Interview: David Shedlock on With Christ in the Voting Booth

• How should Christians view government and the political process?
• Is it acceptable for a Christian to abstain from voting or vote only some races?

David Shedlock, introduced as the author of With Christ in the Voting Booth, describes how the book began as a defense of Mike Huckabee's potential 2012 run and became a scriptural look at government, human fallenness, and civic duty. He argues Christians expect too much of government ('government too important'), that voting is acceptable but not always required, that a candidate's positions on abortion and same-sex marriage matter and that he personally cannot vote for a non-Christian, and that a vote is 'between you and God' like the prayer closet. He discloses he did not vote for president in the last election (would not vote for Romney, a Mormon, partly over the spiritual cost of affirming Mormonism) and took heat for it. The hosts press him on whether abstaining hands the election to the other side; he answers that not voting for Obama is also 'a vote for Romney' by the same logic. He notes the American way is not necessarily the biblical way, cites Samuel/Kings/Chronicles and Jehoshaphat as political narratives, and compares Jehoshaphat's era to today's liberals and conservatives. Where to buy the book is covered: Christian Book Distributors online, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle.