@trufflequeen - You know, I might be able to agree with that if she wasn't married and then married with children, but even then I'm not sure.  Esther didn't have to compromise her God ordained role to fulfill the task of saving her people God laid out before her.  She faithfully met the needs of her people by being an obedient niece and wise queen and counselor to the king.  She stayed within the realm for which she was created.  She didn't become king or even second in command in order to provide escape for the Jews.

@daughter80 - 

@trufflequeen - I wrestle with that, too.  Jarod hasn't decided what we'll do.  We may very well vote the Republican ticket, I didn't say we wouldn't.  However, I do view this as a very slippery slope...  If they win, she'll most likely be the nominee for President in 4 - 8 years.  What then?  Where do we draw the line?  Or are we as a nation so far from where we started (i.e. founded on the Word of God) that we shouldn't even consider God's opinion when making voting decisions?

You know, if all the Christians stood firmly on God's Word, without compromise and voted for a third party, we would most likely win.  However, because Christians are so divided it will most likely never happen...and this country will continue it's slow progression downward...

@trufflequeen - ...better yet, if we stopped voting for people who only halfheartedly held our views (Republican or not), encouraged to run and faithfully voted for godly men of morals, the Republican party might get their act together and come back to center.  But right now it feels like Christians are far too willing to settle. 

@daughter80 - 

Dearest Anna - I'm very proud, and not surprised, to see your opinion on this matter.  Your views and committment in this regard is one of the many outstanding qualities that make you such a treasure to us, and to the many other who admire and love you.  You are truly a "quiet revolutionary" in our day - as I have frequently called your mother in law.

I know you indicated that you all have not decided exactly how to vote.  Let me offer just a couple of thoughts - not just for you, but for others who have similar concerns - that might inform this decision.

1) The reality of our current political situation.  As a person who has 25+ years experience in and around politics, I can tell you that the reality is that the country will elect one of two people President of the United States.  That person will likely serve for at least 4 if not 8 years. There is no chance whatsoever for a third party candidate and they will readily admit this.  A third party vote will only pull votes that might have gone to one of the other two.  A person who leans toward a more conservative view (on abortion if nothing else) and also votes for a third party candidate, or does not vote at all, will - in a very meaningful way - be voting, in effect, to elect Barack Obama President.  This is just the sad reality.  Votes for Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996, in fact, elected and re-elected Bill Clinton president.

2)  I agree that the Lord cannot be pleased with the current state of our families, with so many parents altering the priorities of the Lord when it comes to family roles and responsibilities.  Most are not willing to make the necessary sacrifices to ensure that those priorities are kept.  That said: I am even more confident of the absolute horror of abortion and infanticide, and that our God is greatly grieved over this.  I know you feel the same way.  Barak Obama is a committed devote' of abortion, and has, as a state senator, vehemently defended the practice of infanticide (guaranteeing a dead baby following any sort of "botched" abortion, in which the baby survives.)  In addition, he will most definitely appoint Justices to the Supreme Court (and other federal benches) who can be in that court, making anti-Christian, anti-family, anti-religious freedom, anti-life decisions for as long as 40 years! 

3)  To voluntarily participate in saddling the country with a Marxist, pro-abortion, liberal activist, who will force judicial tyranny on all the people of America for the next generation, and to further put our lives in greater danger to international terrorism, to me, is not demonstrating Christ's love in the public square.  Because this may be, indeed, a close election, it is hard to see that any vote that does not increase the chances of keeping that from happening is one that would be a good example of Chrisitian voting stewardship.  As you know, I was not a McCain supporter in the primary.  In fact, I was severely critical of him.  But, the fact is he is the only alternative to Barak Obama in the real, mixed up world we live in. 

 I have friends who would like to "make a point" and "show the liberal Republicans a thing or two" by not voting for McCain.  Unfortunately, "making a polticial point" is many times a point of pride more than a principled stand (of course, this does not apply to you, dear).  Similary, there are people who will not support pro-life candidates or legislation that does not go "far enough".  As you know, I have been a pro-life activist.  But I liken their attitude to someone who would not run into a burning building to save most of the children inside only because they knew they couldn't save them all.  Or, worse, not trying to save some in order to "make a point" that there should have been a plan to save them all.  That is just not right, nor is it even decent.  Public policy works much the same way in the world in which we live.  One should purpose never to compromise on principle.  But, when you can "move the ball" forward toward a right policy, or defend against a threatening, devasting defeat, then our actions do not constitute compromise, but partial victory, and in a sense, "standing in the gap".

As you know, I have met and spoken to Sarah Palin.  As we talked about public policy and military families, and families in general, she cuddled her newborn in a little papoose-like cradle in front of her.  She struck me as someone without any degree of pretentiouness...very real.  (The fact that McCain chose this conservative - rather than the liberals he was being urged to name - helps me believe in him a bit more.) But, though she is a successful Governor and now on the national scene, I know she could learn a great deal from you about the best things in life, and its priorities.    Perhaps we should at least just pray that God will protect her and her family, by His mercy, until such time as she sees her family situation differently.  My guess is, if the team is elected, that she will not likely be a candidate for President in the future.

Lovingly, Your proud Dad (in law).