Comments on: God Is Not on the Ballot https://livingchurch.org/covenant/god-is-not-on-the-ballot/ Thu, 12 Sep 2024 13:46:50 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 By: Mary Barrett https://livingchurch.org/covenant/god-is-not-on-the-ballot/#comment-15875 Thu, 12 Sep 2024 13:46:50 +0000 https://livingchurch.org/?p=81110#comment-15875 In reply to Dale Coleman, retired.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (sic) to do nothing”.

I will remember this on Election Day as I vote.

Thank you.

]]> By: Dale Coleman, retired https://livingchurch.org/covenant/god-is-not-on-the-ballot/#comment-15828 Wed, 11 Sep 2024 18:06:41 +0000 https://livingchurch.org/?p=81110#comment-15828 Who among the educated in our country believes God is on the ballot? My longtime friend and former Bishop, Dan Martins, begins with this as an axiom; as an answer to folks right or left who may be asking who is on God’s side? My own views are different from my friend’s. When our Lord stated: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”, did not mean Caesar’s political reach was equal to God’s. And Caesar put the Lord to death, i.e. became as God. Caesar’s proper place is to do justice, work for peace, take care of the vulnerable in our society; take a place working under God’s authority. This is spelled out in the various places in the New Testament, and then the various controversies causing devout Bishops, Priests, Laywomen and men, to oppose the frequent unjust, malicious, vicious rulers, and put their lives at stake. These are called “martyrs”. We celebrate their lives plenty of times through the Church year. I find the courage of St. Ambrose standing and speaking against Theodosius II, for the latter’s horrific killing a stadium full of people heroic. Or better, saintly. He shamed the Christian emperor to repent for this. Acts of evil ought to be noticed by Christians. Or consider the courage of Seminarian Jonathon Daniels, 26, laying down his life for 17-year-old Ruby Sales, shot dead by Tom Coleman in Hayneville, Alabama, while attempting to shield her in 1965. I do think it mattered to God for Christians how they voted either to support racist politicians or Abraham Lincoln, and same with those working their utmost to uphold Jim Crow, or those majorities of Senators and Congressmen voting in favor of the two great Civil Rights and Voting Rights bills in 1964 or 1965. (Both incidentally had higher percentages of Republicans voting in favor than Democrats.) I believe God was on the ballot. The amazingly faithful Dorothy Day was supported by a wide array of elected officials. She carried out the witness she knew following her crucified Lord. Evil is hard to wrap our minds around but when we see it, we must stand and decide, including by our citizenship responsibility to vote. And speak. At the risk of sounding naive, I am taken by Edmund Burke’s dictum, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (sic) to do nothing”.

]]> By: Russ Levensom https://livingchurch.org/covenant/god-is-not-on-the-ballot/#comment-15755 Tue, 10 Sep 2024 12:34:18 +0000 https://livingchurch.org/?p=81110#comment-15755 Great and insightful words—and perhaps something which needs to be printed in Worship Bulletins across the Church!

]]> By: George Roberts https://livingchurch.org/covenant/god-is-not-on-the-ballot/#comment-15448 Mon, 09 Sep 2024 11:45:10 +0000 https://livingchurch.org/?p=81110#comment-15448 I found this article incredibly helpful in this political and social landscape. Thank you for sharing

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