By Contributing Writer, Chelsey Hall
When it comes to voting, there are a couple of things we do here in our home:
1. My husband and I always vote for the same person. We are one in our marriage and our vote should count as such. This is, after all, the way the founding fathers set it up many years ago.
It wasn’t that they believed woman to be inferior, therefore “they shouldn’t be allowed to vote.” It was that the family was looked upon as a unit. The husband and wife were a team and therefore, the vote was a family vote; a reflection upon where the family stood as a unit (unfortunately feminism has ruined this)! So, while my husband and I might physically cast two different votes, we vote for the same person.
2. We start off as “one issue” voters. The very first thing we look at is whether or not the candidate supports or opposes abortion. We refuse to vote for someone who advocates in ANY way the killing of unborn babies, regardless of where their stance on other issues lie. From there we narrow it down according to the top issues that are important to us.
My prayer during this election season is that Christians would put aside worldly influences and look to God’s Word as the source of inspiration before the vote is cast.
I pray that Christians won’t just vote for the lesser of two evils, but will vote based on Biblical principles; that we would vote for someone who aligns themselves with the word of God and then leave it in HIS hands.
I pray that Christians would take the time to truly commit this election to prayer. Research the candidates and seek the wisdom of the Father.
Our vote does not belong to us…whatever we do, whether we eat, or drink, or vote, we are to do it heartily as unto the Lord our God. We must please God, not anybody else, with how we vote. We must vote for men of integrity who are not double-minded, to represent us, covenantally (which is what representative government is, not to be taken lightly), in the spheres over which the state has legitimate authority. God will use our votes as He pleases, and place in power the ones He chooses. We need to stop playing the numbers game and prostrate ourselves before the King and seek His guidance and His mercy for our nation.
Cameron Friedrich
About Chelsey Hall
This man is a Pro-life Champion!
Find out more in “The Issues” here: http://www.ronpaul2012.com/the-issues/
As President, Ron Paul will continue to fight for the same pro-life solutions he has upheld in Congress, including:
* Immediately saving lives by effectively repealing Roe v. Wade and preventing activist judges from interfering with state decisions on life by removing abortion from federal court jurisdiction through legislation modeled after his “We the People Act.”
* Defining life as beginning at conception by passing a “Sanctity of Life Act.”
Because he agrees with Thomas Jefferson that it is “sinful and tyrannical” to “compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors,” Ron Paul will also protect the American people’s freedom of conscience by working to prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for abortions, Planned Parenthood, or any other so-called “family planning” program.
The strength of love for liberty in our society can be judged by how we treat the most innocent among us. It’s time to elect a President with the courage and conviction to stand up for every American’s right to life.
Great post! I agree, in theory, BUT…what if your husband choses to vote for “the lesser of two evils” rather than standing firmly on Biblical principles? Isn’t the wife ultimately responsible before the Lord for her own vote. I’ve really been wrestling with this…
Lisa,
Great question. Here is how I feel, ultimately how we are responsible to the Lord is through submission to our husbands. Much like Sarah. If we take your approach and say, but ultimately we are responsible to the Lord for our own vote”, then we would have to question Sarah’s judgement when she did what Abraham told her to do and lied to the King about her being his sister and not wife. She submitted to her husband, who ultimately did the wrong thing, but the Lord protected her.
I personal feel that when we choose to vote the way our husbands do, we are walking in submission to him. Our husbands don’t always do what we think is best, but ultimately are we not suppose to submit to their authority?
Does that make sense?
Thank you for your response, Chelsey. I had never considered the example of Sarah before, but you make an excellent point. I voted as my husband did in the last election, against my conscience, for a candidate that did not have completely Biblical principles. I left the voting booth under such conviction for compromising my beliefs. Hence the wrestling as this election approaches.
Lisa,
Yes, I can only imagine what a struggle that must have been. I’m sorry you had to deal with that. I can completely understand you wrestling with that!
Chelsey,
I understand why you and your husband choose to vote for the same candidates in an election, but in my opinion, this seems to be a matter of opinion than the only “correct” way to vote. Yes, the founding fathers had the concept of a household vote, but they also favored or at least allowed things we would considered immoral today, like slavery.
I submit to my husband and we have discussed this issue. He says that because I am his wife and an individual, it would be ridiculous for him to even consider asking me to vote for a candidate he supports.
Also, if we really turned back the clock and went back to household voting, would adult children (both men and women) living at home or away at college be able to cast their own votes?
But we both can agree about the importance of praying for fair elections and for Christians to seek God’s will when selecting candidates to vote for.
