Voting Guide JUSTLOVE COLLECTIVE
JustLove Public Policy Principles Five Questions to Take Into the Voting Booth How Should a Follower of Jesus Vote? Action Creates Hope
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JUSTLOVE PUBLIC POLICY PRINCIPLES Justice + Love in Public Life
JustLove Collective is a faith-rooted movement inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus and the biblical call to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. We believe faith has implications for the way we live together. Justice requires more than acts of charity. It also calls us to examine the systems, institutions, laws, and public policies that shape people’s lives. We do not expect people of goodwill to agree on every political question. Nor do we identify the work of justice with any political party or candidate. We seek instead to bring the values of justice, mercy, human dignity, freedom, inclusion, and love into public life. These principles guide that work.
1. The dignity and worth of every person Every human being possesses inherent dignity and deserves to be treated with respect. Public policy should protect that dignity and resist systems that demean, exploit, exclude, or dehumanize people. We are particularly attentive to the experiences and voices of people who have historically been pushed to the margins.
2. Racial justice Racism—whether expressed personally, culturally, or systemically—is incompatible with justice and love. We support efforts to identify and dismantle racial discrimination and to build institutions in which race or ethnicity does not determine a person’s opportunity, treatment, safety, or participation in society.
3. Inclusion and equal treatment A just society makes room for people across differences of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, economic circumstance, religion, and background. We support policies that protect people from unjust discrimination and create communities in which everyone can participate with dignity and safety.
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4. LGBTQ+ dignity and safety LGBTQ+ people should be able to live without fear of violence, harassment, exclusion, or discrimination. We support the creation of safe and inclusive communities and public policies that recognize the dignity and protect the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people.
5. Economic justice An economy should serve people rather than measure its success solely by the accumulation of wealth. We strongly favor closing tax loopholes for the rich. We support policies that expand meaningful economic opportunity, address poverty and economic insecurity, protect people from exploitation, and enable individuals and families to obtain the necessities of life and participate fully in their communities.
6. Refugees, immigrants, and displaced people Our moral concern does not stop at national borders. We believe refugees, immigrants, asylum seekers, and displaced people should be treated humanely and with dignity. We support policies that balance legitimate responsibilities of government with compassion, due process, family integrity, human rights, and particular concern for people fleeing violence, persecution, or extreme hardship.
7. Care for the Earth The natural world is not merely a resource to be consumed but a creation entrusted to our care. We support responsible stewardship of the environment, protection of clean air and water, conservation of the natural world, and serious responses to environmental threats that endanger present and future generations. We recognize that environmental harm often falls disproportionately on poor and marginalized communities.
8. Protection from violence, abuse, and exploitation A just society has a special responsibility to protect people who are vulnerable to abuse, violence, trafficking, exploitation, and neglect. We support effective prevention, accountability, protection of victims, traumainformed responses, and meaningful resources for survivors.
9. Justice that seeks restoration Justice must protect communities and hold people accountable for harm while continuing to recognize the humanity of those who have caused harm. We encourage approaches to criminal and social justice that seek accountability, restoration, rehabilitation, reconciliation where possible, and the prevention of future harm.
10. Peace and nonviolence We affirm the tradition of those who have confronted injustice courageously without surrendering to hatred or dehumanization. We favor peaceful means of resolving conflict whenever possible and believe the use of violence and coercive power should always be subjected to serious moral scrutiny. We support registering firearms and banning assault weapons. Peacemaking is not passive acceptance of injustice. It can require courageous resistance to oppression and persistent work for change. We believe in providing more resources for establishing peace.
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11. Freedom of conscience and religion
14. Particular concern for people on the margins
Freedom of conscience is fundamental to human dignity. We support the freedom to practice and share a faith, change one’s faith, question one’s faith, or practice no faith, without coercion or discrimination. We support the separation of church and state and oppose the use of government power to establish, impose, or privilege religious belief or practice. Religious liberty belongs equally to all and must be exercised with respect for the equal rights and dignity of others.
Public policy should not be evaluated solely by how it affects those who already possess wealth, influence, security, and political power. Following the example of Jesus and the biblical prophets, we ask especially how our laws and institutions affect people who are poor, oppressed, excluded, displaced, vulnerable, or unheard. Their voices should be included in decisions that affect their lives.
