Edited by T.C. Lo
With the “Every Four-Year” election right around the corner, how do we make difficult choices when living in a country with a Two-Party System?
As a starting point, I wish to draw out some principles through Christian politicians. I turned to ChatGPT for help. Although it provides me many names informationally, it cannot give me satisfactory spiritual guidance in terms of making sound judgments.
So, I had no choice but to go back to my private library of more than 200 books to explore the answer. Fortunately, I found an article written by Chuck Colson which I deem very biblical. Colson was a politician and a Christian who had great influence on the kingdom of God. His article is copied verbatim below. I hope you enjoy reading it:
How Should a Christian Understand the Role of Government?
by Charles Colson
Christianity is about much more than salvation it speaks to all of life. “Jesus is Lord’ was the earliest baptismal confession. Scripture mandates taking dominion and cultivating the soil (Gen 1) and being salt and light (Mt 5:13-16). Abraham Kuyper, former Dutch prime minister and theologian, famously said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry out ‘Mine!’
No area of cultural engagement is more important than government and politics: We are commanded to submit to governing authorities (Rm 13); Jesus Himself said, “Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Mt 22:21). This means Christians must be good citizens, pay taxes, obey laws, and serve (as called) in government, Augustine argued that Christians are to be the best citizens: what others do only because the law demands, we do out of love for God.
Because government is ordained by God to preserve order and do justice, we’re instructed to honor the king (1 Pt 2:13-17) and pray for those in authority that we might live peaceful lives (1 Tm 2:1-22). The only thing worse than bad government is anarchy.
The authorities are established by God, Paul said. Hence, John Calvin accorded the magistrate’s office as having one of the most important roles in any society-working as a servant for good (Rm 13:4). It’s a noble calling for Christians to enter public service. Contrary to common caricatures of politicians, some of the finest public servants I’ve known are serious believers who live out their faith in office without compromising their convictions.
The cultural mandate means the church has an important role to play with respect to political structures-working for justice, speaking prophetically, and often being the conscience of society, even when this means persecution, prison, or death, as it did for many in the confessing church in Nazi Germany. Though there have been times when the church has failed in this responsibility, thankfully today it’s at its post, the strongest voice in American society in defense of life and human rights. The church is also the agency that, in this age of terrorism, prophetically holds government to the moral boundaries of the just war tradition. Though in America we observe a strict separation of church and state (the state shouldn’t establish a state church or restrict the free exercise of religion), there should never be a separation of religion and public life. The public square needs religious influence; indeed, the Christian faith has played a critical role in shaping our institutions. Reformation doctrines such as sphere sovereignty (government doesn’t rule alone; all structures—the family, the church, private associations-have ordained responsibilities) and the rule of law made Western liberal democracy possible. Our Founding Fathers respected the “laws of nature and nature’s God,” recognizing that without a moral consensus resting upon Judeo-Christian tradition, virtue could not be maintained and self-government would fail. Noted historian Will Durant wrote that he could find no case in history where a nation survived without a moral code and no case where that moral code was not informed by religious truth.
But the church must approach its public role with caution and sensitivity. Pastors and other church leaders, for example, should never make partisan endorsements of candidates (which can divide our ranks and politicize the faith) or allow themselves to be in the hip pocket of any political party. That said, the pastor should never hesitate to speak boldly from the pulpit about pressing moral concerns.
There are clear dangers in dealing with politics. Among my duties as special counsel to President Nixon was winning the support of special interest groups. I found religious leaders easily impressed with the trappings of office. And later, watching from the outside, I saw Christian leaders succumb to these allures. There’s a fine line here. It was wrong when, for most of the twentieth century, evangelicals stood apart from politics; so too it’s wrong to allow ourselves to be married to a political party.
Christians individually and through organizations must engage in the political process, always preserving their independence and fulfilling the prophetic office (which may mean calling friends to account). Though Christians are to be the best of citizens, our first loyalty is not to the kingdom of man but to the kingdom of God.
Ref. 《The Apologetics Study Bible》，pp. 1802-1803
Appendix: 2024 Political platform Comparison
Source: Chinese Christian Crusade Monthly.
DEMOGRATIC PARTY POSITION — PROPOSED [民主黨立場擬議]
ECONOMIC (經濟)
支持每小時15美元的聯邦最低工資及公共部門的談判權。支持對人工智慧安全研究所投資，該平台反對工作權法。
Supports a federal minimum wage of $15 an hour and public sector bargaining rights. Supports investment in AI Security Institute, a platform that opposes right-to-work laws.
