Voting

President Oaks spoke in the most recent general conference about defending our ivinely inspired constitution. In addition to discussing several inspired principles inherent in the constitution, he also gave counsel on how we are to act as Latter-day Saints and how we should reason when we vote. He said this, “There are many political issues, and no party, platform, or individual candidate can satisfy all personal preferences. Each citizen must therefore decide which issues are most important to him or her at any particular time. Then members should seek inspiration on how to exercise their influence according to their individual priorities. This process will not be easy.” He then made this statement that was very enlightening for me: “Such independent actions will sometimes require voters to support candidates or political parties or platforms whose other positions they cannot approve. That is one reason we encourage our members to refrain from judging one another in political matters. We should never assert that a faithful Latter-day Saint cannot belong to a particular party or vote for a particular candidate. We teach correct principles and leave our members to choose how to prioritize and apply those principles on the issues presented from time to time.” It seems like such an obvious statement, but voting for someone who has “some positions [I] cannot approve” has been very difficult for me. In the last election I really struggled because I found important beliefs of both major presidential candidates to be contrary to principles of the gospel. President Oaks’ message is that voting for a particular candidate does not mean that you endorse everything that candidate stands for.

            This idea reminds me of an exchange between the Savior and the Pharisees. They said to Him, “Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not?” Jesus responded, “Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Cæsar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:17-22). He showed that He was indeed willing to give tribute to the Romans when He allowed Peter to miraculously catch a fish with a piece of money in it to give to Caesar. That action clearly was not an endorsement of all that the Romans were doing, including their generally repression and abuse of the Jews. Jesus could play the tax to the Romans without suggesting that the Romans would even do what was right with the money. In the same manner, we can vote for a candidate without becoming responsible for and endorsing wickedness or violations of principles of the gospel. We can seek to vote not based on everything a candidate believe but rater on those issues that are most important. And of course we look forward to the day when He comes again and we won’t have to worry about voting, for the Savior will be our king: “Wherefore, hear my voice and follow me, and you shall be a free people, and ye shall have no laws but my laws when I come, for I am your lawgiver, and what can stay my hand?” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:22)