Article November 2, 1992 Issue

Prayer and elections

A vote supported by prayer carries with it a higher purpose, one that can bless humanity.

Alaister G. Smith

From time to time we are called upon to cast a ballot, to vote for a candidate for office or to vote on some particular issue. There is often great pressure on us to cast our ballot in a certain direction. Sometimes special interest groups seem to influence votes in a way that's out of proportion to the size of the group doing the influencing.

We would not like to think that we had been unduly or erroneously influenced to vote in any certain way. We would like to think that we had carefully thought through all the options and had then cast our vote for what seemed to be the nearest right choice.

The Christian Scientist has two helpful guides to assist him in making a choice as free from false influence as possible. In fact, these guides are really admonitions. They are found in the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy under "Discipline"—Article VIII, Sections 1 and 6. In Section 1 we find this statement: "The members of this Church should daily watch and pray to be delivered from all evil, from prophesying, judging, condemning, counseling, influencing or being influenced erroneously."

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