It's no secret that I have been and remain a vocal critic of Mitt Romney. To say that his conservative bona fides are suspect is an understatement. I have tremendous respect for a number of fellow evangelical Christians who say that they will not support his presidential candidacy. I expect I will anger some of them, and may even lose a few friends. Still, in November, I am voting for Mr. Romney and suggest that any Christian - Republican, Democrat or independent - should do the same.
Jesus admonished: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves." (Matthew 10:16). It is through this biblical prism that I shine my multicolored analysis.
President Obama is a wolf. Though he purports to be Christian, his policies are decidedly un-Christian. This man eagerly advances a culture of death. He is the most radically pro-abortion president in American history. He has dutifully signed off on - and implemented at each opportunity - every extremist demand of the radical pro-abortion and homosexual activist lobbies.
Mr. Obama has shown utter disregard - if not total disdain - for the U.S. Constitution. Not the least of his indefensible infringements is his recent Health and Human Services mandate requiring, under penalty of law, that all Christian and Catholic organizations violate fundamental church tenets by providing abortifacients, sterilization and contraceptive services to employees. This may be the single most egregious breach of First Amendment freedom in our lifetimes. Thankfully, the church isn't backing down, has refused to comply and is fighting tooth and nail in court to reinstate constitutional liberty.
Scripture says that Christians are known by their fruit. Mr. Obama's fruit is rotten to the core. He talks like a Christian while his actions scream secular-socialist. I intend to work with every fiber of my being to see that Mr. Obama is not re-elected. To the extent this benefits Mr. Romney, so be it.
It took one word to convince me: judges. The next president likely will fill at least two Supreme Court vacancies in the next four to eight years. Appointing Supreme Court justices may be the single most significant thing any president can do. For better or for worse, it profoundly steers law, public policy and culture at large in perpetuity.
This is our most crucial point of focus: ensuring an originalist, strict constructionist majority on the high court. If Mr. Obama is re-elected and appoints one, two or even three more Ruth Bader Ginsburgs, forget it. America, as our founders envisioned her, is dead.
Though Mr. Romney's judicial appointment record while governor of Massachusetts was erratic at best, he has pledged during this election cycle, "I will appoint conservative, strict constructionists to the judiciary."
Flip-flop? Perhaps. Still, Mr. Romney has proved that he cares about and understands political self-preservation. If Mr. Romney wins the White House and expects a second term, there is a strong chance, I believe, that conservatives can hold him accountable to his word.
Indeed, political self-preservation will provide Mr. Romney a strong incentive to honor his pro-life, pro-family conservative rhetoric. Most important, it significantly increases the chances that he will appoint originalist judges to the Supreme Court as promised.
With Mr. Obama, we know what we will get - we've already gotten it. You need only consider his Supreme Court appointments of Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. If he is re-elected, why would we expect anything less? We're guaranteed additional counter-constitutionalist radicals.
Some might say I'm putting pragmatism over principle, but I disagree. In this case, the two are not mutually exclusive. Remember Christ's counsel: Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
My friend and colleague Cynthia Dunbar, a law professor at Liberty University School of Law, recently wrote: "In this election year, we find ourselves with only three realistic courses of action: 1) Don't vote; 2) vote for Obama; or 3) vote for Romney."
It's simple: A Christian nonvote is a vote for Mr. Obama in that it fails to affirmatively cancel out an Obama vote. Furthermore, any Christian who votes for Mr. Obama will get to take that up with God.
This leaves us with our third and final choice: Christians must vote for Mitt Romney. A second Obama term is simply unacceptable. We won't survive it.
Matt Barber (@jmattbarber on Twitter) is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. He serves as Vice President of Liberty Counsel Action. (This information is provided for identification purposes only.)
