Christian conservatives must ignore a nationwide effort to suppress their vote and instead must turn out in November to vote for candidates who will support biblical values, pro-family leaders said at an enthusiastic rally in Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 16.
Supporters of the proposed Tennessee marriage amendment hold up yard signs during a “Stand for the Family” rally Oct. 16. Tennessee is one of eight states that will vote.The “Stand for the Family” rally was sponsored by Focus on the Family Action and held before a near-capacity crowd of approximately 2,700 at Two Rivers Baptist Church that gave the speakers dozens of standing ovations. Previous rallies have taken place in Pittsburgh and Minneapolis.
The rally was held just three weeks before voters in Tennessee and seven other states will go the polls to vote on constitutional marriage amendments. Nationwide, voters will decide which political party controls the House of Representatives and Senate.
“This election will be decided by which side gets their base motivated and gets their base out to vote,” Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, told the crowd. “That is why the liberal media has abandoned any semblance of objectivity … to launch an all-out attack on values voters and on the candidates of values voters to seek to suppress our vote.”
Focus on the Family founder James Dobson said there is a concerted effort by some to use the Mark Foley scandal to keep Christian conservatives home on Nov. 7, Election Day. But Dobson said such issues as the sanctity of human life and the direction of the Supreme Court are too important for conservatives not to vote.
Jerry Sutton, pastor of Two Rivers Baptist, said the stakes in the upcoming election are high.
“We’re in a great civil war again today. It’s not a war of bullets and guns, but a war of ideas and arguments,” Sutton said. “And it’s every bit as important as the Civil War that our nation fought almost 150 years ago. For us, it’s a war against secularists … who would like to take us back to the immorality of the days of ancient Rome.
“Our goal is to motivate every single believer – everyone who names the name of Jesus – to be involved in the political process … . We will not be silent.”
Dobson mentioned five issues that should motivate Christian conservatives to vote: “gay marriage,” control of the Supreme Court, the sanctity of human life, the legal battle over religious liberty and the war against Islamic militants.
“I am told by people who know far more about it than I do that there are probably two … Supreme Court justices who are hanging on until there is a more liberal Senate so that their seat will not be taken by somebody who is conservative,” Dobson said. “It’s a 5-4 pro-choice court right now. One more new justice – if they are conservative – will put Roe v. Wade in jeopardy.”
Land said Christians have a biblical responsibility to vote.
“God ordained the government, and in a country like ours where we have the privilege of determining that we’re going to have a government of the people, by the people and for the people, it is a flat-out sin not to vote,” Land said. “You need to be registered to vote. You need to be an informed voter, and when you vote, you need to vote your values. … Your loyalty doesn’t belong to any party – . It belongs to God Almighty.”
Ken Hutcherson, a pro-family leader and pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, Wash., said Christians must not be identified with a political party but must vote according to their values.
“I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat,” he said. “I am a righteous man before God who stands for righteousness … . Because we hold righteousness as our goal, then … we have the obligation, the responsibility, the call to make sure unrighteousness is not pushed upon a nation that was founded on God’s word and his principles.”
In addition to Tennessee, the other states voting on marriage amendments Nov. 7 are Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin. The amendments are aimed at preventing a repeat of what happened in Massachusetts, where the state’s highest court issued a ruling legalizing “gay marriage.” Massachusetts has no marriage amendment.