This is not a political blog, but Christians do vote, and we should consider Biblical truth when we vote.  Here in Glenrothes, there are five candidates on the ballot.

I suppose I should first speak about the Brexit / Independent candidate.  The Brexit party withdrew its support from their nominee.  While I would agree with Mr Farrell on many things, far more probably than any of the other candidates, he cannot have my support.  I cannot give my vote to someone who claims to be a Christian minister and yet brings shame on the name of Christ.  The Christian Gospel does include warning people of the consequences of their sin, but it does not involve personal declarations of war on people, whatever their sin.  Nor should someone with the title of a minister of the Gospel use unclean language, and blast it out on the Internet for all to see.

The honour of my Lord comes before any political considerations, and when someone claims His name for themselves, but blatantly violates who He is and gives cause for the enemies of Christ to blaspheme, he will not have my vote.

This leaves us with candidates from the SNP, Labour, Liberal Democrats, and Conservative parties.  From a Biblical Christian perspective, all of these parties have a horrible record on moral issues such as abortion, homosexual “marriage”, and the current extremist transgender lunacy that, among other things, provides a pass for any predator into places he shouldn’t be if he just “identifies” as a woman.  All will run huge financial deficits and saddle our children and grandchildren with immense debts, eventually to be paid by swingeing taxes and huge cuts to government services — the difference is only one of degree, not of principle.  All seem to worship at the altar of the modern religion of hyper environmentalism.

That said, there are some important differences.  Labour is led by Jeremy Corbyn, a fan of atheistic communism and apologist for both IRA and Islamic terrorists, who at least caters to, if not himself imbibes, in the hatred of Jews simply because of their birth.

The SNP is perhaps the most anti-family of the parties, as evidenced by their failed Named Person legislation and their attempt to micromanage the raising and discipline of every child, violating the God-given parental authority.  Greater disorder in society will be the fruit of their interference in family discipline, as even more undisciplined children grow up.

I may be mistaken, but it appears to me from what they are saying that Labour will facilitate the SNP’s agenda, and vice versa.  From a Christian perspective, I can see little difference between them.  Both would give us Prime Minister Corbyn, terrorist sympathisers and anti-Semites in power, and inevitably bring the judgment of God on this country.  I expect to see significant persecution of Christians before the five years of a Corbyn premiership would end, and the SNP would aid and abet this.

From a moral standpoint, it appears to me the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have not sunk quite so low as Labour and the SNP, but certainly neither deserve the vote of Christians and, on the contrary, have done much to lose it.  If you wish to review the parties on moral issues, the Christian Institute has a useful analysis.  There are indeed differences, but it is a case of bad vs worse vs much worse.

It appears to me that we really have two choices in this election:  we can spoil our ballot paper, or we can decide that one party is so abhorrent that it must be repudiated by voting for one of its rivals, as bad as they may be.

There is some Biblical precedent for the latter course.  God gave power to the Assyrians and to the Babylonians, both very wicked regimes, to punish sinful Israel and Judah.  He could similarly use our votes to punish political parties for their extremely sinful behaviour.  If you take this course, you are not endorsing the party who gets your vote, you are simply saying that a rival party is so godless that it must be defeated.

But there is also something to be said for spoiling the ballot paper.  This is often done simply by putting a large X across the names.  The parties know that a spoiled paper means a vote that was available and has been lost.  If you choose this course, make sure to make no mark in or near any of the boxes, so that no one can claim you meant to vote for one of the options.  Perhaps you could write across the names, “None of these, I’m a Christian.”  Few will see it, but you have registered your disapproval, and why.

Ultimately, we know that the powers that be are ordained by God (Romans 13).   Since we live in a country where we are allowed to vote, that means that God uses the votes of many people, including Christians, as His means of deciding who will be allowed to lead the government.  Christians should pray for wisdom in how to use their vote, whether to repudiate one party, or all of them.  We should not vote based on what we think will make my life easier, or mean a little more money for me, but rather on the principles of what is right and what is likely to bring God’s judgment, or blessing, on the nation.