1. Thou shalt not vote out of greed
2. Thou shalt not vote out of fear
3. Thou shalt not vote out of laziness and indifference and merely copy thy friends
4. Thou shalt not vote out of spite so as to negate someone else's vote
5. Thou shalt not vote trivially according to thy favourite colour or the looks of a politician
6. Thou shalt not vote merely to be on the "winning" side
7. Thou shalt not dishonour God by seeking a miracle to show you which way to vote at the last minute. Thou shalt use the mind God created thou with.
8. Thou shalt vote for men and women of integrity who are prepared to take the road of a servant
9. Thou shalt prepare to vote by reading policies, speaking to politicians, and understanding the system and the possible outcomes of an election
10. Thou shalt vote for justice
Showing posts with label Christian Vote. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian Vote. Show all posts
Monday, June 25, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
How should Christians vote? 3. Not morally
There appears to me to be a hard core of Christians who vote in the hope of "Trickle down morality" from Politicians. Sorry, but not matter how you vote at the polls it will not usher in the Kingdom of heaven.
Yes, we should demand of our politicians, along with all leaders, a high moral standard. We should also try and be aware of their likely stand on certain issues.
However, it is abhorrent to me that Christians think that politicians should do the role of the church and be a defender of Christian values. Morals must "bubble up" from the lives of individual Christians attuned to the mind that sets the standard for all morals to be measured against.
Instead of focusing on one or two moral issues these Christians should look at the larger picture and consider if politicians and their parties are pursuing justice in all issues.
Yes, we should demand of our politicians, along with all leaders, a high moral standard. We should also try and be aware of their likely stand on certain issues.
However, it is abhorrent to me that Christians think that politicians should do the role of the church and be a defender of Christian values. Morals must "bubble up" from the lives of individual Christians attuned to the mind that sets the standard for all morals to be measured against.
Instead of focusing on one or two moral issues these Christians should look at the larger picture and consider if politicians and their parties are pursuing justice in all issues.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
How should Christians vote? 2. Understand
There is no excuse not to understand the voting system. If you don't understand the system, you may well find that your vote is wasted or used for something you didn't intend.
Local body elections have their own voting system and this may differ from city to city - Find out what yours is.
The national MMP system has been in place 11 years. Simply:
1. You get two votes.
2. One vote, the electorate vote, is for the person to represent you and your "electorate" (immediate area) in parliament. There are about 63 electorates in New Zealand, meaning that 63 of the Members of Parliament are there because they won the electorate. The individual who wins the electorate is the person who gets the most electorate votes (ie they don't have to get 50% - just more than any other candidate standing in that electorate). Their part affiliation (if any) has absolutely no bearing on the outcome. NOTE: If we wanted we could vote in 63 independent MPs with no party affiliation to represent the interests of our area. For the vast majority of electorates it does not make sense to vote for someone just because they belong to a particular party (although - this may say something about them). Christians should be trying to discern what kind of individuals are standing in their electorate, what their integrity is, what their capabilities are and vote accordingly.
3. The second vote, the party vote, is for a political party that you wish to have representation in parliament. The party vote determines the overall make up of parliament - ie the number of MPs from a particular party is proportional to the total party vote that they get. There are normally 120 MPs in parliament total being made up of the 63 electorate MPs and the 57 who come into parliament via the list. The actual MPs who get in parliament from a particular party will be made up of those who win an electorate seat and, if the party vote is large enough, others who are next on the "list" that every party must publish prior to the election.
4. NOTE: The party vote is NOT a vote for a prime minister. We do not have that kind of system like in the US where they have a vote for a president. There is, in fact, no guarantee that the prime minister will be the leader of the biggest party in parliament. It is almost certain that no one party will get more than 50% of the vote and, therefore, be able to govern alone (the last time a party got more than 50% of the vote in New Zealand was in 1951 following the Waterfront Strikes). This means that there are likely to be some kind of arrangement between parties. Depending on how the numbers fall will determine what kind of arrangements are possible. For example, if, in the next election, National won 59 seats, Labour 50, and the Greens 11 and no one else was in Parliament, then National could not form a government all by itself. However, National + Greens (unlikely) could or Labour + Greens (more likely) could form a government.
