You Can’t Legislate Morality: The Ultimate Political Lie

Let me give you a scenario. It’s the 1800s in the United States. On the ballot is a presidential ticket which is for the freedom of slaves in the antebellum south and on the other ticket are folks who are for keeping slaves with their masters.

Obviously there are other issues to vote on, but this issue is the headliner. We’d all agree it’s important. The people who are for keeping the slaves say things like:

“If you don’t want to own a slave then don’t get one.”
“If you don’t like our cherished traditions then get out of there.”
“You can’t legislate your morality based on your beliefs. That’s not fair.”
“How dare you say that we are wrong and you are right. After all, are you perfect?”

How absurd would it be if the side who were for freeing the slaves agreed with all of these statements and relinquished their stance in the name of freedom and tolerance?

Politics, Worldviews, and Morality

At the end of the day, we legislate morality all of the time. The question is who’s morality do we legislate?

Do we legislate laws around the sanctity of life? (Taking the life of an innocent human being, taking the life of an unborn child, leaving a child to be exposed to elements to die, etc.)

Do we legislate laws around theft of any kind? (Robbery, Tax evasion, stealing from someone’s wallet, identity theft)

In response to all of these questions we should hear a resounding answer: yes.

But why?

But Who’s Morality do we Legislate…?

For Christians, it is often heard that we can’t vote based on our religion. Or we can enforce our morality on others. The issue is that this asks Christians to vote against their conscience on serious issues. Some issues that we are told to ignore:

What is marriage?
When does life begin?
Who is in charge of taking life?
When is the gender of a human being decided?
What kind of health care should those with gender dysphoria have access to and at what age?
How much autonomy do we have over our bodies?
Should parents be able to speak into whether or not children have surgery?
Should be able to kill children in the womb, up to birth, or when they are freshly born?
Should Title IX include exemptions for Pedophilia?

All of these issues are very important… not just to the Christian mind, but for how a society is defined.

Marriage is foundational for society as it allows for the begetting of children.
Life beginning at conception of a child in the womb means that to kill such child means that one is committing murder.
Teenagers being able to undergo life changing and irreversible surgery (at the disdain of their parents who are taken out of the mix in some states) only leads to higher suicide rates in the future.
Our autonomy on our bodies is already limited by laws. How limited should we be?

To tell someone, anyone, to vote against their conscience is to ask them to vote with a criminal level of cognitive dissonance.

Back to Slavery

Do you see the issue then?
“Don’t get a slave if you don’t want one.” Is a criminal statement if people have inerrant worth and value as people made in the image of God.

“Don’t want an abortion, then don’t get one.” Is even more abhorrent of a statement if the lives of valuable human beings are at stake.

For someone to make such a statement is to ignore something important about worldviews and specifically Christianity.

First, Worldviews have consequences. Christians, Muslims, Materialists, Hindus, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and others all have different beliefs about how the world works and how it ought to work. Thus they will all vote based on their beliefs about how things “ought to work.”

Second, focusing on Christianity, the Christian Worldview accounts for every issue that could possibly be the center of an election cycle. And a positive consequence of the Christian worldview is a call for Christians to be good citizens in their countries by being as active in the political process as possible.

Final Thoughts

As a believer, if you are able to vote, then you should. Vote according to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. A Christian votes with a sanctified conscience that is informed by God’s word.

That is why the sanctity of life, where your tax money goes, marriage, and so many other topics are important to consider for the mind of a Christian. We cannot separate our worldview from our vote. To stand with Christ is to represent him to the best of our abilities in an imperfect vote for an imperfect presidential ticket. Even if it the lesser of the 2 evils.

As we continue on with this election cycle, let us pray that we have cool heads, sharp minds, soft hearts, and the courage to vote according to our conscience.

We should seek to represent Jesus in everything we do.