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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><h2><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a href="http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/voting-in-a-wobbly-canoe.html">Voting in a Wobbly Canoe</a><o:p></o:p></span></h2><p class=MsoNormal><span class=sep><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Posted on </span></span><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/voting-in-a-wobbly-canoe.html" title="7:59 am">Monday, November 4, 2013</a><span class=by-author> </span><span class=sep>by </span><span class=author><a href="http://dougwils.com/author/admin" title="View all posts by Douglas Wilson">Douglas Wilson</a></span> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a href="http://dougwils.com/the-church/political-not-partisan.html#more-105659">Yesterday I exhorted the saints</a> at Christ Church to make sure that they voted in our local election tomorrow. In the course of that exhortation I said that it was not the church’s business to descend into partisan factionalism, but that it was our responsibility to pray that we would be allowed to “lead a quiet and peaceable life” (<a href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Tim.%202.2">1 Tim. 2:2</a>). I said that we ought to be voting in the same direction as our prayers, which means that we should be voting in the direction of civil magistrates leaving us alone. That would include doing something about zoning commissions that are used as a cat’s paw for various intoleristas.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Having said that, I was asked several times about <a href="http://dougwils.com/s8-expository/pulpit-freedom-2.html">something I said in the pulpit last year,</a> and was also challenged online because of <a href="http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/rabbits-should-know-what-hawks-look-like.html">my recent comments</a> about evangelical pastors who had voted for Obama the second time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The first link in the previous paragraph goes to a sermon outline I preached on Pulpit Freedom Sunday. In that sermon I endorsed, or came close enough to it as makes no difference, a candidate for the state legislature, a man named Gresham Bouma. How does that fit with what I said yesterday?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>I do believe that the church should stay out of partisan politics, but I believe this on theological grounds. The rule should be a <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>church</span></em> standard, and this means the IRS has absolutely no authority to be setting restrictions on what ministers may say. So the first point is that this was said as part of a nationwide challenge to the IRS. This was made possible by the candidacy of Gresham, a well-known member of our Christian community operating with a biblical worldview — a man who fears the Lord, is a man of truth, and who hates covetousness (<a href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ex.%2018.21">Ex. 18:21</a>). It was an exceptional circumstance for a specific situation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>In the current race, we have candidates who represent the officious left, and candidates who represent views more friendly to economic growth — but no one is representing a full-orbed biblical approach to anything. To use the power of the pulpit to lean this way or that in a wobbly canoe would be inappropriate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>In short, to say that the pulpit should never be partisan does not mean that it can never be personal. It <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>can</span></em> be personal, but that is rare.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>On the Obama question, the question is simpler and much more straightforward. He supports the killing of babies and therefore no consistent Christian may support him. That is not a partisan issue, and it only appears to be such because the Democratic Party has been captured by bloodthirsty ghouls.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>One last thing. This blog is owned and operated by me, the proprietor, and is not supported in any way with tithe money, which means that I am functioning here as a private citizen, albeit a noisy one in a party hat. That means I can say I voted for Lambert instead of Chaney, and in the council race, the voter has three votes that he can spread over four candidates. It is not necessary to use all three of your votes, but it is important not to use any of them in favor of Rebecca, a woman who uses exclamation marks on her yard signs, a thing which ought not to be done. So I voted for the three non-Rebeccas. Those who are interested in more information can check with <a href="http://www.greatermoscow.org/">the Greater Moscow Alliance</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>It would be nice if we could get to a place where smart growth officials would quit giving each other awards for the achievement of empty lots, which we already had, and which are not exactly the pyramids.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>