If you vote for the lesser of two evils you are still voting for evil and you will be judged for it. You should always vote for the best possible candidate, whether they have a chance of winning or not, and then, even if the worst possible candidate wins, the Lord will bless our country more because more people were willing to stand up for what is right.This quote seems to lend support to voting for a third-party candidate, but I've looked around a little, and I can't find the original source. (One website attributed to a personal conversation, which casts doubt on its credibility and means it can't be universally applied.) But what I did find was this: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1972/04/civic-standards-for-the-faithful-saints?lang=eng&_r=1.
I bring this up because I haven't figured out yet what to do about the upcoming elections and I've been fretting over it. The way I see it, the options are:
- Don't vote. There aren't any good options, and I can't in good conscience support any of them. But I know we're supposed to be involved in civic-ly, so this doesn't feel right.
- Vote for Donald Trump. Ug. The only argument I can give in favor of Trump is that he's likely to nominate conservative justices to the Supreme Court. This is a big deal. But I really can't respect him--on so many levels--and I don't want to vote for someone I don't respect.
- Vote third party. Like, Evan McMullin. I think he's idealistic and not a serious contender, but I can at least respect his values. But this feels like a wasted vote, and like I'm practically voting for Clinton and a bunch of liberal Supreme Court justices.
- Hillary Clinton isn't even an option. I actually think I like her better--as a person--that Donald Trump, but I so totally disagree with her platform that I can't even consider voting for her.
So yeah, I'm in a pickle. If anyone has any insights they would like to share, I am all ears.
I'm in the same pickle. Except I won't even consider voting for Donald Trump. He seems like a worst candidate than Hilary for me, and that's saying something.
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm leaning more towards the first option because for some reason, they won't let me register to vote. But I would feel super guilty about it. If I do figure out how to register then I'm thinking Evan McMullin. Even if the President Benson quote is made up, I feel like it holds a lot of truth. I would rather vote my own conscience than for "a lesser evil."
That being said, I used to really enjoy politics, but now it just depresses me. Perhaps we should add one more option: Canada. Just sayin'.
I feel similarly. I like Clinton more than Trump as a person (which is hard to imagine; I can't stomach either), but I align with the Republic platform on the issues that matter most to me. I am currently mostly likely to vote for McMullin, but it does feel like a throwaway vote. I want to vote Republican (because of the SCOTUS issue you mentioned), but I cannot in good conscience vote for Trump.
ReplyDeleteI've considered not voting, but I want to do my civic duty and I don't want to do nothing. I also think that it is important to vote for other positions/issues that will be on the ballot.
Not great options. I wonder if the Nephites felt like this back in the day when their society was changing.
ReplyDeleteI want to make the point of how important it is on the local level. I do government consulting and there are just as many issues that affect our lives on the local level as the national level. We need more smart voices to be sounded. We need more women's voices to be sounded. We need more Christian voices to be sounded. We can do that