“Love of God and love of country” is a famous line that speaks about how every good citizen of this country should live for. It is close to what the apostle Paul tells us about our dual citizenship which is that of this earth and that of heaven. (Eph. 2:19) The former is in the nature of the temporary while the latter is in the realm of the permanent. While he urges us to look beyond our temporary citizenship here on earth and to 
work with fear and trembling to be able to reach our final destination which is in heaven, he also exhorts us to be faithful to our duties and responsibilities as citizens of this world.
Paul’s exhortation simply echoes the fundamental principle in fulfilling the duties and responsibilities attached to our citizenship as laid down by Jesus Christ himself. “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” (Lk 20:25) Such statement poses a serious and daring challenge for every Christian to fulfill his twin obligation to God and his country. Yet in another sphere, it also confirms what the apostle Paul was all the while saying to be subordinated to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been ordained by God for the common good. (Rom 13:1)
If every authority in this world is ordained by God, then every citizen is bound to obey it. Thus, we are bound to obey the government of our country and every person who enjoys and exercises authority under it. We are bound to obey the laws that they enact so that peace, order and justice can be obtained and that the interest of the majority for the common good can be served. We are bound to give to our government and our rulers what is due them so that they in turn can look for our welfare and provide services for our needs. As Romans 13:7 says: “Pay taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.”
By such salient principle we should realize that it is our bounden duty to choose godly leaders who will run our government and eventually exercise authority over us as citizens of this beloved country. This is what we call our right to suffrage. Corollarily, it also places in our shoulders the responsibility to work for a clean, honest, accurate, meaningful and peaceful elections. In this regard, the Parish Pastoral Council For Responsible Voting (PPCRV), a church group that operates both in the national and diocesan level to watch the orderly conduct of elections, has coined the acronym CHAMP precisely to describe the kind of elections that every citizen of this country should dream and work for.
Thus, in the light of our May 10 national and local elections, how then should we exercise our right to suffrage consistent with our Christian principles? Firstly, we need to choose leaders not just by their competence and sterling credentials but by their faith in God and the principled life that they live with. We should not be simply swayed by mere popularity, money or influence. Secondly, we need to protect the sanctity of our choice as expressed in our votes by exposing and resisting any form of fraud or machination, violence or undue intimidation. Let us all therefore go out and VOTE and protect the sanctity of our ballots!
When we are able to fulfill our Christian responsibility in exercising our right to suffrage as a citizen of this country, we are assured that we too have truly lived out what is required of us as citizens of the
No comments:
Post a Comment