Dr. Bock, I was many states away at the time of your talk at the Village Church but respect your work a great deal. Here are a couple of thoughts on this topic:

I agree that the church must not be captive to any political party. And to the extent that we have wisdom from God revealed in the Scriptures, the church must speak out on the whole range of issues that impact human life and society (never forgetting the all-important human soul). That said, when we as Americans go into the voting booth we have only one vote, and I submit that our vote must be assigned to a candidate or party on the basis of issues that have priority. Since we indeed live in a fallen world, we are often presented with choices that are not perfect, and I think we would all agree that there is no sinless party! So, confronted with a choice in the voting booth, what issue or issues should have priority? I would maintain that abortion is one of those rare issues that demands priority. For here we are confronted with a clear issue – we are either literally promoting human life, or human death. Other issues are truly debatable, for example how best to help the poor. Does anyone really believe that there is one party that actually wants to increase the plight of the poor? Of course not. It is rather a matter of what practical approach to the issue of poverty is more successful in the end and, to a lesser extent, if there are any other issues that need to be considered (such as liberty).

Would you agree?

Ray