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Hello, welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist. This is a daily conversation about scripture, culture, and media from a Reformed perspective. Get your Bible and coffee ready and prepare to engage today's topic.
Here's your host, Pastor Keith Foskey.
Welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist. My name is Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist. As all of you know, there's a very important election coming up. And today I want to talk about reasons why I will not be voting third party in this upcoming election.
Often I hear people lament our two-party system. And I agree, it is unfortunate, especially when neither side offers an attractive option. Spurgeon was once quoted as saying, when given a choice between the lesser of two evils, choose neither.
I know many Christians choose not to vote and they did so in the last election because they didn't feel like they could support either candidate. But some advocate voting for a third party candidate. And a popular third party candidate is the Libertarian Party.
Libertarians have been described as conservative on economic issues and more liberal on social issues. Typically they're known for wanting less government involved in the lives of the American people.
An example of a caricature of this position might be from the popular television show Parks and Recreation, where the character Ron Swanson was known for being a libertarian. And he often boasted about his rights as a free American.
The reduction in government interference is very appealing to many conservatives. We have all seen the government overreach and things that it can do, especially in the wake of the COVID -19 lockdowns, which amazingly are still going on around our nation.
So the idea of having less government overreach is a tempting notion. So in that sense, I understand why someone would be drawn to the ideals of libertarianism. But I am personally not a libertarian and I will not be voting for the Libertarian Party in this upcoming election, and I want to share why.
But before I do so, I want to add a disclaimer. I'm not telling anyone how you should vote. This show, rather, is an expression of my personal opinions, and while I do promote our church on this program, it is my personal podcast, and therefore this is not an official endorsement of any candidate on behalf of our church.
This is one Calvinist's opinion. This is a daily conversation about scripture, culture, and media, and so today we're talking about the culture, we're talking about voting, we're talking about my opinion on this subject, and nothing more.
Also before I go on, I want to make it clear that I'm not saying that voting third party is a wasted vote. I know that some would argue that because the numbers are just not there for a third party candidate to win, then you should not vote third party.
But understand, that is not my argument. I actually do lament that we are not given more and better options than the two seemingly inevitable ones of the Republican or the Democrat. Perhaps over time we will be able to overcome this inevitable dilemma, and maybe at one point somewhere in the future it won't just be an either or.
But as it stands right now, that is not the case. There is almost no viable way that the winner of this election will not be either the Republican or the Democrat. That being said, if you want to be on the side of those fighting for a third option, I understand your desire, and I don't believe your vote is wasted.
So understand, that's not my argument today. I'm not saying that voting third party is a wasted vote. What I am saying is that I simply won't be voting alongside you. Not just because of the inevitability of our current two party system, but because I personally do not believe in supporting particularly the Libertarian party.
I realize there are other options, but for the sake of brevity I will focus most of my attention on the Libertarians because I see that is where a lot of my conservative peers are going, and they are drawn to it, and I understand the temptation.
But as much as I think they have much right about the decrease of government control, I am personally not a Libertarian. I think there are several issues with the philosophy which I cannot support, and therefore I will not cast my vote in that direction.
In May 2016, the Libertarian party put out its official party platform. Now there may be a more recent one, but this was the most recent that I could find where there was an actual platform where there were lines that could be read and cited, and that's what I'm going to be citing today when I discuss the Libertarian party.
The first one I want to look at is section 1 .5 on the subject of abortion. It says, quote, Recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good faith views on all sides, we believe that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration.
And that is the end of the quote. Now I say, if you say that, that this question is to be left to each person for their conscientious consideration, that can only be said by a person or a group which has come to the conclusion that abortion is not murder.
If the government exists for any purpose at all, it must exist to protect the most vulnerable. Quote, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration, end quote, would not work in the case of murder.
It would not work in the case of theft, and it should not be an excuse for abortion. I believe abortion is murder. I believe babies are being murdered, and someone's conscientious consideration should not be the arbiter of whether a baby gets to live or die.
Now the current frontrunner in the Libertarian, I believe she is the Libertarian candidate, is Jo Jorgensen. And her campaign's website says of abortion that her position is to keep the government out of it, no subsidies, no regulations.
Again, her quote, directly from her, keep the government out of it, no subsidies, no regulations. Hear that again, no regulations on abortion. That means unfettered access. I can only assume this means allowance for abortions up to the moment of birth, and that is actually a quite radical position.
Now, I know some of you may be screaming because you're hearing me say this, and you'd say, well, Republicans are not doing anything to end abortion either. And so this really isn't a position that you can take against the Libertarians.
And I agree that not enough is being done. But my point is that I think this is a place where the liberty in Libertarian opens the door for a wrong understanding on the rights of the people and the responsibilities of the government.
Others may take issue with me because you say I am a one issue voter. You've heard me say before that the issue I focus on the most when it comes to voting is the issue of abortion. But as I've said previously, if the murder of 60 million babies in what constitutes a modern Holocaust is not worth moving the needle of my voice and moving the participation of my vote, then nothing is.
Also, it's not just one issue. The position on abortion is indicative of a larger problem. The idea that there must be no restraint on sinful behavior. According to Scripture, the very purpose of government is to reward the good and to punish the bad.
Abortion is a bad behavior that the government should punish. It should stop. As much as it opposes murder outside the womb, it should stop murder inside the womb. And this brings me to the next concern I have about the Libertarian platform.
In this same state document that I'm citing in section 1 .8 under the death penalty, it says, we oppose the administration of the death penalty by the state. Well, this makes sense because they oppose the power of the state.
They would consider the death penalty to be the severest overreach of government authority. But my question is, what does the Bible say? The Bible says that the death penalty is instituted by God. It was instituted in Genesis chapter 9.
It is affirmed and implemented throughout the Old Testament Scripture, and it is reaffirmed by the Apostle Paul when he says that the government does not bear the sword in vain. I am personally for the death penalty.
I believe too many people who have been convicted of heinous crimes are allowed to live long lives after their crimes when their lives should be forfeit. Just a few months ago, a five-year-old boy was executed in front of his home, right next to his sister, by an angry neighbor.
That man will probably not receive the death penalty, though I believe he should. This happened again just a few weeks ago. That was several months ago. This happened just a few weeks ago with a boy's mother looking on.
A man shot the boy twice in the head as the mother cried out for the boy's being not killed. She's crying out for his life, and his life was snuffed out right in front of her eyes. And if these crimes do not cry out for capital punishment, then we truly have no understanding of retributive justice.
Some would say my pro-life position and my pro-death penalty position are at odds with one another, but I can assure you they are not. I believe in the right to life for the unborn, but I do believe a person can forfeit the right to life when they viciously attack a fellow image-bearer of God.
And I base this on Genesis 9, verse 6. Now, I want to be clear. If you disagree with me on my points about the Libertarian Party, that is your right, and I respect your rights. As I said, these are my personal thoughts.
I'm explaining why I'm not voting third party, specifically Libertarian. I just do not see being, quote, liberal on social issues, quote, as my position. I am a committed conservative, both fiscally and socially.
So now I want to change gears for a moment, and I want to say why I am voting the way that I am voting. My plan, as it is so far, is to vote for the incumbent Republican president in the upcoming election.
So yes, that would mean I plan to vote for Donald Trump. Many would say I'm hypocritical, because he's certainly not a conservative. But I want it to be clear, whatever issues I have with the president personally and ethically, and there are many, it is in his positions and his actions over the past four years that he has won my vote.
Recently Doug Wilson wrote a great article at his blog, Blog and Mayblog, and the title of it is, Seven Reasons Why It Is Possible for Christians to Vote for Trump in 2020 Without Getting a Defiled Conscience and or Losing Their Soul, end quote.
Long title, and I would recommend you going and reading it. I'm going to include a link in the description below. He gives seven reasons why it is possible for Christians to vote for Trump, essentially with a clear conscience.
But here's one of the thoughts from the article, and this will maybe get you thinking, and I want to quote it directly from his article. Quote, Donald Trump has appointed about 300 conservative federal judges.
One of his campaign promises in 2016, one specifically made to evangelicals, was that he would do precisely this. That promise has been kept. Moreover, if he is re-elected, and if Republicans hold the Senate, which seems likely, by the time his second term is over, the federal judiciary will have been transformed and all to the good, end quote.
That was Doug Wilson at his blog. Now again, I really encourage you to go read that, because you can see what the arguments are that Doug makes. You can actually listen to his podcast. He reads his articles into a podcast, and you can listen to it, and I would say it is worth your time.
As for me, I look at several things regarding Trump that make me willing to vote for him. It's not his charisma or his behavior, both of which I find frustrating, and it's not his personal ethos or his spirituality, which I find sometimes nauseating.
But what I do know is this, prior to COVID -19, we were in a time of unprecedented economic progress with record low unemployment rates. I do not believe this was Trump riding the coattails of Obama's economy.
I think that's a lie. In fact, this was done in spite of three years of an embattled presidency, with constant accusations, investigations, opposition, and contention from those who didn't just oppose President Trump, but hated him outright to his face.
Likewise, Trump has gone on record as supporting the pro-life movement. Not as much as I would like, and he doesn't do all that I would like, but his actions in the pro-life movement have drawn absolute hatred from Planned Parenthood, the nation's number one abortion provider.
They actually quote Donald Trump on their website. They quote him as a negative when he says this, quote, For the first time since Roe vs. Wade, America has a pro-life president, a pro-life vice president, a pro-life House of Representatives, and 25 pro-life Republican state capitals, end quote.
That's Donald Trump. They quote it on their website, and they basically say we need to defeat this man because he is pro-life. This is Planned Parenthood's argument. In my opinion, this matters a lot.
When we're looking at Planned Parenthood and we're looking at what they're saying, they're saying Trump is against us. And this is one of those times where the enemy of my enemy may just be my friend.
Trump is seemingly opposed to Planned Parenthood, and I can at least endorse him in that regard. Now, I want to also mention something else about Donald Trump. Let us not forget who his running mate is.
Mike Pence is, from all outward accounts, not only a noble statesman, but a brother in Christ. Knowing that he is but a heartbeat away from the Oval Office is also very motivating for me. Lastly, the realistic alternative to Donald Trump is not Joe Jorgensen.
The realistic alternative to Donald Trump is not so many of the other third-party candidates. The realistic alternative to Donald Trump is Joe Biden, and we have seen the totalitarian overreaches of power which have happened in democratically controlled states since COVID -19 began, and this is what Biden promises us more of.
His running mate has said, California is a model for the rest of us. What a nightmare if that is the case. So now as I close, I want to remind you, I've not told you who to vote for. I've simply shared why I am choosing to vote the way I am.
You may agree with me, or you may not. You may find my arguments compelling, or you may not. But I would encourage you, if you are a believer, to seek God in prayer and search the scriptures for your answers.
Maybe you will choose not to vote. Maybe you will choose to vote a third party. But whatever you do, I pray that you would seek to honor God. As the scripture says, whatever we do, whether we eat or drink, let us do all to the glory of God.
And let me add to that, whatever we do, whether we eat or drink or cast our ballot, let us do it all to the glory of God. Thank you for listening today to Coffee with a Calvinist. I'm Keith Foskey, and I have been your Calvinist.
May God bless you.
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As you go about your day, remember this, Jesus Christ came to save sinners. All who come to Him in repentance and faith will find Him to be a perfect Savior. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
May God be with you.