When a group of people who had been incredibly wicked were
converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, they buried their weapons of war and
covenanted with the Lord that they would never take up weapons again to fight
against anyone. Then their own people
who were not converted started to kill them.
After some of them were slaughtered, the survivors went to live with
their former enemies, who were also Christians, and they were protected by
these Christians who fought for them, dying for them in a great war that was
worse than any ever known by those people in that land. Still the new converts to Christianity kept
their covenant to not take up arms. It
must have been quite a trial for them to allow others to fight and die for
them. There may have been some among those
who fought for them who thought they needed to set aside their “high-minded
ideals” because the events of the day demanded that they not sit by and allow these
evil savages to win and gain control over them, but they trusted in God to
support and protect them, and he did.
Some are telling me that I need to set aside my “high-minded
ideals” of honesty, integrity, morality, and loyalty to the Constitution and
join them in choosing the lesser of two evils to be President of the United
States. Some go so far as to say that if
I don’t do so, it will be my fault that the most dishonest and despicable
person will win the race. That kind of
thinking shows a fear of man more than a fear of God, as well as a lack of
faith in the promises of our God.
If we elect someone who is known to be a power-hungry,
money-hungry, selfish, dishonest bully who is always in it for what he/she can
get and verbally, and any other way they can, attack anyone against them, then
we will have a leader who “teareth up the laws of those who have reigned in
righteousness”, like those who wrote and upheld the divinely-inspired
Constitution, “ and he trampleth under his feet the commandments of God; he
enacteth laws and sendeth them forth among the people, yea, laws after the
manner of his own wickedness; and whosoever doth not obey his laws he causeth
to be destroyed …. [and] doth pervert the ways of all righteousness.” (Mosiah
29:22-23)
That is why we must choose those who uphold and protect “the
laws which have been given [us] by our fathers, which are correct, and which
were given them by the hand of the Lord,” the Constitution. (Mosiah 29:25) We must fear God more than man. We must not rely on the arm of flesh to take
care of us but rely on God’s mercy and protection. He has promised to uphold his people, to
fight their battles, to deliver them from evil and to bless them
immensely. Is this the time spoken of as
the time when the voice of the people chooses iniquity? Do we join our voices to those choosing
iniquity, or do we stand with our God and put our trust in him and rely on his
promises?
I cannot vote for either of the two main candidates, because
everything I know of them says they are wicked.
They will continue the current trend of disregarding and throwing out
the rights guaranteed us in the Constitution.
They will use their power to further corrupt the system. They will offend our allies and enrage our
enemies, and because they have shown such prideful disregard for the blueprint
God gave us for how to govern, He may not be there for us.
I realize that one of these two candidates will most likely
be our next President. I see no way of
preventing that, but that does not mean that I have to participate in the
selection. Since I see either choice as
being an affront to who and what we should be, I have to hold to my conviction
that God means it when he says if we humble ourselves and put our faith in the
Lord, he will deliver us from our enemies by “extending the arm of mercy
towards them that put their trust in him.”
I guess some will say I’m being defeatist or I’m refusing to
participate in the process, and yes, some will say I’m allowing the one they
don’t want to be elected. No, I’m just
voting my conscience and trusting in the promises of the Lord. I don’t believe a person can destroy our
country or our way of life no matter how powerful they are unless God allows it
to be so, and He will allow it to be so only if that is the choice of the
people. If enough of us stand against
this evil that is before us in this election, He will protect and sustain us in
ways I can’t imagine. If we throw in
behind the “lesser” of two evils, we may find we have been left to our own
devices.
I am hoping there are still enough of us who fear God more
than man that we can still claim Him as the God of our land. We do that by fearing Him more than man, by
holding to our ideals, by voting our conscience even if that means we vote for
someone who has no chance of winning.
Maybe you believe your choice is righteous, does have the
best interest of us all at heart and is going to do what is best for the
country. If you do, then vote your
conscience. I don’t really want to stand
in judgment of what others believe to be the “right thing” to do. I just question the response of Donald Trump
supporters when Ted Cruz encouraged them to vote their conscience and vote for
someone who would uphold the Constitution.
They booed him. They must not
believe a vote for Donald Trump fits that description. And those who want Hillary Clinton, have you
honestly considered all that she has done and her reaction when confronted with
those things? The FBI told us that she
was guilty of something that others would be indicted for. Those aren’t my words. She won’t be indicted, but if someone else
were to do this, they would be. That was
the decision that came after an extensive investigation into her time as
Secretary of State. There is so much
more that could be said about both candidates.
Look at their records, their words, their actions. Evaluate without prejudice. Don’t decide based on Republican or
Democrat. Don’t say, “But I have to vote
for one of them.”
Imagine the power of the people if the next President were
elected by a small number of votes because most of us refused to support
either. That would embolden members of
the House and Senate and even the Supreme Court in standing against the
President when he/she does something unconstitutional. It would be a message to the world, to our
allies and enemies, that our President doesn’t represent us when he/she acts in
a way that is reprehensible. Most importantly,
it would say to God that we still recognize Him as the greatest power in this
land.
Please pray before you vote.
Please don’t be afraid to allow the “wrong” person to become
President. If that’s what the voice of
the people chooses, so be it, but let’s show with our vote for a third party
candidate or a write-in vote for someone of character not on the ballot that we
do not sustain the iniquitous choice that has been placed before us.
And if you disagree with me, that’s okay. Vote for the candidate of your choice. I may be completely wrong on this, but at
least now you know why I will vote for neither of the two major party
candidates for the first time in my adult life.
