“Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves, and the only way they could do this is by not voting.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
The rhetoric surrounding our upcoming election has reached a fever pitch, with each side warning that a failure to vote their way will bring about the apocalypse. It’s easy to get swept up in the heated rhetoric, name-calling, and the mindset that those on the opposite side of the political fence are somehow our enemies. In fact, many thrive on fanning the flames of division, encouraging us to vilify one another and spread hatred and discord. But as followers of Christ, we are called to rise above this. We’re commanded to love our enemies—those who genuinely seek to harm us—so how much more should we show grace to those with differing political opinions?
Elections have always been contentious. John Wesley, the leader of the Methodist Revival in England in the eighteenth century had this advice to Methodists about elections in his time:
“October 6, 1774
I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them
1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy
2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against, and
3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.”
Good advice for the eighteenth-century British and twenty-first-century Americans! Vote according to your Christian values and your conscience and guard your heart against the prevailing mood of demonization so you can witness to Christ’s love for all.
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