Lisa,
Great question. Here is how I feel, ultimately how we are responsible to the Lord is through submission to our husbands. Much like Sarah. If we take your approach and say, but ultimately we are responsible to the Lord for our own vote”, then we would have to question Sarah’s judgement when she did what Abraham told her to do and lied to the King about her being his sister and not wife. She submitted to her husband, who ultimately did the wrong thing, but the Lord protected her.
I personal feel that when we choose to vote the way our husbands do, we are walking in submission to him. Our husbands don’t always do what we think is best, but ultimately are we not suppose to submit to their authority?
Does that make sense?
Hi Sue,
Thanks for your comment. I do want to correct one thing. I never said this was the “only correct way to vote”. In fact in my opening, I clearly said “in our household this is how we vote”. Simply sharing what I feel to be the most correct way, but certainly not the only way.
We were meant to be one with our spouses and it makes sense that if we are truly living in submission to our spouses that this would carry over in every area.
HOWEVER, obviously if your husband disagrees with my thoughts, then of course you should submit to his wishes.
To answer your question, if we turned back the clock…. only those that were land owners were allowed to vote.. including women land owners. I won’t play “what-if’s” because really that would be silly. In my humble opinion, Our country has changed so much that many of the “rules” don’t apply. However, I do still believe that the best thing is for a husband and wife to be in agreement on who they are going to vote on and that a wife should vote “with” her husband.
Again, I was just sharing how we do things and maybe giving some food for thought and consideration!
Hope that makes sense!
Chelsey,
Sorry that I missed the top of your post where you said “in our household this is how we vote”.
This is the first time I ever heard of household voting in political elections before. I know that some denominations require household voting in church elections because an old friend of mine is a member of one of them. My denomination doesn’t. However, I think if anyone asked one of our (Anglican) priests about household voting for either political or church elections they would say they that didn’t agree with it, but it wasn’t wrong and should be a matter of individual conscience between the couple and God.
Also, thanks for the history lesson about how household voting began. I must not have been listening the day they discussed that topic in American History class. And believe me, I’m old enough to have taken American History before it became politically correct.
Sue,
We don’t vote this way because someone tells us we have to, but simply because it makes sense and lines up with biblical submission. But, of course, it is a decision, as you alluded to, that each couple has to decide how they want to handle. A husband and wife should discuss it, and then a wife should humbly submit to her husband if he wants his wife to vote with him. 
I’ve never personally known any denominations that “require” household voting. That’s a new one to me.
I’m not sure what history lesson you are talking about on how household voting began. I never alluded to anything of the sort, only how that at one point in our country the family was looked upon as a “unit” and that it made perfect sense to me why, then, a husband and wife would vote as one.
I love discussing things, and certainly don’t even mind if folks disagree with me, but I would really love to keep sarcasm out of the conversation. I am just sharing an area of my life that we’ve been convicted in, in hopes that it might give some food for thought for other women.
Chelsey,
I apologize if you think anything I wrote in my posts to this blog were sarcastic. If you think I did, whatever I wrote was unintended. Please let me know what you considered sarcastic so I can learn from your constructive criticism.
Sue
Dear Sue and Chelsey, from an “outsider’s” perspective looking at this dialogue, I think you both have expressed your concerns/views with great care and politeness. I don’t see any sarcasm at all here. But I’m worried there may be a little misunderstanding…you know…the kind that comes from having to communicate online rather than in person? You both strike me as sweet ladies trying to make sense of things. I’m thinking maybe we should end the dialogue at that…? I love that there IS dialogue here though!!! It’s great to hash things out and learn from one another. Grace to both of you!!
My husband and I have been together for four years, and we have always voted together. We make a… well, I was going to say, a “fun” evening out of it… it isn’t always fun. : ) We sit down together on the couch, with our ballots and our voter’s guide, and read through each issue together, and always vote the same way. Sometimes one of us will start out thinking that a different way would be the way to go, but upon further discussion we always end up in agreement. I like knowing that we are voting as a team, and that our votes aren’t canceling each other out.
God bless you!
What if your husband is voting for immoral things?
I married at 18, to a man I thought was a fellow Conservative Christian, but things have changed over the past 15 years. He is now in favor or abortion, gay marriage, and many other liberal things.
Should I still vote along with him, even though I feel like that is supporting sin?
No Zia. The Word of God teaches us to be in submission to our husbands as far as we are able, but not when we are asked to sin directly against the law of God. Christians have differing opinions on this, but I believe that in your situation, you must quietly vote for what your Creator would want you to vote for. If that is different from your husband, then so be it. We must obey God rather then men when it comes to black and white issues like the murdering of children and sodomy. Thank you for your question…it was a good one, and I am grateful for a chance to address it.