by Fr. Jonathan H. Cholcher
For Americans, voting in elections is a fundamental right and duty of citizenship. This duty is such a fundamental aspect of American government that American Christians, including the Orthodox, have incorporated voting into the routine management of their churches, for instance, at monthly Parish Council meetings, annual Voters’ Meetings, and church-wide assemblies. Voting is an accepted tool for exercising the faith. In the truest Christian sense, voting should be guided by faith because faith ultimately informs and guides all human decisions in a God-directed way. “As you have believed, so let it be done to you,” says our Lord (Matt. 8:13; 9:22, 28; Rom. 1:17).
Leaving aside the topic of voting in the Church, Christians voting in governmental elections is a crucial issue for the faithful to consider. In particular, how the Orthodox Faith informs all matters of life in this world necessarily affects how Orthodox Christians understand the role of American government itself and their duties and responsibilities to participate in that government by voting or not voting in elections.
Every Divine Liturgy, Orthodox Americans pray “for the President of our country, for all civil authorities,” etc. In America, a person becomes the President through the process of citizens voting in an election. The same is true not only with many other federal, state, and local civic offices, but with amendments to various laws affecting the entire society. In the American system of government, even if officials are appointed, they are appointed by others who are elected. By praying for the elected office-holders, we are asking God’s mercy on the entire structure from the top-most position all the way down to the individual voter. Crucially in the American system, individual voters (“We the People”) matter as much as, or more than, the governing officials because the will of the people is expressed through choices made in electing those same governing officials.
The Apostle Peter writes: “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance (Gk., ktisis, that is, “creation/establishment”) of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors…” (1 Pet. 2:13-14; italics mine). The Apostle Paul states that “there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance (Gk., diatage, that is, “order/arrangement”) of God” (Rom. 13:1-2; italics mine).
The apostles do not contradict but complement each other in their teaching of government. Saint Paul points out that government exists at all because God wills it to keep order in society. The fact that government has authority over people comes from God and is responsible to God; therefore, God is the ultimate authority in human affairs both for the governed and those governing. Otherwise, human society would devolve into lawlessness and godlessness.
Saint Peter adds that government is not restricted to any one form, but humans have freedom to order government according to different systems, as long as those systems do not inherently undermine the truth of God and promote lawlessness or godlessness. “As free,” the Apostle continues, “yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as slaves of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king” (1 Pet. 2:16-17).
Beginning with the ancient Greeks (e.g., Plato, Aristotle, etc.), political scientists have identified three basic families, or systems, of government:
1) monarchy (the rule of one, e.g., a tyrant, a king, an emperor, or a dictator);
2) oligarchy (the rule of the few, e.g., aristocracy [lit., rule of the best], priest-rulers [Gk., hierarchy], the elite class, plutocracy [lit., rule of the rich]); and
3) democracy (the rule of the people, e.g., popular assembly, republic [representative rule]).
The American system of government is a hybrid form of republican, representative rule designed to severely restrict, or eliminate, tyranny and aristocracy by giving each citizen an equal share in their own exercise of God-given freedom and self-governance within a common framework of laws (the Constitution). This common framework of laws is intended to safeguard each person’s common rights of existence by virtue of being created by God for this very purpose (“We hold these truths to be self-evident”; Declaration of Independence). To this end, the framers of the American system of government “pledged [their] lives, [their] fortunes, and [their] sacred honor.”
The American system of government is not just a secular but a theological system, acknowledging at its base the maintenance of the God-given authority of each human person to exist and thrive within society. American government was founded upon the principle of consenting to respect and secure the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of every single human being within its domain, not just the king, his favorites, or the privileged wielding power over others.
The challenge of American political history continues to be how successful both the People and officials can be overcoming petty differences, individualism, factionalism, quest for power, and the corruption of greed to realize the goals enshrined in the American system. No governmental system is without human error, especially when sinful human beings are involved. So the real challenge is overcoming evil within the heart of each human being who collectively comprise the nation. This is especially true in America, not only where each person is so highly valued, but where each person is given such an integral part to play in the governmental workings of the entire society, in particular, through the process of voting.
The English word vote derives from the Latin word votum, meaning “a sacred vow.” For Christians in American, this fact entails a profound significance. Voting is a sacred commitment performed in the service of one’s God. Even for non-believers and atheists, voting is a commitment to principles considered fundamental to being, and therefore, religious. The voting booth is the conjunction of Church (religion) and State, not its emblem of separation, and the American conscience depends on this reality; its perversion is America’s downfall. The highest form of participation in American government is typified by a citizen casting his or her vote for a particular candidate or issue, or refusing to vote, out of service to God, that is, to affirm the enactment of God’s will in the nation. That’s the way our American system of limited government deriving from the People was designed.
It behooves each voting citizen in America, first of all, to know their faith in God: Who He Is, and how He wants us to live. For Orthodox Christians, this means participation in the Divine Liturgy through repentance, faith, and love, and bearing witness to the new life in Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit. God uses the affairs of men and nations to accomplish His saving will, and Orthodox Christians trust in this power of God above all things and always seek to do His will first and foremost. Second, each voting American citizen should be able to describe the American form of government, where it came from, how it works, and what are its goals. Whether or not a person completely agrees with every aspect of this government, every person living under its authority must honor that authority as it contributes to the doing of good and the discouragement of evil. Third, each voter must investigate for themselves the candidates, policies, and issues on which one votes. Elections have meaning and consequences, and the voters seal that process.
Faith and voting co-exist as theory and practice, or as thought and speech. In this our Lord says, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one” (Matt. 5:37). In other words, your vote is your word and your sacred pledge. In Christian parlance, your vote or decision not to vote is a confession of faith and a defense of the truth you believe.
