BY NATHAN BROWN

here are the standard "I ______ and I vote" bumper stickers: "I fish and I vote," "I shoot and I vote," and the like. But I always keep my eyes out for the more unusual applications of this formula. To date, perhaps the most obscure I have seen is "I breed guppies and I vote" (it was advertising a pet store, rather than a serious political statement).

Of course, such bumper stickers automatically take on an additional element of absurdity in Australia, where voting in state and national elections is compulsory, with a failure to vote or register to vote punishable by a small fine. Thus the statement becomes something of a tautology, and almost any activity can be described. Although the stickers are common, one must assume that the nature of the activity described will have varying degrees of effect on how that particular motorist might vote.

So if "I believe and I vote" bumper stickers were employed—and I am not suggesting they should be—how should our faith affect our vote? With elections imminent in both the United States and Australia, the societies in which we live, work, and believe again call our attention to this question.

In Romans 13 Paul urged believers to "obey the government," "pay your taxes," and "give respect and honor to all to whom it is due" (verses 1, 6, and 7).1 This is rightly regarded as the biblical standard for citizenship—and Paul was writing to believers who lived under the tight control of imperial Rome. We live under a different system of government from that of Paul's day. In those times the greatest respect was unquestioning obedience; in a more democratic system—in which power is ostensibly vested in the collective will of citizens—the greatest respect is understanding and participation.

Thus the first electoral implication of belief is participation: simply turning up to vote. At the last U.S. presidential election, according to the Federal Election Commission, only 76 percent of eligible citizens were registered to vote and only 51 percent bothered to vote (perhaps there is something to be said for compulsory voting).

For Christians, our responsibilities as citizens of our respective countries are to be taken seriously. Even Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what belongs to him" (Matt. 22:21). In our Western systems of government, the least of our governments' claims upon us is sufficient attention to vote.

However, our faith does not automatically dictate the direction of our vote. As a recent advertising campaign launched by Sojourners magazine strives to remind us—in response to comments from some outspoken religious leaders—"God is not a Republican. Or a Democrat."2

Our belief does not give us easy answers as to how to vote. It is part of our civic and Christian responsibility to cast an informed and intelligent vote. This takes effort. And it is not just limited to consideration of ourselves. As believers, we need also to consider how respective policies will impact upon the poor, the oppressed, and the otherwise disenfranchised and voiceless: "Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who help the poor honor him" (Prov. 14:31).

As such, our respect for our governments should not preclude asking hard questions in determining our voting preference. Activist musician Steve Earle puts it succinctly when he says, "The most important thing to remember is, no matter what anybody tells you, it is never, ever, unpatriotic or un-American to question anything in a democracy."

"I believe and I vote" becomes another tautology when we consider that civic participation is a reflection of our Christian responsibility and concern for others. But this truism does impact upon how we vote. We do not necessarily blindly vote for whomever we might have voted for last time, or whoever might be endorsed by some religious personality. Instead we vote in accord with our understanding of how we might be able to encourage our fellow citizens and nations to treat one another better.

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¹ Bible quotations are from the New Living Translation.
² www.takebackourfaith.org.

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Nathan Brown is editor of the South Pacific edition of Signs of the Times and the South Pacific Division Record.