As the election approaches

Here's an interesting article written by Ron Sider, a solid guy. He's the author of a book that really influenced me many years ago. Some of you will remember 'Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger".

My guess that many of you who are reading this have already made up your mind who you're voting for. You don't have to tell me and I won't tell you ... but I thought this article was helpful ... Here's how Ron Sider starts. I hope it draws you in and makes you want to read it in its entirety. The link is at the bottom of the page.

If Jesus is Lord and the Bible provides our normative framework, how should we vote on November 4? Every four years, as I anguish over this question, I half wish God would send us an e-mail. But he never has. So we are left with the tough task of evaluating the candidates’ policy proposals and track records on the basis of what I often call a “biblically balanced agenda.” If we ask what the Bible says God cares about, the implications for our political agenda become obvious: We must be pro-life and pro-poor, pro-family and pro-creation care, pro-racial justice and pro-peacemaking. This “completely prolife” agenda is now the official stance of both the Catholic bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals (see “For the Health of the Nation”).

So how do Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama fare if we evaluate them using that basic standard?

http://www.esa-online.org/Images/mmDocument/PRISM%20Archive/Ron%20Sider%20Column/SeptOct08RonSider.pdf