5. There are only two ways that a Party can gain representation in parliament - they must either, win an electorate seat OR get more than 5% of the party vote. In the current parliament four parties - Progressive (1MP), United Future (3MPs), Maori (4MPs), and ACT (2MPs) gained their position in parliament because at least one of the MPs won an electorate seat. In the case of Progressive their party vote was not sufficient to gain another MP. In the case of UF and ACT their party vote was sufficient that they gained two and one more MP respectively. The Maori won 4 electorates and have 4 MPs even though their party vote only was the equivalent of 3MPs (that is why this parliament has 121MPs and not 120 - called an overhang).
Greens and NZ First did not gain an electorate seat, but both passed the 5% barrier. Labour and National both passed the 5% barrier and gained electorate seats.
6. NOTE: If you vote for a Party that does not either win an electorate seat or reach the 5% barrier then your vote is not lost - it is redistributed to the parties that do get into parliament. This has the effect of giving some other parties extra seats in parliament (in particular the larger parties). Eg. From memory 0.62% of voters voted for Destiny in the last election (about 12000 votes I think). Of those 12000 votes about 4800 were given to Labour, 4800 to National and the rest to Greens, NZ First, United Future, ACT, and Progressives in that order. The outcome is that Destiny voters most likely contributed to more seats for Labour and National. So, before you cast your party vote, you should make sure that the party you are wanting to vote for is most likely to be in parliament (because it will win an electorate seat OR is polling at least above 3 or 4%) OR you are happy for your vote to be redistributed to other parties (another way of looking at it is that you may be passionately opposed to National, say, and think that Mcgillicuddy serious party is a better alternative. But the McGs won't get into parliament so about 0.4 (40%) of your vote will be given to National whom you oppose if they get 40% of votes cast on the night of the election!!!)
Local body elections have their own voting system and this may differ from city to city - Find out what yours is.
The national MMP system has been in place 11 years. Simply:
1. You get two votes.
2. One vote, the electorate vote, is for the person to represent you and your "electorate" (immediate area) in parliament. There are about 63 electorates in New Zealand, meaning that 63 of the Members of Parliament are there because they won the electorate. The individual who wins the electorate is the person who gets the most electorate votes (ie they don't have to get 50% - just more than any other candidate standing in that electorate). Their part affiliation (if any) has absolutely no bearing on the outcome. NOTE: If we wanted we could vote in 63 independent MPs with no party affiliation to represent the interests of our area. For the vast majority of electorates it does not make sense to vote for someone just because they belong to a particular party (although - this may say something about them). Christians should be trying to discern what kind of individuals are standing in their electorate, what their integrity is, what their capabilities are and vote accordingly.
3. The second vote, the party vote, is for a political party that you wish to have representation in parliament. The party vote determines the overall make up of parliament - ie the number of MPs from a particular party is proportional to the total party vote that they get. There are normally 120 MPs in parliament total being made up of the 63 electorate MPs and the 57 who come into parliament via the list. The actual MPs who get in parliament from a particular party will be made up of those who win an electorate seat and, if the party vote is large enough, others who are next on the "list" that every party must publish prior to the election.
4. NOTE: The party vote is NOT a vote for a prime minister. We do not have that kind of system like in the US where they have a vote for a president. There is, in fact, no guarantee that the prime minister will be the leader of the biggest party in parliament. It is almost certain that no one party will get more than 50% of the vote and, therefore, be able to govern alone (the last time a party got more than 50% of the vote in New Zealand was in 1951 following the Waterfront Strikes). This means that there are likely to be some kind of arrangement between parties. Depending on how the numbers fall will determine what kind of arrangements are possible. For example, if, in the next election, National won 59 seats, Labour 50, and the Greens 11 and no one else was in Parliament, then National could not form a government all by itself. However, National + Greens (unlikely) could or Labour + Greens (more likely) could form a government.
