Election Day is just over a month away.
Which means if you haven’t decided who you’re going to vote for, you don’t have much time left to decide.
But as Christians, is there a specific candidate or party we “should” vote for? Or “should” we even vote at all?
This debate over religion’s relationship with politics has been around forever and it’s not going away anytime soon.
Recently, a friend of mine approached me about writing a guest post on why Christians should vote for Obama.
While this isn’t really a political blog, the faith element intrigued me. After all, “American Jesus” is all about the intersection of faith and country and politics sit right on the corner of that intersection. Which means everyone is going to argue that their candidate or party is the one “real” Christians “should” vote for.
Since there’s no way to avoided that debate, particularly this time of year, I figured why not embrace it and give everyone (or at least as many people as possible) a chance to voice their opinion?
So, here’s what I’m thinking…
1) The week of October 22nd-26th I’m going to open up The American Jesus to guest posters who want to argue why Christians “should” vote for Obama, Romney, a third party candidate, or why Christians shouldn’t vote at all.
2) Obviously, there are more opinions out there than I have space for, so in conjunction with the posts featured let’s have a synchroblog that week to allow everyone who wants to participate, to weigh in with their opinion. So, for example, if you want to argue that Christians should vote for Romney, but I’m not able to feature your post here, then post your argument on your blog, send me the link and I’ll add the link to the end of the featured post that day. Likewise, if you want to argue why Christians should not vote for Romney, or whoever, post your argument on your blog, send me the link, and I’ll add it here to that day’s featured post alongside the other links for why Christians should vote for Romney, etc.
3) I already have posts for why Christians should vote for Obama and why Christians shouldn’t vote at all. Sorry about that, but like I said, if that’s what you wanted to argue for, post it on your blog, send me the link, and I’ll gladly add the link to that day’s featured post. What I still need are posts for why Christians should vote for Romney and why Christians should a third party candidate (you choose which third-part candidate).
4) If you’ve been keeping track you know that those arguments add up to 4 posts and there’s 5 days in an American Jesus week (Mon-Fri). I’ll be wrapping things up that Friday with a few thoughts of my own. Will I endorse a particular candidate? You’ll just have to wait and see.
All that to say, I think this could be really interesting, especially if we can get several people involved in the synchroblog.
So, if you’re interested….
GUEST POST/SYNCHROBLOG SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
1) Guest post options available: Why Christians should vote for Romney OR Why Christians should vote for a third-party candidate.
1a) Obviously, “third-party candidate” isn’t specific, but I will only feature an argument
for 1 specific candidate. Since I’m not very familiar with the third-party candidates out
there (other than Roseanne Barr, is she still running?), I’ll be looking for the best
written argument, rather than an argument for a specific candidate.
2) Guest post submissions must be 1,000 words or less.
3) If you’re submitting a post for the synchroblog, well, the space on your blog is obviously your own. So, if you feel the need to write a 10,000 word manifesto, go nuts. Just make sure you only send me the link and title.
4) Both guest post and synchroblog submissions must be civil. Argue your point vigorously, but know that hateful tirades won’t be used or linked to.
5) Guest post submissions are due by MONDAY, OCTOBER 15th. If you’re participating in the synchroblog, try to send me the link the day before your featured day (see schedule below) so that it can get the most “airtime” possible. Otherwise, I will add the synchroblog links to the relevant featured post as they come in
6) The schedule for the as-yet-to-be-titled week of guests posts and synchroblogs is as follows:
Monday, October 22nd – Why Christians Should Vote For Obama
Tuesday, October 23rd – Why Christians Should Vote For Romney
Wednesday, October 24th – Why Christians Should Vote For A Third-Party Candidate
Thursday, October 25th – Why Christians Should Not Vote
Friday, October 26th – My As-Yet-To-Be-Titled Response
7) I’ll announce who our guest posters will be on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19th
8) If you are interested in getting involved, even just to comment on other people’s post, please help spread the word about the series by sharing the badge below on your blog starting today to help get the word out, attach it with your synchroblog when your post goes live, or share it with friends on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Well, I think that’s about it.
But if I missed some important piece of information or if you’ve got any questions, ask me in the comment section and I’ll get back with you as soon as possible.