12. Democracy, participation, and accountable government
These principles do not provide an automatic answer to every political question. People who share the same moral principles can sometimes disagree about the policies most likely to achieve them. For that reason, JustLove seeks to approach public questions with humility, evidence, dialogue, and particular attention to people most directly affected. We will advocate for policies when our principles call us to do so. We will challenge injustice regardless of the political party or ideology responsible for it. We will listen when those most affected tell us that our assumptions are wrong. And we will remain willing to reconsider our positions as we learn. Our allegiance is not to a political party. Our aspiration is justice shaped by love. Our question is not simply, “Which side are you on?” It is: “What does justice require, what does love require, and how can we act?”
Government exists to serve people and should remain accountable to them. We support broad participation in civic life, meaningful access to voting, the rule of law, truthful public discourse, peaceful political participation, and institutions capable of holding public officials accountable. We believe Christians should be willing to speak truth in love to those who exercise power, regardless of their political affiliation.
13. Truth in public life Justice depends upon truth. Political disagreement does not justify dishonesty, deliberate misinformation, dehumanization, or the manipulation of fear. We encourage public leaders, institutions, media, religious communities, and citizens to pursue truth, acknowledge mistakes, listen to evidence, and engage opponents with honesty and respect.
How We Approach Public Policy
—JustLove Collective
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FIVE QUESTIONS TO TAKE INTO THE VOTING BOOTH Step into a voting booth and you’re asked to make an astonishing number of judgments about people you barely know. So we improvise. Republican. Democrat. I’ve heard that name. She looks competent. He sounds like me. I saw his ad. My friend likes her. That guy scares me. These shortcuts may help us choose a candidate. But they tell us surprisingly little about what happens when we give this person power. For a thought experiment, let’s look at the questions raised by the folks who spent their lives confronting powerful rulers: the Hebrew prophets. They lived 2500–3000 years ago under kings rather than democracies, but they knew a lot about power. And their stories ask the important questions.
1. What happens when this person gets power? King David saw a beautiful woman bathing and wanted her. There was one inconvenience: her husband. David used his power to arrange his death. Then Prophet Nathan marched into the palace, told David a pretend story about injustice. David was enraged at the perpetrator. Nathan looked the king in the eye and declared: “You are the man.” Nathan understood that character becomes
particularly consequential when multiplied by power.
2. Truth—or yes-men? War was imminent. King Ahab summoned 400 prophets for council. All but one told him what he wanted to hear. His name was Micaiah. Ahab loathed truth tellers. He raged “I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me.” Ahab threw Micaiah into prison and went to war. By sundown Ahab was dead, struck by an arrow.
3. How are things going for the people at the bottom? Amos took a tour of Israel and wasn’t impressed. The wealthy lived in privilege while the poor were exploited; merchants cheated customers and courts took their orders from the powerful. He wrote a poem that still echoes: “Let justice roll down like waters.” Amos measured national success from the bottom up.
4. Is anyone above the law? King Ahab had his eye on Naboth’s lush vineyard. Naboth said “it’s not for sale.” His wife, Queen Jezebel fabricated false charges. Naboth was stoned to death. Ahab got
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the vineyard. Then Elijah appeared: “Have you killed and also taken possession?” Is there one law for ordinary people and another for those in power?
5. Service or self? Nebuchadnezzar surveyed magnificent Babylon and congratulated himself: “I have built [this] by my mighty power and for my glorious majesty.” Daniel had warned him about arrogance and oppression. He didn’t listen. The Hebrew writers knew the danger of a ruler intoxicated with his own importance. Nathan. Micaiah. Amos. Elijah. Daniel. They leave us with better questions than Does he look presidential? or Is she on my team?
What happens when this person gets power? Truth or yes-men? Who gets crushed? Is anyone above the law? Is leadership about service—or self? Those are questions worth carrying into the voting booth. Because in a democracy, we don’t merely choose our leaders. We decide what kind of leadership gets rewarded with power.
—Dave Gemmell is a retired pastor, writer, and lifelong student of the intersection of faith, democracy, and public life.
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HOW SHOULD A FOLLOWER OF JESUS VOTE? Ten Suggestions for This Election and Beyond Whenever voting season arrives, we face questions. How do we navigate a field mined with incompatible claims? Whom can we truly believe? Which storylines are most important? The following are guides to consider when, as committed followers of Jesus, we prepare to
eyeglasses because, after all, Jesus didn’t. The key word is reasonably, which connotes balance. In one sense everything is political, including the air we breathe and the streets we drive on. To stay clear of all “politics” is to veer from life. Voting matters because it profoundly
cast a ballot in any election.
affects the day-to-day lives of people who are
1. Thou shalt remain reasonably knowledgeable about issues.
know every proposition and county supervisor,
Jesus directs, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Mark 12:17). Evidently, He knew what was in Caesar’s salad and what wasn’t. Romans 13 begins, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities” and provides an impassioned defense for paying
dearly loved. Sure, we can’t be expected to but we can review proposition summaries and candidate statements. Apathy is not a Christian virtue. In the true Lord’s prayer, Jesus sends us into the world (John 17:18) to help a suffering planet. One way is by being an intelligent, engaged citizen.
regional governor as “that fox” (Luke 13:32).
