Now I don’t want to over simplify this issue, but what’s funny is it really is this simple. Jesus would not have voted.

Jesus did not have any patriotic allegiances, he was loyal to the kingdom of God, and He did not change the world by voting republican or democrat, or by working through the system. Screw the system. Do you honestly think that when the Son of man gave the great commission in Acts 1 that he said, “Go to all of the corners of the earth, and tell people to vote so that our country isn’t trashed?” No, pretty sure he didn’t.

And what’s funny is that the people who are saying we as Christians need to vote in this election or else our country will be in the wrong hands (regardless of which hands you think those are) are the same people that will say to you God is in control, it’s in His hands. If it is really in His hands, if it is really in His control, then really and truly my participation does not matter. Because if that’s the case, and God’s will is going to be done regardless, than my free choice is no longer that, I have no say in the matter. The mental dichotomy that people are able to juggle between possessing both deterministic perspectives while claiming free will is truly boggling.

Back to the point, when did nationalism become a prerequisite for Christianity? When did our patriotism become our piety? Our duties as Christians truly have nothing, nothing whatsoever, to do with voting in a form of Government that Jesus had not even encountered in His 33 years here on Earth. We cannot accomplish our goals, (which in case you forgot are to do as follows: love our neighbors, and to love the Lord our God with our entire hearts mind soul and strength) through a corrupt political system that will simply continue to rot and fester.

You know what will change the world? You know what actually matters? People. People freaking matter alright. The only way that the world will be changed is if the hearts that comprise this world are changed, and the only one that can do that is Jesus Christ, acting through His bride, the Church. The Church (and by that I mean Christians, I am not proposing a theocracy) is what will change this nation, this world, for the better. Christians living as they are called, pursuing God with all of their hearts, and living a spirit filled life are what is going to turn this nation around, not voting for some chauvinistic pig or manipulative liar.

For goodness sakes look at the bigger picture! We are so wrapped up in our own political garbage, festering in our own ideological pride that we for some reason think that this one single election, in our one country, is going to change the world. Are you joking? The problems with this world are so much bigger than one crooked election that has you falsely thinking you have any say in it (wow that was controversial). Have you forgotten that our governmental system is based on three branches with checks and balances? That the president cannot simply do whatever they want?

Everyone complains that the government doesn’t get anything done, but now, all of a sudden, people are convinced that a man is going to launch nukes at people, or that democrats are going to rescind the constitution, or that the entire world is going to fall apart because of one man or woman. Let’s please be logical and see that we are overreacting within crowd hype. Remember a thing called mutually assured destruction, or the fact that we have power to influence legislation and court rulings? If you think that Donald Trumps is truly ignorant enough to start launching nukes from the hip, then you are wearing a thick blindfold made of hate (whether that hate is well placed or not is regardless). And if you think that we are going to loose our constitutional rights, how can you ignore our participation in that form of government, while screaming at people to vote because it is our duty to participate? How can you claim we will be helpless, while cramming voting participation down people’s throats?

Then again, what if we aren’t joking? What if all of these terrible things people claim will happen, really will happen? Well if one person truly does have the power to cause these things, then why in the world are we still supporting a government like that? We’d better get to dismantling fast fam. No, our duty as Christians is so much bigger. Don’t you dare diminish my calling as a follower of Christ by telling me that this following obligates me to participate in a crooked political game that has done nothing but damage.

There is nothing biblical that makes a sound argument that I have a duty as a Christian to vote in this election, yet alone for a man as disgusting as Donald Trump (and if you think you have one, please, share). I have a duty to minister to the broken, to be salt and light, to be in the presence of God through prayer, fasting, meditation, to care for the orphaned and the widowed. I do not have a duty to align myself with a political party or candidate.

You can say I need to vote for whatever reasons you feel are necessary or persuasive, that’s fine, that’s fair. But do not tell me that my faith demands it. Do not. I’ll end with a quote from C.S Lewis’ Screw Tape letters that has been going around.

“My Dear Wormwood,

Be sure that the patient remains completely fixated on politics. Arguments, political gossip, and obsessing over the faults of people they have never met serves as an excellent distraction from advancing in personal virtue, character, and the things the patient can control. Make sure to keep the patient in a constant state of angst, frustration, and general disdain towards the rest of the human race in order to avoid any kind charity or inner peace from further developing. Ensure that the patient continues to believe that the problem is, “out there” in the “broken system” rather than recognizing there is a problem with himself.” –C.S Lewis, Screw Tape Letters