business owners whom they wish would hire more people.  (If you earn a million dollars a year right now and live in New York, a full 50% of your income is taken from you by the powers that be.)  Finally, most politicians in this party have no problem with one unelected judge singlehandedly overturning the vote/will of millions of citizens.

Now I know that I am describing the group as a whole and not individuals.  If I were to find an individual in that party who DID NOT feel this way and vote this way then I would gladly cast my vote for that person.  But I have not found them yet.  Now if the other party does not put forth a person who would vote the way that I feel they should, then they will not get my vote either (my vote for 2008 was a write-in).  But I feel that my vote for anyone puts me in fellowship with them in an odd way, because I have given my assent that they have the best ideas for our country.  Let's not forget that the purpose of government, according to God's word, is the punishment of evil-doers (here and abroad).  A secondary function might be to assist the less fortunate and especially those who cannot help themselves, but that is a requirement of EVERY PERSON also.  But I CANNOT punish and write laws against sin.  It is not my responsibility, but it IS the responsibility of government.  And history (and the bible) shows that once a government starts failing to punish the wicked and instead punish the righteous, that nation's days are numbered.

To sum up, I feel that we have to distinguish between policies that we don't like because they are inconvenient to us, but God's word is silent on those policies, versus policies that the bible would clearly label as sinful.  Thanks for listening.

That's a good statement Alex.  If the Bible is very clear on something (Abortion, Gay Marriage), I'll leave little wiggle room for my beliefs.  But I understand that others are different, and even Christians disagree on how we interpret the Bible.
For instance, Alex and I disagree on the position of women in leadership.  I don't announce that his posts are full of fail, or that he's bought into some sort of lie, but acknowledge that we have differences.  Intelligent discourse is necessary if we're to stay together as a Christian community.

I'll talk politics with Christians when they take their beliefs that those who disagree are wrong out of it.

I think this is a very important statement to make.  Jesus said the greatest commandment was to "love one another".

and Pol got caught as well, it seems.  Two for one!

I support socialized healthcare :c.

Thats okay. I have health insurance.

But...but...Guardian, there's nothing I disagree with in your post? How can I argue if I don't disagree? Dang, I need to give Colin a call.