May a Christian vote for a Democrat? This is a question that has come to the forefront of our society. Before we answer that question, I do want to elaborate on the question being asked. I am not asking if a Christian can vote for a Democrat, the word can speaks to ability. Of course, every Christian who casts a vote is capable of filling in the dot next to a democrat’s name and submitting their ballot. The question is not about ability but if God, through His word, would allow a Christian to vote for a democrat. Because this article is exploring what a Christian is allowed to do, I will state that the premise (and only orthodox view) of the article is that the Bible is the ultimate authority for every Christian as it is the only inspired word of God. In this article we will be exploring the 2020 Democrat Party Platform and comparing it to the moral principles we find in God’s word.
The Purpose of Civil Government
The Bible is very clear about what the purpose of civil government is. God instituted civil government in Genesis 9:6 when He said, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.” Romans 13:1-5 gives more detail on the purpose of civil government.
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. (Romans 13:1-5 emphasis added)
From these passages we can see that God prescribes civil government to be God’s minister and they are to bear the sword righteously (as opposed to bearing the sword in vain). Between this and what was prescribed in Genesis 9:6 (capital punishment), we can sum up the responsibility of civil government as protecting the innocent and punishing the wicked. When a civil government either refuses to punish the wicked or protect the innocent they become an illegitimate authority and unfit to be recognized by God’s people as they have become rebellious to what God has prescribed. The same can be said if a government punishes the innocent or protects the wicked.
Let’s look at what the democrat platform has to say:
We must start by making COVID-19 testing widely available, convenient, and free to everyone. We must also expand funding so state and local public health departments can hire sufficient staff to conduct contact tracing for everyone who tests positive for the novel coronavirus. Only through widespread, regular testing and tracing can we hope to understand the scope of the pandemic and contain it. (emphasis added)
We will recruit at least 100,000 contact tracers with support from trusted local organizations in the communities most at risk to help state and local health departments use culturally competent approaches to identify people at risk of contracting or spreading the coronavirus.
The democrat platform clearly promotes the idea of contact tracing. Contact tracing ranges from keeping track of those who were exposed to COVID-19, to forced quarantines (including threats of removing people from their homes). This is a clear punishment of the innocent and a violation of privacy.
One (Economic contract) that affirms housing is a right and not a privilege, and which makes a commitment that no one will be homeless or go hungry in the richest country on earth.
Of course, no one wants to see people homeless, but it is not the civil government’s responsibility to ensure people have homes. There are very few ways to accomplish this in an economic contract. One is through inflation and the other is through wealth redistribution. Both of these are the government stealing from its citizenry. When a government steals from its citizenry it is undoubtedly a punishment on the innocent and often (not exclusively) the recipients of what was stolen is a reward for those who have acted wickedly.
We recognize that quality, affordable comprehensive health care; medically accurate, LGBTQ+ inclusive, age-appropriate sex education; and the full range of family planning services are all essential to ensuring that people can decide if, when, and how to start a family. (Emphasis added)
The civil government’s responsibility is not to educate children and that point is even more true concerning education on moral values. The government has not been tasked with educating the population on moral values or sex education, that responsibility falls to the family government.[i]
Life/Abortion
God is very clear on the issue of life as every member of mankind is made in the image of God[ii] and life and personhood is to be recognized in the womb. Psalm 139:13 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.”; Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” When we consider that the civil government’s responsibility is to protect the innocent, it is imperative that they stand up for the most innocent among us.
Let’s see what the democrat platform has to say on the issue:
Democrats are committed to protecting and advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice. We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion. We will repeal the Title X domestic gag rule and restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides vital preventive and reproductive health care for millions of people, especially low-income people, and people of color, and LGBTQ+ people, including in underserved areas. Democrats oppose and will fight to overturn federal and state laws that create barriers to reproductive health and rights. We will repeal the Hyde Amendment, and protect and codify the right to reproductive freedom. We condemn acts of violence, harassment, and intimidation of reproductive health providers, patients, and staff…Democrats oppose restrictions on medication abortion care that are inconsistent with the most recent medical and scientific evidence and that do not protect public health. (Emphasis added)
Democrats are committed to ending discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, language, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability status. We will appoint U.S. Supreme Court justices and federal judges who look like America, are committed to the rule of law, will uphold individual civil rights and civil liberties as essential components of a free and democratic society, and will respect and enforce foundational precedents, including Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade.
We oppose and will fight to overturn federal and state laws that create barriers to women’s reproductive health and rights, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment and protecting and codifying the right to reproductive freedom.
Democrats will always protect sexual and reproductive health and rights. We believe that comprehensive health services, including access to reproductive care and abortion services, are vital to the empowerment of women and girls. We will support the repeal of the global gag rule (also known as the Mexico City Policy) and measures like the Helms Amendment, which limit safe access to abortion. We will also restore and expand American contributions to the United Nations Population Fund to help guarantee access to health care for women and children around the world and eliminate child, early, and forced marriage. (Emphasis added)
Repeatedly in the platform there is an affirmation of a right to abortion, protection for abortion, and even promised funding for abortion. Simply put, the Democrats openly state their intention to continue the legalization of baby murder, expand the legalization of baby murder, and even fund baby murder. This of course violates the purpose of civil government to protect the innocent, but further, it violates the moral law of God.[iii]
It is also noteworthy that the democrats are not fighting for a mother’s personal liberty (as they often argue), they are fighting to expand and fund their wicked agenda worldwide. Their position is not on a faulty view of the rights recognized in our organic law, but it is an agenda to infect all of the nations in the world with their wickedness.
