A Question About Forgiving?

[Stephen_Parry]

As a Christian, I believe I should forgive. And I do. Just the other day, I said a prayer of forgiveness to all those who have hurt me (whilst confessing my own sins towards others). I shall continue to forgive all those who hurt me just as God forgives me.

However, there is a forgiveness question which doesn’t seem so clear-cut to me: the issue of political parties.

I do vote here in elections. I try to judge each candidate on their own respective merits. However, I am feeling a lot of disillusionment towards the main political parties in general. There are some which I think have done wrong and I don’t feel I can, in good conscience, support them.

However, with elections coming soon (European elections), there are some candidates from those parties who have delivered literature through the door. And I am wondering one thing: would it be sinful and showing an unforgiving attitude if I were to refuse to consider voting for a particular person because they represent a party which I think has done a lot of damage in the past?

Quick way of asking the question, should I forgive political parties and corporations in the same way as I forgive individuals? Is it sinful to perhaps refuse to vote for a decent and moral candidate because of past injustices committed by the party the candidate represents?

Thank you and God bless.

 

[quiet52]

I think there’s a difference between forgiving someone for sinning against us personally, and tolerating sins.
Not wanting to accept or tolerate what a political party or political person stands for or does is not a matter of not forgiving them.
A political party, and individually and collectively, politicians and their supporters, commit social sins. We aren’t expected to tolerate social evil. And it’s up to God to forgive them. We can pray for them, and we can ask God to be merciful toward them. I remember our politicians in my prayers every day.

 

[Stephen_Parry]

Thank you for your post.

 

[Anglewannabe]

would it be sinful and showing an unforgiving attitude if I were to refuse to consider voting for a particular person because they represent a party which I think has done a lot of damage in the past?

.

In politics you vote for who you think would do the best job. If past history has proven a particular party did not do a good job, it is up to the party to prove they have mended their ways. And, in politics, it appears you are voting for a person because they are the head of the party but in reality they are just the fall guy if things go wrong. It is not a one man show.

Now, if you are TOTALLY closed to consider a party because of something they did 20 years ago, I am not sure it is sinful, but I do think it is a sign you have a deep resentment that is dragging you down and robbing you from your piece of mind

Angie

 

[agnes_therese]

I don’t think this is even a question about forgiveness, it’s a question of prudence. You have an obligation to vote for those you think will carry out the best policies for your country. And you can’t do that without taking into consideration their past actions, and the past actions of the party with whom they’ve chosen to align themselves.

 

[Stephen_Parry]

Thanks Angie.

I fear I made a mistake last year. There is a party over here called the Liberal Democrats. A local councillor stood for election again, this time to become a Member of Parliament. She had done much good in my area, very active, very helpful and had worked tirelessly to get an old railway line re-opened. She was a good person.

However, without really thinking about it, I didn’t vote for her (I now wish I had) as I was so disillusioned with her party. Yes, that was illogical as she was standing for a local position and I was judging her based on the national policies of her party, which she, as a local councillor, had no control over. Given her failure to win, I think other voters probably followed that illogical path.

Despite losing her council seat, she is still active in the area with no reward. Those of us, including myself, who didn’t vote for her perhaps because of a grudge against her party need to reflect on that. I feel the voters “punished” her for the national actions of her party.

 

[Stephen_Parry]

I don’t think this is even a question about forgiveness, it’s a question of prudence. You have an obligation to vote for those you think will carry out the best policies for your country. And you can’t do that without taking into consideration their past actions, and the past actions of the party with whom they’ve chosen to align themselves.

Will bear that in mind, thank you.