There is certainly a case to be made for voting being a participation in tyranny, but I am not sure I would use that verse to support the claim. I also think it depends very heavily on who you are voting for, and why. Not even a red vs blue, thing. I would not say that there is one objectively clear answer for who would be more tyrannical such that someone could have any leg to stand on by saying, "If you don't vote for Trump, you're voting for more tyranny!" Fact is, you may have just as much tyranny, just of a different brand.
Rather, it depends on the individual perception of the particular voter. If they BELIEVE that a particular candidate will not be tyrannical, or will even be less tyrannical than the others, voting for that candidate is not morally wrong, even if they are 100% incorrect in their perception. Much better for them to actually be informed and have an accurate expectation of what that candidate would actually do in office, though.
Circling back to that particular verse; the "unfruitful works of darkness" mentioned in Ephesians 5:11 is almost certainly referring to the specific examples Paul gave in verses 3-5. That is, sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking. I don't see voting, or anything at all to do with our relation to the civil magistrate, mentioned. As always, a text without its context is a pretext for a proof-text.
Dikaios1517
npub1ku…v3lhe
2024-10-25 20:50:32
in reply to nevent1q…e5tp
Author Public Key
npub1kun5628raxpm7usdkj62z2337hr77f3ryrg9cf0vjpyf4jvk9r9smv3lhePublished at
2024-10-25 20:50:32Event JSON
{
"id": "e3710efc576c62335d61c4f06fb0a0e95b4f7bd8446a5cb72fec1449ee0b9177",
"pubkey": "b7274d28e3e983bf720db4b4a12a31f5c7ef262320d05c25ec90489ac99628cb",
"created_at": 1729889432,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"e",
"fcd89f6bd37d6fc8550cded3508eb6e51f17740c0bd132e1d29ae3c67b74a706",
"",
"root"
],
[
"e",
"fcd89f6bd37d6fc8550cded3508eb6e51f17740c0bd132e1d29ae3c67b74a706",
"",
"reply"
],
[
"p",
"c1831fbe2653f76164421d57db6cee38b8cef8ce6771bc65c12f8543de4b39bf",
"wss://relay.damus.io/",
"mention"
],
[
"client",
"noStrudel",
"31990:266815e0c9210dfa324c6cba3573b14bee49da4209a9456f9484e5106cd408a5:1686066542546"
]
],
"content": "There is certainly a case to be made for voting being a participation in tyranny, but I am not sure I would use that verse to support the claim. I also think it depends very heavily on who you are voting for, and why. Not even a red vs blue, thing. I would not say that there is one objectively clear answer for who would be more tyrannical such that someone could have any leg to stand on by saying, \"If you don't vote for Trump, you're voting for more tyranny!\" Fact is, you may have just as much tyranny, just of a different brand.\n\nRather, it depends on the individual perception of the particular voter. If they BELIEVE that a particular candidate will not be tyrannical, or will even be less tyrannical than the others, voting for that candidate is not morally wrong, even if they are 100% incorrect in their perception. Much better for them to actually be informed and have an accurate expectation of what that candidate would actually do in office, though.\n\nCircling back to that particular verse; the \"unfruitful works of darkness\" mentioned in Ephesians 5:11 is almost certainly referring to the specific examples Paul gave in verses 3-5. That is, sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking. I don't see voting, or anything at all to do with our relation to the civil magistrate, mentioned. As always, a text without its context is a pretext for a proof-text.",
"sig": "fc1c2dc50b540d9ab75604cb23e52ac0add9588ec7acedd69770d13f18271afee31ecc915ec3b6b60917e1425a7bd7d9ffa4191abceaa7b3d607e76c7234538b"
}