"Will America's Real "Third Party" Please Wake Up?"

[TK]

Will America's Real "Third Party" Please Stand Up? by Dr. Michael L. Brown

According to the latest polls, only 1 percent of voters will cast their ballot for a third party candidate, which means that all the talk of a protest vote against the two main parties will amount to little or nothing. Yet there is already a viable third party in America. It simply needs to awaken to its calling.

Dr. Martin Luther King spoke of this “third party” as well—although not in those terms—saying that it “must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.”

King was speaking of a group of multiplied millions of Americans whose ultimate “citizenship is in heaven” (to use the expression of Paul in the New Testament), a people who are called to go against the grain and challenge the status quo, to be champions of justice and compassion, to lead the way in societal change.

He was (and I am) speaking about followers of Jesus who take their faith seriously and live it out holistically, those who make up the Church from a biblical standpoint (as opposed to Christians in name only). It is this entity that King believed “must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool.”

For the most part, though, we have fallen short of this lofty calling (and I say “we” because I count myself among this company of Jesus People, for better or worse), becoming pawns of the political system more than pioneers of political reform, puppets more than prophets.

Rather than us changing the society (note: I did not say taking over the society), society has changed us. The things that would have outraged our grandparents now entertain us, and for a supposedly “heavenly-minded” people, we are as bogged down in materialistic hedonism as almost anybody else. Even among evangelical Christians, recent surveys indicate that 80 percent of our young people are having sex out of wedlock while our divorce rates mirror those of the secular world.

How can we be “the conscience of the state” when we have lost our own conscience? How can we call ourselves pro-family and pro-life with so much immorality (including addiction to pornography), no-fault divorce, and even abortion in our ranks?

What’s interesting is that many skeptics, scoffers, atheists, and agnostics—those who are rolling their eyes as they read this article—actually affirm what I am writing, albeit in a backhanded way.

What I mean is that it is often those who mock our faith who are the first to call us hypocrites, recognizing that if we really believed what we preached, we would be living differently. In fact, society as a whole actually expects us to live differently, and the average American still expects Christians to help the poor, live wholesome lives, and transcend partisan politics.

Of course, there are some Christians who, as the old saying goes, are “too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good,” but that is actually a violation of the teachings of Jesus. (Judaism is less prone to fall into that trap, and we do well to remember that Jesus was Jewish teacher not a member of the Christian clergy.)

A more balanced perspective is this: Because we understand that what happens in this world has eternal implications for good or for bad, we recognize the importance of life in this world and are on the front lines of bringing about positive change while at the same time resisting societal decay. This is part of what Jesus meant when He told His followers that they (we!) are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Would anyone deny that Jesus, who talked much about heaven and hell and the world to come, constantly emphasized the importance of caring for the needy in this world along with reaching out to the marginalized?

Practically speaking, because our first allegiance is to God we will serve our nation as the best possible citizens, and because our greatest affiliation is to proven, biblical values, we will identify with those values first and with a political party second.

Yet all too often, white evangelicals have given themselves to the Republican Party and black evangelicals to the Democratic Party, even when those parties have failed us. It’s time we step higher.

Yes, I will vote on Nov. 6th, primarily backing Republican candidates, and I see voting as both a responsibility and a privilege. But, as I have written several times before, I am not putting my trust in the White House or Congress or the Supreme Court to change America. I am looking to the committed followers of Jesus to be the primary agents of change, the ultimate counter-culture, counter-establishment party.

Simply stated, if tens of millions of American Christians truly followed the teachings and example of Jesus, there would be a groundswell of compassionate and constructive care for the poor, there would be wholesale educational reform, the multiplication of strong families, a new esteem for the importance of every life, beginning in the womb, the reduction of our prison population and even the revamping of our prison system, along with economic growth and a massive increase in philanthropy, among other things.

So, yes, I’m voting on Nov. 6th, but more than that, I’m looking for the third party to arise.

[Candlepower]

Thank you for posting this, TK. I essentially agree with all of it. But I actually will be voting for a third-party candidate. In our state, the Constitution Party has a Presidential candidate listed. There is also a Libertarian candidate. I will be voting for one of them. In good conscience, I cannot vote for either of the two major- party candidates. It doesn't bother me if other Christians do, as long as they vote their conscience.

I really liked where Brown said...

