Presidential Candidates – Developing Principles for Analysis
Posted by Orrin Woodward on January 5, 2008
I have been asked by many to comment on this year’s presidential elections. I can certainly comment on the principles involved and share some of the major issues with you. Because I am constantly thinking about the future and reading about the past—I am not the best guy to talk to about current events. I will not be recommending a candidate for you to vote for, but I will share the principles for you to analyze each candidate by. For the sake of clear writing I will not place he/she every time it is needed, but I do recognize the president can be either a man or woman.
When I look for a leader of the most powerful country in the world—I look for four major things:
- Does the candidate believe in God and understand the blessings this nation has enjoyed because of our faith in God?
- Does the candidate have a proven track record of personal and professional integrity and character?
- Does the candidate believe that a free people not a controlling government is responsible for our economic blessings?
- Can the candidate lead people and supply a principle-based vision for America?
There are many subsections to each of these four points that I will expound on over several post. Let’s start with the candidate’s Faith. Faith in the Biblical God will shape a person’s world-view and how he or she sees people. If people are made in God’s image, then they have God given rights and responsibilities and the president ensures justice for the game of life. If people are merely higher forms of animals, then they have no inherent rights or responsibilities and the president is more of a zoo keeper. The president’s world-view will affect every decision he will make during the presidency. I am surprised that more people do not study the leader’s world view before supporting them. What could be more important than understanding how he will weigh the pros and cons of every issue he confronts?
What is a world-view? Francis Schaeffer in his classic, How Should We Then Live described a world-view as a grid:
People have presuppositions, and they will live more consistently on the basis of these presuppositions than even they themselves may realize. By presuppositions we mean the basic way an individual looks at life, his basic world-view, the grid through which he sees the world. Presuppositions rest upon that which a person considers to be the truth of what exists. People’s presuppositions lay a grid for all they bring forth into the external world. Their presuppositions also provide the basis for their values and therefore the basis for their decisions.
Can you see why a person’s world-view would be critical in analyzing whether to vote for them? When I meet new people, my goal is to get to know them. I do this by asking questions and listening to determine their world-view. In order to lead people, you must know where a person wishes to go and where they are starting from. I believe all mentoring breaks down to: determining a person’s current world-view, determining what a person wishes to accomplish, and determining the world-view necessary for them to achieve their goals and dreams. In several future post, we will delve into each of the four bullet points and develop a grid to analyze the candidates. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
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