Christians please tell me that this isn't true?

Question

I was watching an HBO documentary this morning on Christianity in America and their beliefs. In the rural southern areas there were pastors who told people when voting for the president you should vote for the person with a strong Christian belief similar to their own. They even put up charts who these people were in all of the churches. Can you honestly tell me that this is what matters most? You would rather vote for a president who has the same beliefs as you, rather than a Jew, Muslim, Atheist, etc. with goals to benefit the country. I am an Atheist and I know that I would absolutely vote for a Christian over an Atheist if they offered to help our dying economy, improve education in schools, benefit medical research, etc. Does this only occur in this are of the US or is it widespread?

Answer 1

It is widespread. Not just the US, but the whole world. Logically. Don't we all vote fro the person whom we think is the right person for the job. Whether it is based on same religious belief, political, or any other. That is human nature. We want the person that agrees with us, and that is the one whom we think is the right person. Logic

Answer 2

My Church prays for whichever current president there is. So that God can help guide the way to good decisions. They do believe that you should vote for whomever you will think will follow Gods word the closest.
But with that said, Just because they claim to be Christian doesn't mean they are. Look at their actions. Is George Bush Christian? Not in my own opinion. I have many reasons for believing that, my first indicator was that I believe Christians should help preserve what God has done. That starts with the environment. Anyone that holds Greed (a no-no according to the bible) above preserving the land that God gave us to live, is a BAD Christian at best. And then when I think about how the men he sends overseas to protect America come back wounded and forced to stay in horrid conditions - That is not the Christian way either. And my last point I will make on Bush is that most people know the 10 commandments, and "thou shall not steal" the election, is definitely in those 10 commandments. So, Any Church that told me to vote for any Bush is not a church I would be willing to attend. Claiming to be Christian, and living the life are two very different lives.

I agree with the initial thought of not voting because of voting only for the lesser of two evils. Sometimes that is the best a person can do. Maybe if more people got out to vote for the lesser of 2 evils, maybe the elections would be harder to cover up the fraud, and then the certain parties doing the fraud would be in Prison where they belong, instead of being president of this country. I'm going to be voting for whomever I think has the best morals, if they say they are Christian, or Jewish, or Atheist, or the religion of their choice.

Answer 3

I don't doubt it at all and I'm a Christian. I left my last church over something similar, done a little more subtly, but with a definite liberal Democrat slant. I go to Church to worship God, not a politician. I am in the South.

Look, we all have beliefs (does not have to be religious), feelings, morals, issues that are important to us. That is how everyone votes, or at least they should. I have no problem with a pastor or someone saying follow your heart and mind while voting. I have a huge problem with them saying, "This is what you HAVE to do when voting." I know atheists who are pro-life, so religion is not the only reason for being against abortion, but it's the one mentioned most. The churches you talked about are breaking the law and it has to be stopped.

God Bless.

Answer 4

As a Christian I absolutely vote for the person with the moral beliefs closest to mine, If you will read your Bible you will see that during the old testament before Jesus came that the blessings of the children of Isreal were directly related to whether the King served and worshiped the Lord or not. There is a definite connection there. If the President has morals that respect the Bible then the country will get more blessings from God, and yes for Christians this is widespread, it has nothing to do with the south, any true Christian anywhere votes like this, at least one that really believes in the Bible, right now this country is about split right down the middle, most Christians recognize whats going on the middle east, when the usa turns her back on Isreal this freedom we have in americal will cease to exist.

Answer 5

I'm a Christian. And I don't agree with what you've seen on HBO. If you're a true Christian you couldn't vote for the person who has a similar belief, because on the contrary they most likely also believe something that is against the Word of God. Another thing is, if you read the revelations you would know that it doesn't matter who becomes president and if you do your research on the Illuminatis you would know that the voters have no say-so whatsoever. The president will be the one who is chosen by bloodline to form a New World Order.

Answer 6

I am a Christian- and I cannot vote for anyone who would promote abortion, or anything that goes against biblical beliefs- even if these candidates would offer help for our economy, education and med research. Why you may ask? Because I answer to someone higher than the supreme court. I answer to the Supreme God. He says, abortion, and homosexuality is wrong, so I cannot vote for people who are ok with these. This is not saying that I do not like the person- I cannot condone what they believe in. I would vote for a non-Christian who believes abortion is wrong- so yes, I would vote a non-Christian into office- however I must first look at the issues that God considers important.