The Family and LGBTQ
God is clear that He created mankind with two distinct genders (male and female) and marriage is between one man and one woman.[iv] God is also clear all throughout Scripture that sex is to be exclusively in the bounds of legitimate marriage. The family is the building block for every society, and it is the backbone of every civilization. Without strong functioning families, a society will crumble, and the civil government is bound to overstep its bounds and become tyrannical in order to fill the void that the family has left behind.
Let’s see what the democrat platform has to say about the family and sexual ethic:
Democrats will protect and promote the equal rights of all our citizens—women, LGBTQ+ people, religious minorities, people with disabilities, Native Americans, and all who have been discriminated against in too many ways and for too many generations. (Emphasis added)
We condemn the Trump Administration’s discriminatory actions against the LGBTQ+ community, including the dangerous and unethical regulations allowing doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies to discriminate against patients based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Democrats will reverse this rulemaking and restore nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS in health insurance, including coverage of all medically necessary care for gender transition. We will also take action to guarantee that LGBTQ+ people and those living with HIV/AIDS have full access to needed health care and resources, including by requiring that federal health plans provide coverage for HIV/AIDS testing and treatment and HIV prevention medications like PrEP and PEP, gender confirmation surgery, and hormone therapy.
The position of the Democratic Party is not only toleration of sexual immorality, but a forced acceptance by making sure gender transition/confirmation surgeries and hormone therapy are mandated. Democrats would force Christian companies to affirm what God has called a sin under the banner of human rights.
We will work to ensure LGBTQ+ people are not discriminated against when seeking to adopt or foster children.
Here we see the attempt to destroy the biblical family by treating the homosexual cohabiters as equal. Two “dads” or two “moms” are not the same as a father and a mother. The democratic platform is not only against Christian sexual ethics, it is against God’s design of the family.
Democrats will advance the ability of all persons to live with dignity, security, and respect, regardless of who they are or who they love. We will restore the United States’ position of leadership on LGBTQ+ issues by passing the GLOBE Act and appointing senior leaders directly responsible for driving and coordinating LGBTQ+ issues at the State Department, USAID, and the National Security Council. We will ensure that our immigration policies account for the needs of LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers, and that we use the full slate of human rights promotion and accountability tools to defend the universal rights of LGBTQ+ people. We will amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ persons around the world and counter violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons wherever it appears.
Here we see that the democratic party isn’t just ok with toleration of homosexuality, but they are attempting to mainstream it around the globe. It is not just that they are for what the Bible calls as wrong, but they are clearly against what the Bible calls as right.
Private Property
Private property is often something we don’t associate with Christianity, but it is something we should. The Bible starts with the story of creation and soon moves into the relationship between mankind and God. In the account of Adam and Eve we see a prominent emphasis on private property as the standard that God set forth was that they could not eat from His tree. He also commanded them to have dominion over the earth. This emphasis continued throughout all of Scripture and is summed up in the Ten Commandments when God commands us not to steal or covet. Even in the New Testament epistles we see this emphasis in 2Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” Private property is a major teaching throughout Scripture and is obviously something that is at the forefront of political discussions. We have already touched some on this principle so we will only look at one quote from the democratic platform.
Democrats will fight to raise wages for working people and improve job quality and security, including by raising the federal minimum wage so it reaches $15 an hour by 2026…We will repeal so-called “right to work” laws that undermine worker power and lead to lower wages and less protection for workers across the economy, and ensure those who have been left without wage and hour protections for decades—including domestic workers and farmworkers—have the same rights as other workers.
This may seem like the democrats are simply “looking out for the little guy” but in reality, they are denying and undermining principles of private property. Calling for and mandating a minimum wage is forcefully taking money from a private entity and requiring it be given to an individual. Of course, all businesses should give just compensation to their employees, but a just compensation means that each employee should be paid 1) what their labor is worth and 2) what is outlined in their agreed upon contract. This incentivizes workers to be good workers and businesses to give good compensation to good workers. This principle is laid forth for us in the aforementioned verse, 2Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”
May a Christian vote for a democrat?
After examining the democratic platform, I believe it is clear a Christian is not allowed to vote for a democrat from Scripture. Proverbs 17:15 “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.” God has strong words for those who justify the wicked and those who condemn the just, He calls them an abomination. The democrat platform justifies wickedness (baby murder, homosexuality, theft, etc.) and often condemns the just by putting wickedness on the same level as righteousness. In the end God’s instruction on who is qualified for leadership, and our vote, is clear and simple: Exodus 18:21 “Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.” We are to vote for those who are able, fear God, truthful, and hate covetousness.
[i] See Deuteronomy 6
[ii] Genesis 1:27
[iii] Exodus 20:13
[iv] Genesis 1:27, 2:24
Author: Sam Jones
Pastor Sam completed an intense pastoral internship at Hagerman Baptist Church and served as a chaplain at Heritage Care Center in Iowa Falls, Iowa before accepting the call to pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Hudson, Iowa. He loves people and his goal is to make disciples of Christ by personally, prayerfully, and persistently investing the Word of God into others.
