The 2024 Election: What Is At Stake – And Why Christians Should Care

Fortunately, America’s founding fathers understood that politics is a necessary component of life, and that laws and public policies are either based on the universal moral and ethical principles of justice derived from natural law or else they are the arbitrary and tyrannical exercises of coercion by the power elite over everyone else. They realized that laws and public policies can either enhance or detract from the quality of one’s life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Furthermore, they were mindful that political ignorance, apathy and noninvolvement only empower the most ambitious and corrupt elements in society. In other words, they understood that politics matters.

When asked, “Rabbi, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind.’ This is the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” – i.e., “Treat others in the same way that you would want them to treat you” (Matt. 22:36-39; 7:12).

Now my question is this: How can we possibly love others if we are unconcerned about the kind of laws and public policies and programs that regulate (and often control) their lives? How can we possibly love others unless we are sensitive to – and attentive to – not only their religious and spiritual lives, but their physical, material, emotional, social, intellectual and creative needs as well? In other words, how can we truly love others if we care little about the quality of their lives in any wholistic sense?

The Christian faith is more than merely one’s own “personal relationship” with Christ outside the larger context of Christian discipleship. Nor can it be reduced to personal pietism. In its fullest dimension, Christianity is a comprehensive world-view and philosophy of life that influences, conditions and regulates how we think and respond to the full range of issues that affect humanity – or what Francis Schaeffer called “the lordship of Jesus Christ over the whole of life.”

Realistically, politics is mostly about damage-control, and at least in that regard it can certainly be contentious, divisive and unsatisfying. As such, it often comes down to doing everything possible to keep the very worst people out of positions of power and influence. And of course, no manmade political party or ideology has a monopoly on truth, reason and wisdom. But it issimplistic, foolish and dangerous to assume that because all parties and ideologies are imperfect they therefore must all be morally equivalent. Thisis, as logicians remind us, a reductio ad absurdum.

Here is the stark reality: In our current political climate, the Democrat and Republican parties constitute two contrasting visions for America. In that regard, the Democrat Party promotes a radical authoritarian agenda that is corrupting most everything that is good, decent and just in our nation. It is, in effect, the initiator and propagator of most laws, policies and programs that are immoral, irrational and counter-productive.

The modern Democrat Party not only shows little regard for the rule of law as established in the U.S. Constitution, but it also functions as the foremost proponent of abortion-on-demand, election fraud, open borders, racial divisions, public indecency, incivility, sexual chaos, civil disorder, liberalized drug and pornography laws, and increased restrictions on religious liberty. Not incidentally, it has also become a radical socialist party. If anyone dismisses this as political hyperbole, simply challenge them to compare the recent 2024 Democratic Platform with Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, Herbert Marcuse’s Eros and Civilization, and Saul Alinsky’s Rulesfor Radicals.

So while the Republican Party has often been a source of great disappointment (and even embarrassment) and has the well-earned reputation as the party of mediocrity, the Democrat Party proudly functions as the party of venality. And therein lies the difference. One is a concession to human weakness while the other is a testament to human depravity. One is at least theoretically redeemable while the other is a lost cause. To ignore the differences and pretend otherwise is tantamount to willful ignorance.

Politics is not ultimately what matters most in this life, nor is it the answer to mankind’s deepest needs. The Gospel is. But as Jesus clearly taught, the Main Thing is not the Only Thing, and to truly love others as we love ourselves, there is a political component that cannot be denied. We must care deeply about the kind of society and culture in which we and others live. Therefore, to ignore the political implications of wholistic Christian discipleship is both irresponsible and indefensible.

Conversely, such values and principles are rare in the Democratic Party, which is overwhelmingly and proudly secular and liberal – if not far-left socialist. Many openly disavow the reality of objective and absolute morality in deference to a “progressive” view of social and moral values.

This sharp contrast between most Republicans and Democrats is obvious when considering the most important issues of our day – including the following ten:

1. The sanctity of human life. America’s Declaration of Independence acknowledges and upholds fundamental “unalienable rights” endowed to us by our Creator, including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” In lieu of the right to life, literally nothing else matters.

