Dr. Randy WhiteThis week, many on the so-called religious right have found themselves in a quandary. Their candidate-of-choice, Ted Cruz, dropped out of the race when it became apparent that winning enough delegates through the popular vote in the primary system was impossible. Shortly after that, John Kasich gave up his long-shot strategy and bowed out of the race. This left Donald Trump as the presumptive nominee to fight his counterpart in the Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton.I’ve watched as my fellow right-wingers have wrung their hands and come to the conclusion that this is a sure sign of God’s judgment. However, I do not hold the same degree of disgust as many, likely because I have been skeptical all along that anybody in America who believed as I do could be elected president of the United States—or even dogcatcher.My conclusion: We live in a post-Christian America, and we need to get used to a post-political Christianity.

Politics and Christianity Do Mix

I am not one who believes that Christians and Christian pastors should refrain from politics. I have been very outspoken both for and against politicians, even from the pulpit. I have encouraged participation in the political process and still do. I think politics is part of the American public’s civic privilege (if not duty) and that Christians ought to carry out this task better than anyone.But in recent years, the religious right has done its work in a religious bubble that has isolated the movement from mainstream America. The religious right wrote press reports about the strength of its caucus and believed its own hype.As I see it, the problem is twofold. First, the religious right is not very “right.” The so-called right is itself filled with liberalism. Second, the religious right is not very powerful. Its numbers just cannot make the difference in a national election based on popular vote alone. If both of these assumptions are correct, then those of us who value politics and conservatism need to get used to a new day.We are living in a post-political Christianity, and we have other things we need to do.

The American Reality

My Canadian friends laugh at us. Canadian Christianity (if one can put borders on the Christian faith) has lived in a post-political world for a generation or more. Their government is solidly socialist and solidly representative of the average citizen (as all democracies and republics become in short order). These Canadian friends quietly say, “Welcome to our world.”

We are not the first.

What if Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton is elected president? At this point, if one of them is not elected president in November, we will have gone through a significant and catastrophic change in America. Such a catastrophic change would likely be worse than having to utter the words “President Trump” or “President Clinton.”But, truthfully, we have been blessed to have a couple of decent politicians in our lifetime. It is becoming a fading memory, but it has happened. Our American experience in this regard is far better than most other “Christian” nations. The world has abandoned Biblical Christianity, and it is time for us to wake up and smell the coffee.For example, if you are part of the religious right in France, then you and your fellow right-wingers can all gather together at a streetside café. The chances of the French religious right making a measurable difference based on conservative Biblical political positions are as slim as the chance of me preaching a 20-minute sermon. The same would be true in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, etc.Yet, in all these countries, Christians are living, moving and having their being in the one true God (Acts 17:28). Preachers are preaching, deacons are “deaking,” and the lady’s missionary society is dwindling as they engage in a Sarah Young book study. That is, life goes on and has been going on for a long time.And for a long time, Republicans have not been a conservative party, let-alone “right wing.” While many are bemoaning the loss of the Republican party, it looks to me like the Republican party was lost before my lifetime began. After all, Reagan was an anomaly. Republicans in my lifetime were men like Nixon, Ford, and the Bush dynasty. Only those with blinders on would think this is the picture of right-wing ideology.

This is not the worst.

I remember when Bill Clinton was elected president. Oh, the horrors. How could this have happened? But the truth is: It happened. And the other truth is: We survived.Then when 2008 happened, Bill Clinton would have been a welcome sight. Barack Obama was far more anti-Christian in every way than Bill Clinton. Obama’s policies are anti-Bible, his practice is anti-church and his foreign policy is anti-American. When he was elected, many Christians gathered green beans and ammo, ready to take the last stand for the American way of life.And guess what? We survived.When it comes to the 2016 election, I have a feeling that anyone we vote in will be an improvement over what we have. Hillary Clinton is less of a leader, and Donald Trump is less of a socialist, than Barack Obama. But both have greater respect for the American way of life than Obama.In short, I long for January 2017.

Get Used to It.

