Teenagers too young to vote were taking to Twitter and Facebook to express their political opinions and thoughts about the election. Many of the updates were explicit calls for Christians to vote a certain way and how one candidate over the other would be better for Christians.
What interested me was the fervor these teenagers had about defending the faith from a perceived governmental assault. What interested me most was knowing many of these same teenagers aren't regular (or even sporadic, in some cases) church attendees.
Politics, now that's important to Christianity. Being involved in the institution Christ founded with the express purpose of reaching the world for Him ... not so much.
If I were to hazard a guess on many of these passionate students, I would say they will lose much of their political enthusiasm sometime after high school graduation and, if statistics are any indication, many would completely shift their political allegiances.
Why is that?
The answer is why I do not tell my children how to vote.
I do not tell them one party is good and the other party is bad. I refuse to speak slanderously and maliciously of an elected official. I encourage them to treat them all with the respect they are owed, according to Scripture.
I took both of my sons with me to vote, as I have done for several years now. They saw the whole process and asked some questions, including why I was voting for certain candidates. I told them I voted for them because I believe they best lined up with my values. I never told them, you should vote for this party.
I refuse to tell them how they should vote for two reasons: pragmatism and ideology, the latter beign much more important than the former.
The demographic information does not lie. While those ages 45-64 voted for Mitt Romney 51-47%, their children (ages 18-29) voted heavily in favor of Barack Obama (60-37%). The younger group provided the largest gap between the two candidates.
Teenagers directly under the care of their parents may tend to agree with their political perspectives. Those who are "out on their own" (in some sense), do not feel the same compulsion to fall in line.
They are much more likely to be influenced by their friends (who are predominately liberal), their college professors (the same), and influential entertainers (obviously left-leaning). Those to whom younger voters look for guidance as they seek to become "independent" tilt heavily leftward.
We can all tell our children to vote for a certain party, but that seems to have no bearing on how they actually vote when they become adults. More importantly than pragmatic concerns, however, are the real ideological issues involved.
Instead of telling your child how to vote, why not teach them how to think?
Let me illustrate using the political issue about which I am most passionate – abortion. I can teach my children that the right thing to do is vote for candidates who affirm pro-life positions, but the question becomes, why?
When we isolate the political questions from the actual issues we are treating symptoms, but ignoring the cause. If all my children know is "Pro-life good. Abortion bad." they will have no foundation on which to respond to the rebuttals that are sure to come their way later in life.
If instead, however, I continually speak of life in the womb as precious, valuable, unique and worthy of protection and love, I am giving them the justification for pro-life voting as they grow older.
It seems to me that teaching them to recognize their sister as just as much a part of the family before she is born as after is a much more poignant and persuasive argument against abortion than making a political appeal based on parental authority.
As an aside, this is much the way conservatives have lost much ground in the culture – by essentially responding to every question with a "because I told you so" rejoinder. There is a lack of explanations, but a heavy dose of expectations.
Christians are not to simply behave counter-culturally. We have to think counter-culturally. This does not come naturally and takes individual and community effort. Just as our behavior does automatically reflect Christ overnight, but through the refining work of God, His word and His people, the same is true, perhaps even more so, for mental growth, adapting our worldview to that of the Bible.
Simply telling my children how to vote does not help them understand the political issues, it merely makes politics another area of my instruction where they may choose to agree with me or reject my reasoning.
If I tell my child to vote, they may or may not agree with my admittedly fallible view when they come of age. If I teach my child to think along the lines of Scripture, they should agree with God's inherently infallible view when they enter the voting booth.
That changes things. That changes them.
Why don't I tell my children how to vote? I want their vote to be a reflection of God's working in their life, not a reflection of or a rebellion against my teaching.
What interested me was the fervor these teenagers had about defending the faith from a perceived governmental assault. What interested me most was knowing many of these same teenagers aren't regular (or even sporadic, in some cases) church attendees.
Politics, now that's important to Christianity. Being involved in the institution Christ founded with the express purpose of reaching the world for Him ... not so much.
If I were to hazard a guess on many of these passionate students, I would say they will lose much of their political enthusiasm sometime after high school graduation and, if statistics are any indication, many would completely shift their political allegiances.
Why is that?
The answer is why I do not tell my children how to vote.
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| Photo from morgueFile.com by kakisky |
I took both of my sons with me to vote, as I have done for several years now. They saw the whole process and asked some questions, including why I was voting for certain candidates. I told them I voted for them because I believe they best lined up with my values. I never told them, you should vote for this party.
I refuse to tell them how they should vote for two reasons: pragmatism and ideology, the latter beign much more important than the former.
Pragmatically, it doesn't work.
The demographic information does not lie. While those ages 45-64 voted for Mitt Romney 51-47%, their children (ages 18-29) voted heavily in favor of Barack Obama (60-37%). The younger group provided the largest gap between the two candidates.
Teenagers directly under the care of their parents may tend to agree with their political perspectives. Those who are "out on their own" (in some sense), do not feel the same compulsion to fall in line.
They are much more likely to be influenced by their friends (who are predominately liberal), their college professors (the same), and influential entertainers (obviously left-leaning). Those to whom younger voters look for guidance as they seek to become "independent" tilt heavily leftward.
We can all tell our children to vote for a certain party, but that seems to have no bearing on how they actually vote when they become adults. More importantly than pragmatic concerns, however, are the real ideological issues involved.
Ideologically, it is the wrong approach.
Instead of telling your child how to vote, why not teach them how to think?
Let me illustrate using the political issue about which I am most passionate – abortion. I can teach my children that the right thing to do is vote for candidates who affirm pro-life positions, but the question becomes, why?
When we isolate the political questions from the actual issues we are treating symptoms, but ignoring the cause. If all my children know is "Pro-life good. Abortion bad." they will have no foundation on which to respond to the rebuttals that are sure to come their way later in life.
If instead, however, I continually speak of life in the womb as precious, valuable, unique and worthy of protection and love, I am giving them the justification for pro-life voting as they grow older.
It seems to me that teaching them to recognize their sister as just as much a part of the family before she is born as after is a much more poignant and persuasive argument against abortion than making a political appeal based on parental authority.
As an aside, this is much the way conservatives have lost much ground in the culture – by essentially responding to every question with a "because I told you so" rejoinder. There is a lack of explanations, but a heavy dose of expectations.
Christians are not to simply behave counter-culturally. We have to think counter-culturally. This does not come naturally and takes individual and community effort. Just as our behavior does automatically reflect Christ overnight, but through the refining work of God, His word and His people, the same is true, perhaps even more so, for mental growth, adapting our worldview to that of the Bible.
Simply telling my children how to vote does not help them understand the political issues, it merely makes politics another area of my instruction where they may choose to agree with me or reject my reasoning.
If I tell my child to vote, they may or may not agree with my admittedly fallible view when they come of age. If I teach my child to think along the lines of Scripture, they should agree with God's inherently infallible view when they enter the voting booth.
That changes things. That changes them.
Why don't I tell my children how to vote? I want their vote to be a reflection of God's working in their life, not a reflection of or a rebellion against my teaching.
