Editorial: Give ‘Caesar’ his due—vote

They won’t show up in the Centers for Disease Control statistics, but a unique group of Texans may be affected by our state’s Ebola crisis. They’re the political candidates trying to unseat incumbents.

“The dominance of the news cycles by the ever-changing updates on the Ebola crisis” have knocked a huge chunk out of the political coverage we normally see during the fall of an election year, the Texas Tribune reported.  

Editor Marv KnoxAnd despite what you might think, the ills of the virus are not distributed evenly. “The wall-to-wall coverage of Ebola hurts challengers more than incumbents, who do not need to rely on the media to get their message out,” Wade Emmert, chairman of the Dallas County Republican Party, explained to the Houston Chronicle in a report picked up by the Tribune.

Distractions and news cycles aside, Texas Baptists have a civic duty to educate themselves about the candidates and issues. And then vote.

When asked about paying taxes, Jesus said, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (Mark 12:17). By “Caesar,” of course, Jesus meant government. One of the requirements of responsible citizenship is voting. As whole, complete, unified people, our spiritual duty requires us to be solid citizens. So, voting is not only a civic activity, but also a faithful spiritual enterprise.

This is true even when your vote cancels the ballot cast by the church member who sits down the pew from you Sunday after Sunday. Or even the person who sits across the dinner table from you night after night.

No monolithic Christian vote

People who meet Texans—particularly evangelical Christian Texans—might be surprised to learn we sometimes cancel each others’ votes. The way the media plays it, we’re one big, monolithic, lockstep-walking bloc.

This is not true, of course. A “Christian vote” is the phantom of some pundit’s imagination. We don’t always talk like it, but in our hearts, we know Jesus is neither a Republican nor a Democrat.

Some Christians vote one way because of the impulse of their faith, the way they read the Bible and the dictates of their consciences. And some Christians vote the other way because of the impulse of their faith, the way they read the Bible and the dictates of their consciences. We should respect them both, and they should respect each other. (The less-respectable path is taken, sadly, by Christians whose faith does not shape their vote.)

Turn out to cast your ballot

By its very nature, politics creates winners and losers. We’ll know it all on Election Night. Still, however the votes turn out, our state and nation will be stronger if Christians and other people of faith humbly recognize millions of voters are rejoicing or lamenting precisely because they voted the way they believe God wanted them to.

Early voting began in Texas Oct. 20 and will continue through Election Day, Nov. 4. If you need to know the who, what, when, where, why and how of voting, click here.

Through the balance of the campaign and after the election, we can strengthen our communities, state and nation by demonstrating how to disagree agreeably. Contention and partisanship are ripping the fabric of our society. We can stitch it back together by speaking civilly, responding kindly and acting graciously to our fellow citizens. Especially the fellow Christians who cancel our votes.