"Simply stated, if tens of millions of American Christians truly followed the teachings and example of Jesus, there would be a groundswell of compassionate and constructive care for the poor, there would be wholesale educational reform, the multiplication of strong families, a new esteem for the importance of every life, beginning in the womb, the reduction of our prison population and even the revamping of our prison system, along with economic growth and a massive increase in philanthropy, among other things."

And where he said...

"I am looking to the committed followers of Jesus to be the primary agents of change, the ultimate counter-culture, counter-establishment party."

[Paidion]

Yes, I agree, TK, that the third party will have to do much more if they ever hope to win. As it stands, voting for it would seem like a "wasted vote" since it is virtually impossible for it to win.

For many years Canada, too, had a two-party system — The Liberals, and the Conservatives. But the third party, the NDP (New Democratic Party), the most socialist of the three, came into second place and is now the official opposition. Of the 305 members of parliament, the Liberals hold only 35 seats, but the NDP hold 79 seats. So right now the Liberal Party has become the third party. The Conservatives hold the most seats, and are in power. Thus, at present, Canada actually has a three-party system.

There are also other parties. The Bloc Québécois holds 4 seats — all in Québec, of course.

The Green Party is the environmental party. They managed to win one seat.

[mattrose]

I'll give the NDP credit for this awesome video about the need for a 3rd party!

The story of Mouseland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqpFm7zAK90

Of course, I'd rather interpret the mouse at the end as Ron Paul

[Singalphile]

Candlepower wrote:
In good conscience, I cannot vote for either of the two major- party candidates.

Hello, Candlepower. If you don't mind me asking:
1) How would voting for Obama violate your conscience?
2) How would voting for Romney violate your conscience?
3) Do you agree with your favored candidate (Constitutional or Libertarian) about everything?
4) If not, how does it not violate your conscience to vote for for one of them?
5) If there were yet another candidate that you liked even better than your current favorite candidate(s), would it then violate your conscience to vote for the guy you're voting for now?
6) In other words, is it something particular about B.O. and M.R. that will violate your conscience, or is it just that it violates your conscience to vote for anyone except the person who you consider the best option?

I am interested in your reasoning. Thank you.

Thank you, TK, for your initial post too.

[Candlepower]

is it just that it violates your conscience to vote for anyone except the person who you consider the best option?

Yes

[MMathis]

If a third party is not organized you get candidates like Sharon Angle that ran against Harry Reid.
No one had heard of her before (or since) and she was a wack job. The Tea Party waged a war against the other candidates and then lost
and we now have Harry Reid for a few more years.

Either of the other two R candidates would have beaten HR walking away.

Ron Paul is another example. His son endorsed Romney, but not Ron Paul.
Romney could win with the Ron Paul voters on his side. The 3rd party people seem to delight in giving an
election to the worst candidate, because their person is not going to win. (I know he ran as a Rep)

I should say 3rd party and fringy. ie Green party. We would have had Al Gore instead of Dubya, so it works both sides.

[Singalphile]

TK wrote:
I am looking to the committed followers of Jesus to be the primary agents of change, the ultimate counter-culture, counter-establishment party.

I agree very much with the original post. A godless and immoral people won't long prosper, regardless of how "conservative" or "liberal" the laws are.

It is difficult to know where to start though. It's hard to think that anything I can do can make much of a difference, but I can't let that be an excuse. Surely we have to start with ourselves first. That is, I have to start with myself. It's not enough to just do my best at work, be nice to people, and give money to charity/ministry, I think. I know I need to get involved with Christian ministry with local groups. It's surely not enough to just show up for some music and a speech/sermon for an hour a week.

In the bigger picture, I think that churches need to clean house a little bit. I'm not sure to what extent, and that's sort of out of my hands, I guess.

Of course prayer is important as I seek God's will.

To put it in business terms: Each employee needs to pay close attention to what the boss says, obey the rules of the boss, find the right role in the company, and promote the company, and try to make sure that there aren't a bunch of individuals falsely claiming to represent the company. ... or something like that. I'm rambling. You get my drift, I guess.

[MMathis]

All that may be moot after last night.

I think that was our last election in which we had a chance. Maybe our last election period.

[Singalphile]

Oh, I wouldn't say that, MM. Anyway, it couldn't be less moot, I think. Those of us who follow Jesus need to find out how best to use what's going on to further His kingdom, right? Maybe more people will seek after God now.