After the Vote

I am sure that we have all heard it said many times that religion and politics don’t mix. In fact we heard the comment made not so very long ago about the sermon at the royal wedding. And indeed what we hear on a Sunday morning tends to uphold that idea.

Here in Ontario, we have just had a provincial election. As I watched the results come in, I couldn’t help wondering if those people voting had given any thought as to what the platform was for each party. And if they had done so, did their vote reflect either their own values or the values of their religion? Would they vote to ensure that their neighbour was treated as they themselves wished to be? Would they think of the underprivileged, of those in need, when they cast heir ballot? Would they be willing to do with less themselves in order that our society might be stronger? I hope so….. because if they did then their religion has influenced their politics.

Too often, as we mark our ballot, if we vote at all, we think only of what the candidates have promised to do for US - never mind the other guy! And I find that is mainly the fault of the churches for not teaching that Jesus NEVER said to do to others what you would have them do to you - but only when it doesn’t cost you anything!

In the verse from Mark 12:17 [similar verses also being found in the other two synoptic gospels], the writer of that gospel says, “Jesus said to them, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” These verses have been taken to mean that the two worlds, the spiritual and the everyday are completely separate, thereby creating a division between church and state and over-riding any ideals of love and justice. I say ideals, because that is what they are treated like when this happens, something that would be nice to have but isn’t really necessary or practical.

Yet Jesus was tried by the civil authorities. He was found guilty and executed by those same civil authorities not because he advocated a separation between one’s religious beliefs and one’s duty to the state, but because he didn’t. 2000 years later the churches for the most part seem to have completely forgotten this inconvenience fact.

However we voted past elections, and however we might vote in those to come, I do believe that how we vote is one of the truest indicators of just what we hold to be most important in life. We may owe our vote to the 'emperor', but we owe how we vote to our God.

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