RECREATIONAL DRUGS (娛樂性毒品)
呼籲增加美國入境口岸可檢測芬太尼 (Fentanyl) 的檢查機器數量。
Calls for increasing the number of screening machines that can detect fentanyl at U.S. ports of entry.
FIREARMS (槍枝)
支持對槍支購買進行背景調查，聯邦禁止攻擊性武器和大容量彈匣；允許臨時沒收可能對他人構成危險之槍支的紅旗法。結束槍支製造商對其產品實施的槍枝相關犯罪免於承擔民事責任。
Support background checks for gun purchases, a federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and red flag laws that allow for the temporary confiscation of guns that may pose a danger to others. End gun manufacturers’ immunity from civil liability for gun-related crimes committed by their products.
EDUCATION (教育)
呼籲免費普及幼兒園教育，加強特許學校的問責制，貿易學校和社區學院免費學費，增加佩爾助學金 (Pell Grants) 的數量。反對私立學校學券計劃。
Calls for free universal kindergarten education, strengthened charter school accountability, free tuition at trade schools and community colleges, and increased Pell Grants. Oppose private school voucher programs.
ABORTION (墮胎)
民主黨支持聯邦立法，使墮胎在50個州合法化。此外，呼籲納稅人為墮胎提供資金。表示支持藥物流產、擴大節育機會和體外受精。
Democrats support federal legislation to legalize abortion in all 50 states. Additionally, taxpayers are called upon to fund abortion. Expresses support for medical abortion, expanded access to birth control, and in vitro fertilization.
TAXES (稅務)
呼籲為低收入和中等收入美國人減稅，為億萬富翁設定25%的最低稅率• 提高富人的醫療保險工資稅，將企業稅率從21%提高到28%．擴大兒童稅收抵免，為首次購房者提供一萬美元免稅額。
Calls for tax cuts for low- and middle-income Americans and a 25% minimum tax rate for billionaires • Increases the Medicare payroll tax for the wealthy and increases the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. Expand the child tax credit to provide a $10,000 tax exemption for first-time homebuyers.
FOREIGN POLICY (外交)
民主黨綱領表達對烏克蘭的支持，呼籲有效外交阻止伊朗成為核武國家，呼籲台海和平與穩定，並呼籲限制中國取得某些技術。以色列綱領呼籲擊敗哈馬斯，呼籲以色列/哈馬斯戰爭停火，並呼籲建立巴勒斯坦國的兩國解決方案。
The Democratic Party platform expresses support for Ukraine, calls for effective diplomacy to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state, calls for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and calls for restrictions on China’s access to certain technologies. The Israeli platform calls for the defeat of Hamas, a ceasefire in the Israel/Hamas war, and a two-state solution that would create a Palestinian state.
TRANSGENDERISM (變性)
民主黨綱領呼籲通過《平等法》，該法將在全國範圍內禁止基於性別認同的歧視。還呼籲擴大女同性戀者（LGBT）的心理健康和自殺預防工作，禁止消除「性別不安心理健康服務」。
The Democratic platform calls for the passage of the Equality Act, which would ban discrimination based on gender identity nationwide. It also called for the expansion of lesbian (LGBT) mental health and suicide prevention efforts and the elimination of “gender dysphoria mental health services.”
IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY（移民與邊境安全）
民主黨表示支持為長期非法移民提供獲得公民身分的途徑。該綱領也呼籲建立安全的南部邊界；擴大合法移民，包括增加家庭和就業簽證數量、尋求庇護者的法律顧問；緊急授權驅逐移民；以及繼續兒童入境暫緩遺返（DACA）計劃。
Democrats have expressed support for providing a path to citizenship for long-term illegal immigrants. The platform also calls for a secure southern border; expansion of legal immigration, including increased family and employment visas, legal counsel for asylum seekers; emergency authorization to deport immigrants; and continuation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE (同性婚姻)
民主黨表示支持《尊重婚姻法》，這是一項2022年聯邦法律，要求美國政府和所有州政府承認同性婚姻。
Democrats expressed support for the Respect Marriage Act, a 2022 federal law requiring the U.S. government and all state governments to recognize same-sex marriage.
HEALTH CARE (健康保險)
反對削減醫療保險，呼籲增加預防性護理的資金。呼籲將健康保險保費稅收抵免永久化，並呼籲將醫療補助擴大到全國。此外，還要求處方藥費用每年上限為 2,000美元，胰島素價格每月上限為35美元。
Oppose cuts to Medicare and call for increased funding for preventive care. Calls to make the health insurance premium tax credit permanent and to expand Medicaid nationwide. It also requires capping prescription drug costs at $2,000 per year and capping insulin prices at $35 per month.
