Pick Your Poison?

“When offered a choice between two politically intolerable alternatives, it is important to choose neither. And when that choice is presented in rival arguments and debates that exclude from public consideration any other set of possibilities, it becomes a duty to withdraw from those arguments and debates, so as to resist the imposition of this false choice by those who have arrogated to themselves the power of framing the alternatives.”

“The Only Vote Worth Casting in November” – Alasdair MacIntyre

Macintyre wrote his thoughts for the 2004 election and concluded not voting his preferred choice. This presidential election would be farcical if the consequences were not so dire – an unhinged authoritarian, who fancies himself America’s solitary savior and the continuation of the current president’s failed agenda plus the worst the Clintons and the Democratic intoleristas have to offer.  I’ll make my sentiments known to start – I am not voting for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. But I will vote.

Quite a few Christians are really straining at gnats to swallow the Donald – some fancy him a carrot haired Cyrus to rescue the chosen & return them to the Promised Land (Isaiah 45; Ezra). Others resort to their own convoluted numerological computations to read between the lines and conclude that Trump is the Lord’s anointed. Wayne Grudem, Professor at Phoenix Seminary, and part of the evangelical protestant magisterium has declared “ex cathedra” that voting for Trump is a moral good. While Grudem did not say it directly but indirectly by quoting James 4:17, the opposite then is also true – not to vote for Trump is a moral evil. Besides the questionable convictions supposed “born-again” conversion and character of the Donald who has flipped flopped on every issue over the last 30 years, Grudem hopes for Trump to reverse decades of social change, judicial and legal rulings and moral drift is fantasy. His certainty that Trump will do differently or be better in office than his opponent is an implausible, unverifiable pipedream. To distort scripture & make voting for Trump a moral imperative, is a disservice to those who find themselves sorting out the dilemma that the devolution of our political system has resulted in a choice between 2 repugnant candidates.

As Thomas Sowell said “voting for an out of control egomaniac like Donald Trump would be like playing Russian roulette with the future of this country. Voting for someone with a track record like Hillary Clinton’s is like putting a shotgun to your head and pulling the trigger. And not voting at all is just giving up” (National Review – 8/2/16). It is time to demonstrate that there is more than choosing between 2 bankrupt political parties and the 2 worst candidates in recent American history. I choose not to play Russian roulette. There are alternatives. If you don’t want to be restricted to choosing between a bombastic, cruel, narcissist or a felonious prevaricator then find those alternatives & vote according to your convictions. You’ll find the American Solidarity Party, with a platform that aims at enacting pro-life, pro-justice Catholic social teaching, one for consideration.