While the majority of Republicans support pro-life legislation, the Democratic Party, under the guise of “reproductive freedom” and female “bodily autonomy,” has moved over the past thirty years from a position advocating abortion as a “safe, legal and rare” necessity in some cases to promoting abortion-on-demand even up to the time of birth. Some even tacitly support the “right” of infanticide (killing postnatal babies) in certain situations, and most support legislation calling for taxpayer funding of abortions.

2. Religious liberty. Republicans regard freedom of religion as a sacred right, including the freedom to propagate religious beliefs in the public square. Democrats are generally more secularistic in their views. Under the guise of “separation of church and state,” they support “freedom of worship” but believe public expressions of religious faith can be controversial and inappropriate, and should therefore be limited to private worship in one’s own preferred church, synagogue, mosque or temple.

3. Freedom of public expression and the right of peaceful assembly. Republicans generally oppose limitations on free speech or any attempts to prohibit peaceful assemblies in public places – including school campuses – provided there are no attempts to generate hostile or illegal activities that endanger public safety.

Many Democrats promote “cancel culture” efforts to suppress free public expression and peaceful assembly that they deem to violate their interpretation of “hate speech.” Similarly, Democrats regularly oppose religious exemptions for schools, businesses, medical providers, social service agencies, and other public institutions and organizations that promote conservative social, moral and religious values.

4. The Constitutional rule of law. Most Republicans support the traditional interpretation of Constitutional law based on the principle of “strict constructionism” (i.e., “original meaning”), while Democrats call for more “elastic” or “expansive” interpretations of Constitutional law based on current secular/liberal theories and social/cultural trends.

Republicans believe the fundamental purpose of government is to enact and enforce just laws for the benefit of all citizens, and to defend the life, liberty and property of citizens from all threats both foreign and domestic. Correspondingly, the Constitutional rule of law necessitates the strict enforcement of the principle of equal justice and equal protection legislation regardless of race, sex, religion, etc. Therefore, Republicans advocate the nomination and confirmation of federal court judges who uphold these traditional American judicial principles.

Republicans are consistent in their support of law enforcement, including the rule of law as it relates to immigration and border enforcement so as to protect America’s territorial sovereignty. In recent years prominent Democrats have called for defunding law enforcement and/or replacing law enforcement personnel with social workers.

5. Family autonomy.Republicans generally hold that parents have the right to direct and supervise their children’s growth and behavior according to the parents’ belief system and in any manner that is safe and legal. Parents – not schools or government bureaucrats – have an inherent right and responsibility to guide their children’s thinking in terms of their social, moral and religious beliefs, including in the vital area of sexual morality.

Democrats typically advocate more government oversight in such areas, including even usurping the role of parents in terms of controlling (either directly and explicitly, or indirectly and inferentially) the social, moral and sexual values of children. Democrats are almost exclusively the propagators of the radical and immoral LGBTQ+ agenda.

6. Educational freedom. Republicans believe school choice to be a basic Constitutional right regardless of whether parents opt for public or private education, charter schools, or the home school option. Therefore, many support a voucher system that allows moderate- and lower-income families more flexibility in terms of choosing the best educational option for their children.

Democrats are staunch supporters of liberal/ leftwing teachers’ unions such as the NEA (National Education Association) and the AFT (American Federation of Teachers), and seek to empower them, in conjunction with the federal Department of Education, to strictly control the curricula, standards and policies in both public and private education.

7. Election integrity. Republicans support updated voting rolls, voter photo identification, verified paper ballots, strict legal sanctions on ballot harvesting, and excluding non-citizens from voting in federal, state and local elections. Democrats generally oppose most or all of these measures.

8. National sovereignty. Republicans regard the U. S. Constitution as the supreme law of the nation and acknowledge the legitimacy of international organizations and agencies only to the extent that these entities have been granted limited influence under American law and do not attempt to supercede American legal codes and values.

