Before I begin, I want to state right here and now that I am a Christian woman striving after God’s own heart. Everything I do, say and how I view the world will always be in attempt to love Him and His creation more and more. With this insight, I hope you can understand how this will strongly influence my decision when it comes to voting, especially in regards to the persistently proceeding Presidential election.

As we all know, voting, for whom you choose and essentially give your permission to run the United States of America, is a great matter which should be thoughtfully and cautiously weighed. Today I am telling you that I have done so, with not only an open mind paired with diligently listening ears, but also with a heart passionately desiring reverence for the life of all whom God has created in His own image, and as I made clear in my previous article, I believe everyone, regardless of whatever social barrier this fallen world can come up with, is an image bearer of the holy God.

It is easy to list pro’s and con’s for each candidate and choose the one labeled as the “lesser of two evils,” or to choose the candidate who will make more moves that fall in alignment of typical Christian morals.

What’s hard is to decide to stand up, when everyone is telling you to sit down and vote, and say “No, I will choose not to support any of these candidates because I understand they do not obey the very commandments Jesus Christ himself deemed as most important of all; that is to understand that ‘The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these,’ (Mark 12:29-31).”

Furthermore, we later read in the Bible that “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works,” (2 John 1:9-11). Thus if I were to support a candidate who does not both love God and love others who have been created in the image of God, it would conflict with my own obedience to His commandments.

It is for these reasons I have purposefully decided to abstain from voting in the upcoming election.

Often and sadly opposing nearly everyone whom I have much great love and respect for, many I tell of my decision to not vote respond with the great claim that it is my “civic responsibility,” and ask “why would you not take advantage of something men and women have died to give you the right to do?” Hopefully this isn’t too surprising; I find my response to these from scripture.

In response to “civic responsibility,” I have to say that my truest citizenship first and foremost abides in Heaven with fellow saints and members of the household of God, (Phil 3:20, Eph 2:19). This in no way is me revoking my earthly given citizenship (which I could easily defend God has granted me anyways) but rather stating that when the two are in conflict, the citizenship I will always fully submit to is the one in the household of God. On another hand, obedience to my heavenly citizenship means to be in accord with Romans 13. However, my act of my abstention is not breaking any laws or going against the American government and so I see no wrong in doing so, especially since I'm doing so for the love of my neighbors. I hope this article will suffice as a substitute for my voice in the election.

Now in regards to the question of how I could seemingly toss aside my right to vote, a right many brave men and women died for my chance to have the opportunity to do so…all I have to say is that those deaths never should have happened in the first place. But we live in a broken world which has been devastatingly affected by sin since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. I want to say that I am still a voter. I am still proud to be an American. I am still grateful for those who’ve served and fought to the extent of giving up their lives in order to make the previous two statements possible for me to say. I assume many of them are my brothers and sisters in Christ. I know all of them are image bearers, still even today in their legacies.

However. the most important death was that of the Son of God on the cross so many years ago which has been constantly pointing to a time where this topic will no longer be an issue for those who have seen the beauty and authority of God, realized they needed a savior and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord by believing His death covered their sins.

I understand that many of you who have taken the time to sit and actually read through this article still will not agree with my decision, whether it be for weighing the election of a President differently, understanding the risks of politics better than I, or you simply do not agree with my religious values or at least the heavily ranking of them over other influence of voting a President.

I also understand there is much I do not know, not only in politics, but in many other areas of life as well. I understand that in a fallen world our America must be run and protected somehow, even if it is not perfect. My problem with this election is that it seems that by the hands of either one candidate or the other, too many image bearers will be hurt either within our borders or outside of them. I see a chance now to stand up for them and push this article.

I also see the gap that this ideology will create in that after the voting. Once a President is established by the hands and votes of others, what do I do then? How can I keep safe the very people I was trying to protect by not voting for one or the other candidates? Perhaps I begin my learning for how I can influence the next election so I don’t have to create another article such as this?

I can’t confidently solve any of the problems of previous questions by my own understanding.

This is why I decided to write for Odyssey in the first place. I’d love for this to be a conversation starter and I will gladly listen to any new light you choose to lovingly shed on this topic. I have a few other minor points to my argument but, technically, my decision is not final as I will always be listening to others with cautious discernment, and more importantly, constantly listening for God’s truth. But for now, I know that no matter what happens, Christ died for my sins. I have been given the most amazing task of sharing this Gospel to all people, and God will forever reign on His throne no matter who wins this election. That being said, I’d like to end with the following:

Dear Future President of the United States of America,

I love you and I will be praying for you. More importantly, the God of all creation loves you and by His authority alone, He has allowed you to be instituted over this nation. His hands will constantly surround you. You may take this as a threat, as past Governments have, or you may take it as a beautiful opportunity to soften your heart and hear what He has to say to you. Because I love the Lord my God and believe in His word, I will adhere to Romans 13 and pay to you the taxes, revenue, respect and honor you are owed.

From one image bearer to another,

Katurah Taylor