Voting as Damage Control

Consider a few thoughts from Shane Claiborne’s short essay “Voting as Damage Control”:

The decision we make on November 4 is an important one — perhaps no more important than how we live on November 3 and November 5 — but important nonetheless.

As a follower of the enemy-loving God, it is difficult to vote for a commander in chief of the largest military in the world, especially when no candidate seems to be preaching “blessed are the peacemakers” or creating a plan for turning swords into plows.

It is not easy to make an imperfect decision. It just doesn’t feel right to say to the state, “Please kill less”… as it still holds an imperative “Please kill.” However, ideals can keep us from working for “better.”

One way to look at voting is that it is damage control – not so much voting for something as it is voting against something worse.

Being an agent of God’s kingdom, transformation means calling out the best that the state can do, and not expecting it to be our savior.