There are concerns that Christian leaders have been very silent on matters of national interest, and the silence is becoming even more deafening as a general election draws near.
This matter was one of several that came to the fore during a public forum on the Power of the Christian Vote hosted by the Association of Christian Communicators and Media (ACCM) on July 27. Retired media executive Kay Osborne argued that Christian leaders have failed to be the voice of the people they serve. She made this general observation after it was suggested that Christians are generally too silent on issues of governance.
“The general Christian community is speaking and has been speaking for several election cycles in a voice that we now understand more clearly. So really, the failing is with the Christian leadership in interpreting and moving the requirements and the opinions and views and demands of the Christian community forward in a way that politicians must respond to,” she said.
Acclaimed pollster Don Anderson believes there is a role for Christians to play in addressing political issues. Given the absence of an ombudsman, Anderson feels the Christian community could help to stem politically-influenced conflicts and get politicians to move away from the heated words that are being exchanged as the campaign gets underway.
“The general sense is that the Christian community is pretty silent on issues of national importance, especially when it comes to elections. Maybe this is a point in time; it’s not too late for a departure to be made to look at issues that are obviously bothering a lot of people, but the Christian community appears to be silent,” he expressed during the forum.
Anderson pointed to corruption as being another crucial matter that Christians ought to be more vocal about.
“And I think to my view, this is where we should be constituting the kind of energy to have love and not be silent, because there’s no question that there’s a Christian community that’s been silent on issues that are germane and very important to who gets elected,” he said.