Democrats are considerably more prone to cede legal jurisdiction and authority to international organizations and agencies such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

9. Economic freedom and self-sufficiency. While government has a valid role in terms of protecting the public interest by guaranteeing the safety and legitimacy of products sold on the open market, over-regulation and excessive taxation can seriously impede productivity, increase the costs of manufactured goods and services, reduce healthy competition, and increase American dependence on foreign goods and services.

Therefore, as with other issues mentioned previously, Republicans are considerably more attuned to the principles and advantages of open markets and free enterprise capitalism, whereas for more than ninety years the Democratic Party has increasingly called for more government regulation and control of the economy in keeping with a more socialistic orientation.

10. The bureaucratization of government. In recent decades an alarming amount of power and oversight in most every area of life has been ceded to unelected and generally unaccountable bureaucrats at the federal, state and local levels of government. Republicans generally oppose these trends while Democrats typically support such expansions of governmental control over the lives of citizens.

These ten issues highlight some of the vast differences between the political ideologies, policies and priorities that characterize the Democratic and Republican parties. There are, of course, many other significant issues ranging from fiscal and monetary policies and domestic energy production to government welfare/entitlement programs, illegal immigration, crime, drugs, foreign policies, etc. The bottom-line, however, is obvious: these two parties represent two fundamentally different value systems and visions for America. The individual candidates aside (see Part 3), every Christian must seriously consider: which party is more

By all objective standards, Joe Biden is the most incompetent and corrupt president in U. S. history. Throughout his political career he has been, to borrow a term attributed to Vladimir Lenin, the prototypical “useful idiot” for cultural Marxists who are hell-bent on “fundamentally transforming America.” Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense under President Barack Obama, famously wrote in his memoir, “I think [Joe Biden] has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” Even Obama himself was quoted as saying, “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f… things up.”

Joe Biden, of course, is no longer the Democratic Party’s nominee, but Vice-President Kamala Harris is even worse. Not merely a pathetic pawn of the Left, she actually is a cultural Marxist. Prior to being chosen as Biden’s vice-presidential running mate in 2020, Harris was one of the most radical Democrats in the U. S. Senate. Throughout her career in politics, both in California and in Washington, D. C., she had absolutely no positive or commendable accomplishments. Chosen purely on the basis of her sex and race, she was the ultimate DEI hire. She is also, according to many who have known and worked under her in the past (including 92% of her staff who resigned during her vice-presidential term), a thoroughly repulsive individual – but that takes us back once again to the character and personality issue. Suffice it to say that she and her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, constitute the most radical left-wing ticket in American history.

Many Christians are only reluctant supporters of Donald Trump. Many thoughtful conservative Christians much preferred Gov. Ron DeSantis or another Republican candidate. But we must realize that the future of America hangs in the balance. We are one election away from fulfilling Barack Obama’s vision of “fundamentally (and probably irreversibly) transforming America” – but certainly not for the better. The Democratic Party’s goal is to turn this nation into a secular socialist state that violates virtually every social, political and moral principle upon which America was founded. And no mistake about it: the Democratic agenda is not only radically neo-Marxist (just read their platform) but fundamentally anti-Christian.

Personalities aside – and whether or not we prefer to acknowledge it – this election offers a stark binary choice between two contrasting and irreconcilable political, social and moral agendas. Jesus is not on the ballot(!), and there is no ideal candidate or political party. However, Christians need to understand the gravity of what exactly is at stake. As I wrote in my book, American Crisis:

For much of my early adult life I sought to be as nonpartisan as possible, realizing that neither party is ideal. But the Democratic Party of the past fifty years – since its lurch leftward in 1972 with the nomination of George McGovern – is not the party of FDR or even JFK. The modern Democratic Party is simply the partisan political expression of a secular socialist ideology and the driving force behind virtually all the irrational, immoral, impractical, irresponsible and counterproductive policies and programs that are bankrupting America economically, socially, morally and spiritually. Christians who still identify with the Democratic Party are living in the distant past, totally out of touch with current realities.

Although the Republican Party has often functioned as the party of mediocrity, the Democratic Party is indisputably the party of venality. Mediocrity is a concession to human limitations and fallibility. Venality is a purposeful surrender to the most base and evil impulses in human nature….

