Introduction

Last week I drew three conclusions from inspired counsel on the subject of voting. These were: (1) we are to cast our vote “on the side of temperance and virtue”: (2) if we vote, “keep your voting to yourself. Do not feel it your duty to urge everyone to do as you do”: and (3) we are to stand free from political strife and corruption.RVSE 4.4

Having considered these points, some questions still persist. Can Seventh-day Adventists participate in certain aspects of politics with good conscience? Are we ever to help in the making of laws, and if so, how? Is it ever proper to hold public office, either elective or appointive?RVSE 4.5

Let us consider politics first. Uriah Smith, looking at the political situation in our country in 1884, wrote with insight and pessimism:RVSE 4.6

“Fraud, dishonesty, usurpation, lying, cheating, and stealing, will largely determine the count; and the party which can do most of this work will probably win.”—The Review and Herald, July 15, 1884.

Some years later, George C. Tenney, coeditor of the Review with Uriah Smith, defined “pure politics” much as the dictionary does, as something that “embraces the sciences and principles of good government. Political economy, political science, philanthropy, civil government—in fact, every branch of statecraft and statesmanship—are included in pure politics.”RVSE 4.7

If politics as generally practiced were this “pure,” we would have no argument with it. But we will have to agree with Elder Tenney that politics, as generally known, has “become a name for demagogism, a system of personal wire-pulling, a cover for chicanery [and] trickery,” with politicians generally having a “burning desire for office and its spoils” and legislators moved “by one consideration only—the prospect of re-election.” The Review and Herald, August 11, 1896.RVSE 4.8

L. A. Smith, another coeditor, compared political organization to an army, saying:RVSE 4.9

“Everybody can understand why it is that an army can easily overcome a mob, and the same reason will explain why the political machine so readily overcomes the people’s reform movements. The machine is an organized and thoroughly disciplined army; the people are an unorganized body.”—The Review and Herald, April 6, 1905.

He continued:RVSE 4.10

“The only way for the reform element to cope successfully with the machine would be to organize and put in the field its own machine, and follow machine methods of work; but it is in machine politics that the whole evil lies.”—Ibid.

Have the passing decades outdated the foregoing statements? Not if we are to believe today’s concerned commentators on the political scene. In the setting of these facts of political life Ellen White’s terse comments come through clearly:RVSE 4.11

“The Lord would have His people bury political questions.” “We cannot with safety vote for political parties.” “Let political questions alone.” “It is a mistake for you to link your interests with any political party, to cast your vote with them or for them.”—Gospel Workers, 391-393.

Note that the preceding statements do not exclude voting. If we vote, it should be on the basis of the personal qualifications of a candidate, not because he bears a certain party label. What we might call a vote for a “straight party ticket” is clearly warned against. If we vote, we should vote intelligently. But it is clear that political questions are not to be brought into our churches, nor must the political infatuation, strife, and excitement of politics absorb our time and attention.RVSE 4.12