Today I Dropped My Party Affiliation

It has been a long time since I’ve posted. There has been a lot going on in our lives, and God has had other things for me. I’ve never wanted to post just to “post” or keep up a following. That isn’t what this blog is about. It is a place for me to share things God has shown me, slices of my life, neat moments, etc. I’d hoped my first post “back” would be an upbeat one, and in a sense it is. I feel freer—like I’ve cut one more string with the world. Today I dropped my political party affiliation.

Not that my changing will change anything in the big picture, or that it will change anyone else’s mind, but it was something I needed to do. I changed from Republican, which I have been since I first registered in the 1980s when Reagan was President, to no political party affiliation. It has been a decision long in coming, but which came to a head today. My reasons, for anyone interested (and don't worry about reading if you aren't), are below. This is not a judgment or anything against anyone who feels differently. God speaks to all who will listen and it is not for me to say if another Christian has heard from Him to follow a different path. I have friends I dearly love who believe very differently from what I am about to right and who I know love Jesus. But, here is my path to this point—my path—this is about me, not a condemnation of anyone who feels differently if God has led them to that place . . .

The longer I've been a Christian the more I have been bothered by affiliating with any political party. God tells me my citizenship is in Heaven, and He is my King, and to He alone I have allegiance. But, I am also in this world and part of a country where I’ve served in protecting our right to vote, and the Republican party has, for the most part, seemed to best match my views as a values voter (placing abortion, Christian values, authority of God as the source of right and wrong, etc. over things like the economy or environment). Since I was a Republican since before I was a Christian, I never really thought to change. But, increasingly I have seen the Republican party either cater to Evangelicals, trying to win our votes (at least until the General Election); or evangelicals being the assumed and taken for granted right wing of the Republican party (because even at worst they knew we’d seem them as better than Democrats). It became more about party than Jesus.

But over the last 10-plus years I’ve come to realize that the Republican party no longer represents me (though they still do better than the Democrats, and I can still vote for them if led to in a General Election). For awhile I could say it was “politicians” who didn't represent me, but this most recent election, in which the people of the party are again (and again . . . how many Presidential nominees now?) nominating someone who is not a strong Christian, I have realized it is not just politicians, but the people of the Republican party themselves who as a majority no longer are in a place in which I agree. When I see candidates like Santorum, Huckabee, and other strong Constitutional, Christian, Conservatives losing to others—in the Republican’s own nomination, NOT a General Election—I have to realize the party no longer believes in what I do.

I, personally, believe a candidate’s faith is the most important element in voting for them. I believe it is impossible for a leader to effectively know—and to stand for without compromising—true right and wrong, or to understand things like foreign policy, etc., without a supreme revelation on, and giving primacy to, the authority of God, the inspiration of Scripture, and an understanding of Spiritual warfare and the working of the unseen in places like the Middle East, etc.

I, for one, can not come to support Donald Trump, who is the republican nominee as of today. I’ve written about this before, so I’ll only summarize it here, but as a Christian I can’t justify it. He is proud and God opposes the proud. I can not support a candidate whom God will oppose. That is very scary to me. Mr. Trump is a lover of money. He shows no repentance of his marital “flightyness.” I’ve not read his book, but I understand he boasts of his sexual exploits. Much of his huge revenues comes from gambling—and I’ve been to Atlantic City and Vegas and Reno and seen the brokenness and seediness that comes with that. There is so much more that causes me to ask how any Christian could support him (especially in the Primaries when we had other choices), but probably the one that looms over all is his unashamed financial support of a list of people (Democrats) he has given money to because it benefits him—people who have championed abortion, gay marriage, gun control, etc. To him the end justifies the means, and I can not see how that represents in any way, shape, or form a man who is after God’s heart. It is a yoking with darkness for personal gain, a "selling of one’s soul" if you will. To support that and call Himself a Christian is, to me, to clearly say he is the kind of Sunday Christian that thinks God is for spiritual things, but the rest is “real life.”

I don’t know what I’ll do in the General Election. I’ve heard all the throw away vote arguments, and how a vote for someone other than Trump is a vote for the Democrat, and I understand their reasoning. I also know I’ve lost the right to be a part of future Republican nomination processes. But I had to do what I felt is right. I will not be the assumed supporter of a Republican just because I am a fundamentalist (oh, what a nasty word today) Christian. Last year Franklin Graham did the same thing and it was a reopening for me of the question I’ve wrestled with now and then for over a decade. But, I thought, "Let’s just see what happens in this nomination period. We’ve got strong Christians running (not just those pandering to our vote). Let’s see what our party is made of . . ."

Well, I’ve seen. And I’m walking away. I’ll pray and ask God to guide me. I certainly WON’T vote for Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. But I don’t know what I’ll do otherwise. But I’d rather stand for God and trust Him with my worldly condition then give my support to a man who I believe stands against all that I do. A man that funded, albeit indirectly, the murder of babies and the eroding of Christian values because it furthered his business interests and who, to this day, calls that okay because “he’s a businessman.” Well, the love of money is the root of all evil, and he has said he loves money. I know many wealthy people who love God and aren’t corrupted by money, but he’s not one I can see able to handle the two. God says you can’t serve Him and mammon both.

I'll be praying. God will lead me. Right now I don't know what God will ask of me in the General Election, but I will certainly be asking Him. I am confused, to be honest. I don't want Hilary or Bernie, and I do guess Trump would be better than them if he actually sticks to his claims of beliefs on issues, but I have to ask God what He wants me to do in the ballot box. May He lead me. But, I do feel more free. If anything, the Republican party will know that they can't assume they've got my vote just because I am registered to them or because I'm a conservative Christian. It is time for some soul searching at every level.