By Dr. Richard Land
In a time when unborn children continue to be aborted at a horrific rate of 1.31 million babies per year, elderly Americans are under increasing pressure to "step aside" and be euthanized, and policy wonks whisper about an imminent need to ration health care and to withhold it from those "unworthy" of that care. In his book The New Absolutes, William Watkins notes that we have slipped from a "procreation generation" to a "termination generation" in a matter of decades.
When it comes to restoring the most fundamental value - - the sanctity of human life - - there are no "red states" or "blue states." But there is a bottom line: Don't vote your geographic origins. Don't vote your denominational affiliation. Don't vote your pocketbook. Don't vote your party.
Instead become informed about the various candidates' positions on the issues, then cast your ballot according to your values, your convictions, and your beliefs. The threat to our culture is far too important for those who are Christians to ignore their responsibility in November.
Most of today's pundits and politicians refuse to acknowledge this concern about our culture. And the truth is that for too many years, the withdrawal of evangelicals from social and political engagement contributed to many of our nation's problems. That voluntary withdrawal, however, has ended.
Pro-life Christians have come to realize that the New Testament teaches us that we are citizens of two realms, the earthly and spiritual, and they have rights and responsibilities in both spheres. Rather than "Christian citizens," we at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission have encouraged believers to consider themselves "citizen Christians."
In this election year, the reality of what it means to be a citizen Christian should be apparent to every Christian. Chief among our concerns about the disintegrating moral fabric of our society is the fact that, still in 2004, our government continues to condone the devaluing of human life by permitting abortion on demand.
This requires Christians to be in active engagement with the world, preserving as salt and illuminating as light. Obedient discipleship requires nothing less than active, principled involvement with society, including informed participation in our nation's public policy process.
Those who are believers have an obligation to teach fellow believers that it's wrong to kill their babies, and we have an obligation to compel even non-believers to respect their babies' lives and reject abortion. We have a responsibility to take our faith into dialogue over public policy. We have a responsibility to urge those who fashion public policy to be mindful of God's perspective on life and liberty.
Far too many Americans fail to fulfill their civic responsibility on Election Day. Voter turnout among all groups, including people of faith, is not what it should be. It is my belief that informed voters are much more likely to vote and informed voters who understand that they should vote their values are even yet more likely to vote.
The decisions Americans make in the voting booth this Election Day will have profound consequences for generations to come. The decisions voters make may well have an impact on the size of those generations to come. Since 1973 the brutality of abortion has snuffed out the lives of tens of millions of children who otherwise would now be contributing members of society.
Vote your values, your beliefs, and your convictions. The innocent lives of millions of preborn babies literally rest on your decisions.
Dr. Richard Land is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention's official entity assigned to address social, moral, and ethical concerns.