I've never voted and probably never will.  I don't care for politics and think there's way too many secrets in the government.  I'm not even convinced that our votes truly matter.  Unless we count them ourselves, who are we relying on to tell us the answers? That all goes on behind the scenes. I mean seriously, how do we REALLY know our votes are making any difference? What's to stop the government from messing with that stuff? Us, the little people? Of course not.  It's all too suspicious to me.

You can't bring heaven to earth by voting. One has to be the change he is willing to bring. 

ABSOLUTELY a Christian should vote. If not, Christians have no say in the government. It is the responsibility of the American people to limit the government. Do you like what the government is doing? Do you think it's against God? If the answer to EITHER is "no" the ONLY way to change that is to vote. That's how our country works.

@NotWhereIThought@xanga -Yes and no. I feel though, that I must preface this by saying that I DO agree with you. The only reason I have not yet voted is because I am 17, and I fully intend on voting in the next election. The Christian focus is really not on the "here and now" but on the future. It is on the new Heaven and the new Earth. The focus is on hope and love. In very basic terms (because I really don't have the time to go into a full explanation) we live in a fallen world. All of us do/think bad things. It's inevitable, and it is our human nature. That is not to say though, that everything bad that happens is our own fault, because we are affected by other people's sins too (ie. a drunk driver gets into a head on collision and kills 10 people, but the drunk driver survives) It is not the other 10 people's fault. So, I may have just gone a little off topic, but the IDEA is that through Jesus we are set free from the ultimate effects of sin (eternal separation from God.) Christianity is not really a religion, but a relationship with God. (I do not speak for the other world religions, because I honestly have not studied them that in depth) It is about restoring that relationship, like, as we say having a father to help us deal with life. It's like having someone to help us and guide us. It's being loved. As a result of that love, we ought to want to show that love to other people. This is where you get the idea of the here and now. It's where all the ministries that help people come from. It's the missionaries giving medical attention to children in Africa and the people who help our children and marriages here. It's the overflowing of God's love for us to our fellow man, and it is our duty to show that love to the world. 

@SirNickDon@xanga - Thankyou. :)

Why wouldn't we vote? I guess I don't really understand what exactly it is that is stopping you from voting. I think that voting is part of my duty as a citizen and a person who is able to. I also think that it's stupid to complain about what you permit, so if you're not going to vote, you shouldn't talk bad about any of the politicians you didn't bother voting against (or for). Also, I personally feel like I owe it to a lot of people who fought for my right to vote (as an American, a woman, and a black person, I have a war and two movements to thank for the fact that I can even go to the polls at all), and I would be remiss if I disrespected their sacrifices by choosing not to vote. 

If you vote, don't vote your "values."  This may seem really intolerant of me to say but you never exhibit values by voting to "help the poor" etc.  First, these programs often create more poverty AND you are more likely than not voting to take money from someone other than yourself and put it in the pocket of poor people.  

@TheGreatBout@xanga - I read (well, skimmed) the article you mentioned. He has some interesting things to say. He's right that you are at liberty not to vote if you don't agree with everything a candidate and their party stands for. That's great, except that whatever that party stands for is likely going to affect your life in some way (through funding cuts, new laws, etc), so even though your vote may not decide the election, at least you are helping decide who gets to decide what happens to you (on some level). Again, we shouldn't complain about what we permit.

Yeah we need to vote to keep the most Godly men we can in office! None of them are going to be perfect OF COURSE because who is?! But if every Christian stopped voting, then the crappy baby killing canidates would pretty much always win the presidency! Do you want that? No. I do my research to make sure the man I am voting for has values as close to mine as possible so I can feel good about the person running our country. If you don't vote then you better not complain when some un-godly person that you don't like is president! just sayin..

I think the phrase "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" is a perfect way to answer such a question. Church and religion should be separate, in my opinion. I am no longer religious, but when I was, I voted according to the needs of America, not the Christian faith. If you vote according to religion, then you are overlooking the several American citizens that are not affiliated with your same religious code, which may not be the best for those people. Anyway, I guess if you had to vote from a completely Christian standpoint, I think you shouldn't vote. However, if you just take Christian ideals and draw your own opinions from that, then it should be fine. America is all about attempting to represent everyone's beliefs. Melting pot and all.

@erotyka@xanga - Then why are you here? 

I think it's funny that so many politicians say they are christians, yet they don't want to have public health care because that means the taxes will rise.. To me, putting your self, you own greed, over other peoples health is not very christian..

By the way I'm sorry if me English isn't perfect, I'm Danish:)