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Friday, May 02, 2008

Machen

"In general, it is a good rule to vote against any proposal that you have not been given adequate opportunity to examine."

"One of you ought to nominate a Moderator who is opposed to the present Modernist and Indifferentist machine, and all of you ought to vote for him. There is not the slightest chance that any such Moderator will be elected, but that does not affect your duty in the slightest."
-- From What Should True Presbyterians Do at the 1936 General Assembly? by J. Gresham Machen; printed in The Trinity Review, May 2007

Though I'm not a Presbyterian (and so don't have any vested interest in "What True Presbyterians Should Do"), I found some common ground in Machen's comments. In the first, I've often applied that general rule in voting on things and people that our various governmental entities have put before me. On the second, I like Machen's emphasis on doing what is right even when there appears to be (or is) no chance one will be successful in it. "And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear..." (Ezekiel 2:7)

1 comment:

clinch64 said...

That is certainly good advice. I know all of us have heard the expression at times,"I vote for the person and not the party." But if the particular person you are voting for is aligned with a party in which you may disagree with parts of its platform, in essence you are supporting the very thing in which you are against.

Neil