2. Thou shalt not hitch thy wagon to one political party, right or wrong.
The argument that Jesus didn’t involve
A close friend of mine in his mid-70s
taxes (verses 6, 7). Jesus isn’t commenting on Herod’s good looks when referring to the
Himself in the politics of His day so we
confided, “I’ve been a registered .....................................
shouldn’t in our day, is misguided. His context—
since I was 18, but I’m changing parties this
living in an occupied country under a
year.” We are never too old or young for healthy
dictatorship without voting rights—was
change.
different from most nations today. We might as well refuse to use cell phones or wear
Political parties are not sacred vessels. God is not a Republican or a Democrat, a Libertarian
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or a Green or a member of the Inanimate
We are voting not merely on a candidate’s
Objects Party. Our personal identity is
recorded past but on a foreseeable future.
inextricably, joyfully bound up with Jesus.
In a culture where lying is epidemic, simply
We may land upon a convincing political
telling the truth sets people apart. Mistrust in
point of view, an agreeable pulse and trajectory,
any relationship sooner or later violates and
but in the end, every political party can rightly
imprisons. By contrast, Jesus declares, “The
admit that they are, along with all humanity,
truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
“wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17).
The apostle Paul warned, “Remember that there will be difficult times in the last days. People will be selfish, greedy, boastful, and
3. Thou shalt acknowledge that complexity cannot fairly be reduced to a 15-second sound bite. The Information Age morphed to our Age of Entertainment, in which what attracts attention and heightens affection is style over substance. Unfortunately, shimmer and bounce do not help us to assess justice, love, and truth. In his classic Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman laments, “Americans no longer talk to each other; they entertain each other. They do not exchange ideas; they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions; they argue with good looks, celebrities, and commercials” (pp. 92, 93). He wrote that four decades ago. Within today’s complex realms of immigration, healthcare, energy, inflation, abortion, homelessness, and free speech we encounter layered nuances and knotted suppositions. We may feel like muttering “Whatever” and bolting, or else join the spin merchants. Neither approach honors Jesus, who said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). Sift. Read. Investigate. Compare. Reach beyond easy pieties and cynical offerings. Remain patient and attentive. Don’t tell time by the second hand. Love with your mind.
4. Thou shalt weigh integrity of character. Adlai Stevenson quipped, “Your public servants serve you right.” Character matters.
conceited; they will be insulting, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and irreligious; they will be unkind, merciless, slanderers, violent, and fierce; they will hate the good; they will be treacherous, reckless, and swollen with pride; they will love pleasure rather than God; they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power. Keep away from such people” (2 Tim. 3:1-5. GNB). And avoid voting for them.
5. Thou shalt obtain decisionmaking information from multiple sources. Whether MS NOW, CNN, FOX, CBS, or ABC, TV news is a medium of disconnected images. Postman calls the result disinformation that “creates the illusion of knowing something but which in fact leads one away from knowing” (p. 107).
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In addition, “news” is driven mostly by fear. I knew a household that was tuned to one cable news network 15 hours a day. During those 15 hours fresh fears were concocted, coddled, and proclaimed. Finally, the family decided to limit their news viewing.
believe you were wrong about this?” He thought for a moment. “Nothing.” I tried to stifle my astonishment. “Well,” I said at last, “so much for open-mindedness.” He shrugged. “Yep.” That question is one I have wrestled with myself: At what point would I change my mind on any subject? We all need humility. Naming a
Everything is political, including breathing.
If you watch TV news you can battle confirmation bias by clicking the “other” stations—including PBS and BBC—to honestly examine differing perspectives. For a historian's perspective, see Heather Cox Richardson's daily "Letters from an American." For political reading, The Week magazine features excellent contrasting ideas and pithy international views. If you’re on digital platforms make certain to sample outside your “input bubble” and stay aware that your information avenues are being bought and sold. Followers of Jesus see life primarily through the lens of the living Word, who challenges His followers to be unafraid and to look beyond their worldview. (For evidence, see Matt. 6:25; 8:26; 12:7; 28:10; Mark 5:36; 9:35; 12:43; Luke 4:21; 5:10; 9:55; 24:27; John 14:1, 27; 16:12; 20:21.) Jesus also assures, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). This guided tour is rarely a quick trip.
