What should we do now that the elections are approaching? How should we act? What should we know? What should we ask? What are we looking for? And finally, knowing what we know (and don’t know), how should we then vote?
Whether we’re talking about Dog Catcher, city or County Council, State House, or our national government, it seems to me that, just like the Marines, we are looking for a “few good men.”
Let’s start with the word “good.” Although the people that wrote the commercial for the U.S. Marines probably don’t know it, the word “good” derives from the word “God.” To be good is to be Godly. A good man is one who appreciates and rehearses the attributes and the characteristics of God.
And so, if our man is someone who understands his oath of office, then he fears God and believes that there is an eternal system of rewards and punishments that apply to him personally.
This is precisely what an oath is all about.
And I think we can assume that if he does not see himself accountable to God for the truthfulness of his oath, then there is little hope that he will feel himself accountable to you or me once he is elected.
But he needs to show us more than just fear of The Eternal. He also must demonstrate that he understands the Biblical limitations of civil government as well as the limitations placed on him by the State Constitution and the Constitution of these United States. Unhappily, few, if any, of the candidates who come to you asking for your vote and your money, have even taken the time to read either of the documents that they are promising you, before Almighty God, that they will uphold.
Moreover, our candidate must not only show us that he knows what is required of him, but he must also demonstrate that he will act on that which he knows. It won’t do us any good electing someone who knows what to do but won’t do it, whether out of fear of men or desire to be re-elected, or whatever. This would be a vain thing, indeed.
To summarize, my precious vote can only be spent on a candidate that:
*Acknowledges and fears God
*Demonstrates that he has an American view of law and government
*Demonstrates that he will take actions that are driven by and in harmony with God’s law and the limitations of the Constitution
I firmly believe that if I cast my vote for someone who doesn’t meet these requirements, then I will stand before God and be judged for my failure to obey Him. To vote for someone who does not meet these criteria is to do a vain thing before God and men. The chaos and incompetence and corruption of our civil government in all three branches is a result of our failure to choose wisely. When we choose “the lesser of two evils” we continually get evil and we certainly deserve it. After all, we chose it, didn’t we?
*** Jake MacAulay *** is a Life and Liberty News Contributor and serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Institute on the Constitution (IOTC), an educational outreach that presents the founders’ “American View” of law and government. The former co-host of the syndicated talk show, The Sons of Liberty, he is an ordained minister and has spoken to audiences nation-wide, and has established the American Club, a constitutional study group in public and private schools.
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