“My faith guides my vote.”

This is a phrase that we often hear the closer we get to Election Day.

The thought behind this statement is that “MY” vote is the “RIGHT” vote because I’m a person of faith and “GOD” directed me to vote for “THIS” candidate.

I generally hear this phrase from folks who have an idea that I may have voted for a candidate other than their preferred candidate. This is an attempt to justify ones vote by saying, “I mean, I know this candidate is not ideal, BUT GOD…” or to say, “If you voted for the other candidate, you must not really take Jesus or the Bible seriously.”

When I hear “my faith guides my vote,” I often reply, “Yep, my faith also guides my vote.”

So, here we have two people, who may have voted for different candidates, both claiming that their faith guided their actions in the voting booth.

Now we have to ask, “Is one person right and the other wrong?” While we all want to respond, “Of course, I AM RIGHT,” the more appropriate answer is “who knows?”.

Both people have strongly held convictions shaped and guided by their faith traditions, prayers and understanding of their sacred text. Both people came to different conclusions. How can this be?

Within my theological heritage, we use something called the Wesleyan Quadrilateral to help inform our understanding of a wide variety of topics. By searching Scripture, tradition, experience and reason, we do our best to come to conclusions that will honor God. At times, we revisit some of our understandings because of access to expanding information that sheds new light on our traditional understanding.

So, yes, both people proclaim that their faith guides their vote. And, both people are most likely being honest when they make that proclamation.

However, those two people just might interpret Scripture and tradition differently. Both people may have had different experiences that shape their understanding and elevate the importance of some issues over others. Both people take what they know, take what they believe, spend time in prayer and study and arrive at different conclusions.

Who is right? Who is wrong? Who knows?

What we seem to have lost in this search for who is right and who is wrong is the ability to have civil conversations. When we find out that one of our Christian friends has a different political stance, we engage in arguments. Sometimes, we even question their faith. I have experienced that firsthand.

We unfollow, unfriend and block them from our social feeds – almost eliminating their existence from our daily lives. We turn them into the enemy. We’ve seemingly lost the ability to “agree to disagree.”

I am terrible at this. I often find myself asking, “How can someone who claims to be a Christ-follower vote for someone like that?” I become dismissive. I become arrogant. I become rude. I add to the division and vitriol that is so prevalent in our world today.

Maybe my neighbor who votes differently than me really is being guided by his or her faith? Maybe I don’t need to judge and dismiss them because I see things differently. Maybe I can find a way to engage in civil conversations, not to dismiss them, not to convince them to see things my way, but to better understand where they are coming from.