First Things First
James M. Kushiner
The National Council of Churches recently published "Christian Principles in an Election Year," which identifies "ten non-partisan, biblically based guidelines" for voters in this election year. What are the ten areas of concern? War/conflict, urban decay/poverty, foreign policy, economic justice, racial justice, environmental justice, immigration, health care, and criminal justice. The non-partisan guide makes no mention of "gay marriage" or sanctity of life issues such as abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, or euthanasia.
A recent editorial in a conservative Christian magazine did a little better in this regard, but still missed an important opportunity to uphold the Christian tradition. It addressed the question of Christians voting "to communicate biblical values to their government representatives." Offering aid to the Christian who wants to vote conscientiously in the upcoming election, the editors chose six areas of "urgent concern": religious freedom around the world, Middle East peace, expanding access to health care, fighting AIDS wisely, pro-life Supreme Court appointees, and defending marriage--in that order.
How they failed was by neglecting to prioritize their six issues or to explain why they included those issues as opposed to other crucial issues left unmentioned, such as embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning, and euthanasia.
Read the entire article on Touchstone Magazine website.