Super Tuesday votes have been counted, and we've all heard how well John McCain did on the Republican ticket. I've felt the same concerns as many other people in the media about McCain's failures in the past to represent conservative principles and even go so far as to obstruct them. Now that it seems he will be the Republican nominee, as Christians, we have three choices: to get behind him, to resist him, or to refuse to participate in this election. Considering everything, here's how I feel as of today.
If we get behind McCain, we must be vocal about what we expect him to do. We cannot and should not stay quiet regardless of who wins. The conservative principles that built the Republican party have to remain our conservative principles. We should not let them get watered down, compromised, or diluted for the sake of civility, and to succeed at remaining true to our principles, we must be deliberate. Daniel in the Old Testament "purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. . ." (Dan. 1:8) when his government offered him enticing alternatives. Instead he chose--as we must choose--to remain true to his standards on purpose, deliberately. True conservatism must remain a force to be reckoned with or other forces will drown us out. We will become irrelevant. Tomorrow, McCain along with the other nominees, will address the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. We must make our social, economic, and military expectations known to him, then we must get his commitment to fulfill them. Though he probably won't agree to everything we would like, for the sake of our votes, he will probably will consent to the most important.
If we resist McCain, the Democratic nominee will prevail. I talked in an earlier blog about how Obama has the most liberal voting record in Congress, while Clinton is sixteenth. McCain voted to confirm conservative Supreme Court justices Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Thomas. He even supported Judge Robert Bjork several years ago, who failed to win confirmation in the end. Clinton and Obama both voted against Roberts and Alito and even tried to filibuster Alito's confirmation. Appointments for upcoming retiring justices will be one of the most important roles the next president will fulfill. Obama/Clinton appointees will make liberal causes the law of the land. And based on his past record, it looks like McCain will continue to do the right thing. That in itself is reason, I feel, to support McCain.
Finally, if we don't participate at all in this election, we not only put a liberal in office, but we do so without resistance. I've often asked myself where the Christians were in the 1960s when people were voted into office who allowed abortion to become legal in the marketplace and prayer and the Ten Commandmens illegal in school. McCain can win the nomination without our support, but he cannot win the Whitehouse without us. We have to not only participate in getting him into office (assuming he is the nominee), but we must continue to participate and make our voices heard once he's there. However uncomfortable we are with some of the positions he has taken, he is infinitely better than the alternatives.
No matter how desperate and evil things have gotten throughout history, God has always had His remnant. " 'I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal' " (1 Ki. 19:18; Rom. 11:4). These are the ones God has counted on who would continue to stand for what was right no matter how much wrong surrounded them. Not the ones who did evil. Not the ones who did nothing at all. The remnant have always been the ones who pushed up their sleeves and did what God commanded, whatever the cost, for however long it took.
Guess who the remnant is for our generation? You and me. We're to be God's remnant for this 2008 election--men and women God can count on to do the right thing, to uphold His commandments. We're to seek God's will and then do everything we can to bring it about in our country.
Super Tuesday's gone but it's results will be felt for many days to come. Let's get on board. Let's be that remnant. Let's get the job done. God is counting on us, and so are the generations to come.