5. There are only two ways that a Party can gain representation in parliament - they must either, win an electorate seat OR get more than 5% of the party vote. In the current parliament four parties - Progressive (1MP), United Future (3MPs), Maori (4MPs), and ACT (2MPs) gained their position in parliament because at least one of the MPs won an electorate seat. In the case of Progressive their party vote was not sufficient to gain another MP. In the case of UF and ACT their party vote was sufficient that they gained two and one more MP respectively. The Maori won 4 electorates and have 4 MPs even though their party vote only was the equivalent of 3MPs (that is why this parliament has 121MPs and not 120 - called an overhang).
Greens and NZ First did not gain an electorate seat, but both passed the 5% barrier. Labour and National both passed the 5% barrier and gained electorate seats.
6. NOTE: If you vote for a Party that does not either win an electorate seat or reach the 5% barrier then your vote is not lost - it is redistributed to the parties that do get into parliament. This has the effect of giving some other parties extra seats in parliament (in particular the larger parties). Eg. From memory 0.62% of voters voted for Destiny in the last election (about 12000 votes I think). Of those 12000 votes about 4800 were given to Labour, 4800 to National and the rest to Greens, NZ First, United Future, ACT, and Progressives in that order. The outcome is that Destiny voters most likely contributed to more seats for Labour and National. So, before you cast your party vote, you should make sure that the party you are wanting to vote for is most likely to be in parliament (because it will win an electorate seat OR is polling at least above 3 or 4%) OR you are happy for your vote to be redistributed to other parties (another way of looking at it is that you may be passionately opposed to National, say, and think that Mcgillicuddy serious party is a better alternative. But the McGs won't get into parliament so about 0.4 (40%) of your vote will be given to National whom you oppose if they get 40% of votes cast on the night of the election!!!)
Monday, June 11, 2007
How should Christians vote? 1. Vote
So - I'm politically minded - please forgive me. I happen to think it important for Christians to be that way. As this is not election year in NZ, I thought I'd blog a little about "How Christian's should vote" (note - not who they should vote for). I'll try to be party politically neutral!
The first decisions Christians should make is that they should vote. In NZ, this means they should vote in both local body and national elections.
What's my reason for saying this? Of course, Jesus didn't vote - there was no democracy for him to vote in. In fact, the Bible gives no direct command to vote. What it does indicate is that political authorities derive their authority from God (Jesus said as much to Pilate). It is clear that we must pray for those in authority. It is also clear that we are to be the salt of the earth - preserving that which is good. I can't see how we can pray, but not participate, or be the salt of the earth - but not even cast a vote. This is like trying to swim without getting wet.
During the last election campaign I had people tell me, proudly, that they wouldn't vote. It was as if they believed they held some higher moral position by doing so. To me, this would be like Jesus saying - I won't talk to Zacchaeus because I'm better than him. By failing to engage with our broader community - and that includes the political one - we fail to be the people God created us to be.
Furthermore, I believe voting is a necessary requirement of citizenship. Anyone who has an opinion about how the government should behave, yet does not exercise their opportunity to shape that government, has, to me, given up their rights to protection by that government beyond the rights that a foreigner has.
So - get out and vote.
The first decisions Christians should make is that they should vote. In NZ, this means they should vote in both local body and national elections.
What's my reason for saying this? Of course, Jesus didn't vote - there was no democracy for him to vote in. In fact, the Bible gives no direct command to vote. What it does indicate is that political authorities derive their authority from God (Jesus said as much to Pilate). It is clear that we must pray for those in authority. It is also clear that we are to be the salt of the earth - preserving that which is good. I can't see how we can pray, but not participate, or be the salt of the earth - but not even cast a vote. This is like trying to swim without getting wet.
During the last election campaign I had people tell me, proudly, that they wouldn't vote. It was as if they believed they held some higher moral position by doing so. To me, this would be like Jesus saying - I won't talk to Zacchaeus because I'm better than him. By failing to engage with our broader community - and that includes the political one - we fail to be the people God created us to be.
Furthermore, I believe voting is a necessary requirement of citizenship. Anyone who has an opinion about how the government should behave, yet does not exercise their opportunity to shape that government, has, to me, given up their rights to protection by that government beyond the rights that a foreigner has.
So - get out and vote.
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