I live in Taos, New Mexico. I live around people who vote for Bernie Sanders. In past elections, Taos County has voted about 80 percent for the Democratic candidate, with another piece of the pie going toward even more liberal Green Party candidates. In 2000, Ralph Nader received more than 10 percent of the presidential vote in Taos County. I doubt there were many counties where he received a greater percentage.Most of my religious right friends do not know that they are outnumbered. I just live in a place where you would have to be delusional to miss this fact.So what do I do? I still talk politics from the pulpit when the subject matter or events of the week merit doing so. But I do not have any illusions that I will change Taos by changing the political landscape of this area. Rather, I think the only way to change the political landscape is to change the spiritual landscape.The bottom line: “Christian” politics is lost in America. It is time to move on to other things. The political process will not change the heart nor the values of our nation. What happens in the pulpit is far greater than what occurs in the White House. (And, I am afraid, what has been going on in the pulpit is far more dangerous than what has been happening in the White House—even the Obama White House.)

How Should I Vote?

You have asked this question in recent days, I am sure. “What do we do in November?” has been the subject of a thousand blogs, and more.Many would say, “Vote your conscience.” It is hard to argue against this and, in essence, I agree. But my conscience (and, I hope, yours) recognizes that my vote has a greater impact than simply a vote for my candidate. This is a fact which, it seems to me, has been denied by so many of the blogs I’ve read. Because I have a conscience, I really do have to figure out what the ultimate effect of my November vote has on the overall election.If I vote my conscience, I would probably write in the name of a godly man who has the capability to be president of the United States (though such a selection would be largely a guess on my part since the man has not been vetted through the grueling public election process). But, in reality, my conscience probably will not allow me to do that write-in vote because of the consequences of that vote. As I have said, my vote has a greater impact, and yours does too.In the American political system, a vote is not just a vote. If it were, then my vote for “Candidate C” would be nothing more than that, neither helping nor hurting candidates A or B. But that only works in a pure democracy, which we don’t have. Instead, we have an electoral college, and my Candidate C vote helps major-party Candidate A or B, whether I want it to or not.In our electoral college system, a person does not need a majority vote to win the presidency. If we had 10 candidates and one of those candidates received 12 percent of the popular vote, that candidate might become president. On the other hand, if we have two candidates and one candidate wins 51 percent of the popular vote, that candidate might not become president. This is because the states elect our presidents, not the people. The states do this through the electoral college. That is, 538 men and women, chosen by their states, elect the president of the United States. More accurately, 50 states plus the District of Columbia elect the president. And 48 of those states, plus D.C., have “winner take all” laws for their electors. Therefore, in the presidential election, I am actually sending an instruction to the electors of my state who will cast the ballot for my state.Suppose there were 100 voters in the state of New Mexico. Further, assume that 49 voted for Clinton, 47 voted for Trump, and the remaining four were the religious right, each of whom wrote a write-in vote based on their Biblical convictions. Supposing that these four would not have voted for Clinton, their write-in vote elected Clinton in their state, nonetheless. Had those four voted for Trump, he would have received the New Mexico electoral vote.So, when you and I vote we really have to say, “I am voting for an electoral vote, not for a president.” Then we have to decide what the chances are of our vote swinging the electoral vote in one direction or another. Because it is a close election, in many states the next president will be elected by the swing vote states.In my state, if the election is close, I will vote for the candidate who is closest to my values and who I think has the greatest chance of winning the electoral vote from my state. If it is a runaway train for an opposing candidate, I will vote my conscience. If it is a close election, I will vote for the lesser of two evils. If I refuse to recognize the way the system works, I am just having a false sense of self-righteousness that might make me feel better but effectively aided and abetted the enemy.Depending on your location and the election at hand, your vote could have drastic consequences. At other times, the popular vote in your state will be so strong that, in essence, you will not make a difference in that particular election. In this scenario, you would have more freedom to vote your conscience without having a guilty conscience. However, you would not want to skip the ballot box altogether because you would want to vote for local and statewide elections, which possibly have an even greater impact on the fabric of America than the presidential election.May God give us wisdom as we give instruction to our state’s electors this November.