Politics is mostly about damage-control – i.e., electing people to public office who will do the least harm, and then holding them accountable…

When a society loses its spiritual and moral bearings, everything becomes dysfunctional. Unlike most contemporary politicians, America’s Founding Fathers understood that liberty without virtue will inevitably degenerate into chaos, which sets the stage for political tyranny. And while we haven’t yet arrived at “1984”, those who are determined to “fundamentally transform America” understand that the secular socialist vision of a globalistic “New World Order” is the surest path to “1984”. And it is the Democratic Party that is driving the agenda….

Over the past fifty years all the social and moral confusion and corruption in America has wreaked havoc in every area of life, including our political culture. The secular Left has been resolutely committed and determined to exploit all this spiritual and moral decay so as to advance their agenda, while many Christians and church leaders avoid this conflict or even deny its existence.

In recent decades our two political parties have come to represent not only two opposing political ideologies but, in many ways, two contrasting worldviews. Ever since the late 1960s the Democratic Party has been pulled farther and farther toward to the Left to the point that it advocates a massive cradle-to-grave socialistic welfare state; the erosion of the Constitutional rule-of-law; open borders and “sanctuary cities;” liberalized drug laws; the radical LGBTQ agenda; abortion-on-demand; increased government control over the economy, education and healthcare; and a naive globalistic foreign policy that often reflects the values and interests of the United Nations more than that of the American people….

In actuality, the main difference in the political parties is that the Republican Party still has a base of social conservatives who care about traditional moral values while the Democratic Party functions as the political arm of a radical secular cultural agenda that is absolutely devastating the moral and civic climate in America. Furthermore, the Republican base includes millions of Christians who care passionately about religious liberty. Within the Democratic Party, virtually the only time religious liberty is a priority is when Muslim rights are an issue…. [Jefrey D. Breshears, American Crisis: Cultural Marxism and the Culture War (Centre•Pointe Publishing, 2020), pp. 281-82, 331ff.]

This election – including the crucial issue of election integrity – should be a priority for everyone who cares about the kind of society and culture in which we and our children and grandchildren will live. As I noted in Part 1 of this three-part series, we must emphasize to all of our family, friends and acquaintances – and especially to Christian leaders – what is at stake in the upcoming election. The failure to do so is the very antithesis of “loving others.”

Undoubtedly, many conservatives – including many Christians in particular – are very conflicted regarding voting for Donald Trump. This is certainly understandable given the reality that he has contributed perhaps more than any other politician in American history to publicly and brazenly debasing the dignity of the office of the presidency through his often-reckless rhetoric and some of his actions. However, for those who truly grasp what is at stake in the upcoming election and the perils that our nation faces, Trump’s rude and crude mannerisms and his annoying narcissism must be of secondary consideration to the generally positive policies and agenda of his administration if reelected. We are not electing a national pastor or even necessarily a role model. But based on his first term in office, there is little doubt that he and the Republican congressional coalition will serve the interests of the American people far more conscientiously and effectively than that of any Democratic administration.

We live in an increasingly decadent, degenerate and dysfunctional society and culture, and realistically, the number one priority of politics is this: Politics is mostly about damage-control. In other words, politics is mostly about keeping the very worst people out of power who initiate and implement the most destructive policies and programs. That being the case, the Democratic Party must be defeated by any legal and ethical means possible.

In summation, a close lifelong friend, Larry Keener, summed up our current situation this way:

One of my daughters asked me how I could support Donald Trump when he demonstrates very few of the values in his personal life that I had taught my children and that I always sought to exemplify in my own life. My response was simply this: “Donald Trump is certainly reprehensible in many ways, but although he may not live my values in his personal life, he does defend my values in terms of most of his policies – and that is why I support him. Over the years I have voted for many good men with values like mine only to be disappointed when they lacked the courage to stand up and defend those values while in office.”

Amen!

As Christians we must stand boldly for what is True, Good, and Beautiful – regardless of the cost. The failure to do so is not only irresponsible and indefensible, but outright cowardly.