6. Thou shalt be willing to change thy mind. Such a change isn’t flip-flopping; it’s called education. We should grant the same freedom to political players. In a college public speaking class I taught, one student delivered a persuasive talk on climate change. His premise was plain: Climate change is a hoax. During question-and-answer time I asked, “What evidence would make you
tipping point enables us to remain fluid, to concede that something does exist on the other side of our present conviction.
7. Thou shalt not be a generalizing, one-issue voter. Voting issues are multi-faceted. For example, pro-life actually includes nutrition, housing, pollution, war, prescription drugs, education, adoption, racism, and eldercare. If we discount these elements, pro-life is nothing more than probirth. Jesus announced His public ministry to “preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). He was speaking to helping people spiritually, physically, and mentally through discipleship, healing, and education. That’s why Seventh-day Adventists, for example, focus on churches, hospitals, and schools. In the past I’ve heard people declare that their U.S. presidential vote is based on one issue only. “Climate change.” “Abortion.” “Inflation.” “Universal healthcare.” “Civil rights.” These choices are definitely more than tomato/tomahto, yet we don’t have to pick one and ignore the others.
8. Thou shalt not vote only for thine own interests. As followers of Jesus we are called to stand up for the vulnerable, to carry a voice for the voiceless. With persistence and love we speak truth to power (Eph. 4:15). Poor people are not peripheral to God. They are central. More than 2,000 Bible verses point out the sacred duty to protect and uphold those of us who are poor.
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Though the roads to efficacy may differ, policies and budgets ought to seek the
crucified (Luke 23:34). Following the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln
common good. This “common good” is aimed
ordered the military band to play “Dixie.”
especially at people on life’s margins, no matter
Mohandas Gandhi, a Hindu, protected and served
their age, race, beliefs, wealth, nationality, or
Muslims. Eleanor Roosevelt refused to fear
orientation (Isa. 1:17; 10:1, 2).
anybody, thus birthing the Universal Declaration of
Voting primarily for our own bank accounts
Human Rights. Nelson Mandela included his former
is monstrous. We cannot serve both money and
captors in restructuring South Africa. Democrats
Jesus (Matt. 6:24). With defiant optimism and
and Republicans joined together multiple times to
by God’s grace, we refuse to conform to a
pass funding to fight the coronavirus outbreak.
grasping culture (Rom. 12:2). Like the Shepherd, we live with compassion and courage. Jesus always came down on the side of real
All were determined to “cross the aisle,” to keep their heart and hands open for the better promises of peaceful love.
people rather than systems. Which candidate is treating the populace as loved individuals, not data points or conduits to power? “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you [voted on behalf of] one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you [voted] for me’” (Matt. 25:40, NIV).
9. Thou shalt truly love thy enemies. In addition to the commandment “Love your
10. Thou shalt vote each moment of every day. Our ultimate allegiance extends to Jesus of Nazareth. How we live each day is in itself an act of voting (Col. 3:23). Each moment is a precinct gathering with God. Conscience, context, the Bible, and thoughtful consideration provide our best voting guides. The ballot box of daily living confirms our status as liberated, teachable, grace-saturated
enemies” (Matt. 5:44)—as much a command as
citizens of the New Earth. Everything matters. Each
the original Ten—Jesus said, “Blessed are the
thought and every action, all day long, channel to
peacemakers, for they will be called children of
one choice.
God” (Matt. 5:9). Find at least one thing on which you can
[ ] Follower of Jesus
agree with the opposing side. The two churches where I served as pastor welcome believers of every hue on the political spectrum, yet we work together as one body. As distasteful and destructive as “that side” appears, followers of Jesus do not react with dismissive rancor. By the way, Jesus didn’t say, “Like your enemies.” We don’t have to like people or their words or acts. Jesus does call us to love everyone as He does—to treat all people with grace and dignity, created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). Christ calls us to comprehensive civility. History reverberates with stories of gracious inclusion. While hanging on the Cross, Jesus prayed for the very people who had Him
——Chris Blake is professor emeritus of English and communication at Union Adventist University, a former editor of Insight magazine, and author of hundreds of articles and many books.
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