Answer 7

I vote for the person. I want to know what their goals for our nation are and how they intend to accomplish those goals. If the person has good moral character and a vision I share for this country I will vote for them. It doesn't matter to me the religion, race or party to which they belong.

However, all things being equal I would vote for a Christian first. But that is not a quarantee either. Bill Clinton was a Christian who used his power to enter into an illegal relationship with a woman under his authority. So I want to know that they have strong moral character and not just that they claim to be religious.

For the record, I tell my church that as Christians we have a responsibility to support our government and to vote. But who they vote for is between them and God. I never make political recommendations nor do I discuss them from the pulpit. The pulpit is a powerful place and it should not be abused for political reasons.

I doubt if what you saw is widespread as the IRS is removing tax free exemption from churches that do this sort of thing and in my opinion they are right to do this.

Pastor John

Answer 8

I am with you, and I would vote for an atheists over a
'religious man', in a heartbeat!They( the god fearing men) are the ones, who are the most immoral!
We have a shining example in the White House right this minute, as to why we should keep religion out of politics! This man scares the crap out of me, as he says 'god talks to me'! This should scare everyone!
I want a logical man/woman in the White House, and in the legislature! As it is, there are too many christian lobbyists trying to push their agenda onto this country!
Religion belongs in our personal lives, not in Congress, and the Senate!
Personal salvation, and finding our way back to god, or trying to lead the best lives we can, should be our agenda!
As for the church thing, a couple of years ago, wasn't there a preacher, who tried to tell his congregation who to vote for, and he even threw an elder out,because he said he was going to vote for the other guy?
This is why religion, and politics don't mix! And why separation of church and state is so important!
Clinton was one of the best presidents we have had for a long time! His moral values sucked, but that did not stop him from being a good president! Each man has his own faults to deal with! but whether he is a christian, or has christian values does not, in the long run, make a bit of difference!

Answer 9

I am a Christian and I'm sure some people do vote that way, however I would be foolish to do so. I lean towards a president with common values that I share in terms of family, truth, justice, fairness and NOT political correctness. There will be women that vote for "Billary Rodham Clinton" simply because she is a woman, or Barack O'Bama because he is mixed race etc. etc. The pastor at my church(in the north) says "pray before you vote, and vote what you conscience says". If Joe Lieberman (Jewish) were running for president I'd vote for him. If Rudy Giuliani is up against Clinton, I'd vote for him and I don't share all his beliefs, and life style, but he's got what it takes. I'm not suprised to hear in some areas pastors are advocating what is in the documentary. to that I say "God please help us all".

Answer 10

I am a Christian in the deep south. This may have happened, I do not know. But no one ever told me who to vote for.If they did, they would be barking up the WRONG tree! They may try to influence me, but I am free to vote for whoever I want! In any case, I would never vote for a person who endorses abortion, nor would I vote an atheist in office.I would vote for a Jewish candidate, since this is the root of Christianity! This is a Christian founded country,(see Bert above). I could never vote in anyone who does not believe in anyone greater than himself! I would feel my religious freedom could be jeopardized. My Christian ancestors fought and died in almost every war this country had, and they did it for the freedom to worship any way we want. It was religious freedom that motivated my people to come here in the first place! This is something the secularists are trying to take away from us and they will NOT do it without a good fight!

Answer 11

First of all, the entire population of the United States is only one tenth of the Christian population world wide. That means, if every single person in the United States were a Christian, they would all still represent far less than the majority of Christians.

Now, looking at your rural Christians getting out the vote based on religious affiliation, let's be generous and assume that they are members of the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC does not normally endorse this type of thing, and they are not restricted to the southern states - but we'll assume that they do and are. Still, they make up less than 5% of Christians world-wide.

The point is this. We get a lot of "is this true" questions on here. People don't seem to realize that Christianity is a religion of 2,000,000,000 people. Statistically, I don't know how you could have that many people without getting every possible view and behavior somewhere in the mix. But the rational approach to this and any other category is to look at the behavior of the majority. In this case, the majority of Christians don't even live in the United States, and the majority of Christians in the United States do not tell parishoners how to vote.