REPUBLICAN PARTY POSITION 共和黨立場
ECONOMIC (經濟)
呼籲減少聯邦法規和聯邦支出，取消對能源生產的限制，對外國製造的產品徵收關稅，並鼓勵加密貨幣和人工智慧的成長。
Calls for reducing federal regulations and federal spending, removing restrictions on energy production, imposing tariffs on foreign-made products, and encouraging the growth of cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence.
RECREATIONAL DRUGS (娛樂性毒品)
呼籲美國海軍檢查船隻是否藏有芬太尼和芬太尼原材料。
Call on the U.S. Navy to inspect ships for fentanyl and fentanyl raw materials.
FIREARMS (槍枝)
表示支持攜帶武器的權利。註：建國之初，美國立法讓國民擁有槍枝，原因是「如有獨裁者出現，人民可以武力抵抗。」
Express support for the right to bear arms. Note: At the beginning of the founding of the country, the United States legislated for citizens to own guns because “if a dictator appears, the people can resist with force.”
EDUCATION (教育)
呼籲全民擇校（即支持學券計劃，讓家長自由為孩子選讀私校）；教師續效薪資、教師任期的結束；促進父母權利、宗教自由和公民教育；取消向學生灌輸性別意識形態、性行為或批判種族理論的學校的資助。
Call for universal school choice (i.e., support the voucher program to allow parents to freely choose private schools for their children); renew teachers’ salaries and end teachers’ tenure; promote parental rights, religious freedom, and civic education; and eliminate the indoctrination of students into gender ideologies, sexual orientation, Funding for schools of behavioral or critical race theory.
ABORTION (墮胎)
共和黨綱領認同美國憲法第十四修正案，防止未經正當法律程序剝奪生命或自由。該綱領聲稱，各州可自由通過保護生命和自由法律。反對晚期墮胎，支持節育和體外受精。
The Republican platform endorses the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects against deprivation of life or liberty without due process of law. The platform states that states are free to pass laws protecting life and liberty. Opposes late-term abortion and supports birth control and in vitro fertilization.
TAXES (稅務)
呼籲將 2017年減稅和就業法案各部分永久化，包括標準扣除額加倍和擴大兒童稅收抵免。還呼籲對工人減稅，對擁有住房實行稅收激勵措施，並取消餐廳和酒店工作人員的小費稅。
Calls to make parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 permanent, including doubling the standard deduction and expanding the child tax credit. There are also calls for tax cuts for workers, tax incentives for homeownership and the elimination of tip taxes for restaurant and hotel workers.
FOREIGN POLICY (外交)
共和黨綱領呼籲為美國建立鐵穹防空系統。還呼籲美國盟友為自己的國防支付公平的份額。支持以色列，並表示應禁止中國購買美國財產和工業。
The Republican platform calls for the creation of the Iron Dome air defense system for the United States. It also called on U.S. allies to pay their fair share for their own defense. Supports Israel and says China should be banned from buying U.S. property and industry.
TRANSGENDERISM (變性)
共和黨表示阻止男性參與破壞女性隱私的行為（例如進入女性衛生間及更衣室）。取消納稅人對變性手術的資助，阻止學校促進性別轉變，以及推翻拜登政府的第九條規定。
The Republican Party said it would prevent men from engaging in behavior that violates women’s privacy (such as entering women’s restrooms and locker rooms). Eliminate taxpayer funding for gender reassignment surgeries, prevent schools from promoting gender transition, and overturn the Biden administration’s Title IX regulations.
IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY (移民與邊境安全)
共和黨呼籲在美國南部邊境建造隔離牆；恢復川普政府邊境政策，包括留在墨西哥政策和川普旅行禁令；使用軍事人員支援邊境執法；加重對移民犯罪的處罰；將被販運的無證兒童送回原籍國的父母身邊；擇優移民；以及取消對庇護城市的資助。
Republicans call for building a wall on the U.S. southern border; restoring the Trump administration’s border policies, including the Remain in Mexico policy and the Trump travel ban; using military personnel to support border enforcement; increasing penalties for immigration crimes; sending trafficked undocumented children to Returning to parents in their country of origin; merit-based immigration; and defunding sanctuary cities.
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE (同性婚姻）
共和黨並未就此議題表明立場。
Republicans have not taken a position on the issue.
HEALTH CARE (健康保險)
反對削減醫療保險，支持保留和加強醫療保險。呼籲擴大退伍軍人的初級保健服務範圍和醫療保健選擇。
Oppose cuts to health insurance and support preserving and strengthening health insurance. Calls for expanded primary care services and health care options for veterans.
