๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
โข Do you consider yourself to be a confrontational person? Recall an instance explaining this.
โข How do you decide if you will do something or not? Take us through a recent decision-making process.
โข Tell us about one of the ills in society today that disturbs you the most.
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต. ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ต
One important ethical concern that Christians need to talk about is the issue of vote buying and selling. Is it morally right to receive money from politicians in exchange for a vote?
Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines flatly says vote buying and selling are election offenses. That should end our discussion right away. For people who value public virtue, we recognize that our laws pretty much cover the basics of right and wrong in democratic elections. But the question lingers when some qualifications are added to it. What if I get the money but vote for someone else? What if the money given is not to buy a vote but is a simple act of goodwill?
Thereโs a growing body of sociological research going on about vote buying and selling. One of the important findings to date is how differently people perceive the meaning of the monetary exchange. Marginalized people, for example, perceive the exchange not as an economic transaction but as their only opportunity to get anything from people in government. For them, accepting money is a way to stake a rightful claim to the resources that should have been spent on them in the first place.
This nuanced view of the monetary exchange during elections gives us a textured understanding of the plight of the poor and the marginalized. Vote buying and vote selling are illegal acts according to the law of the land. But, the prohibition and the subsequent violations expose the broader issues of inequality and neglect among marginalized people groups. How should Christians graciously handle this tension?
๐ญ. ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ด๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐
๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ.
โ๐๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ด ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ?โ ๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ช ๐ณ:๐ญโ๐ฏ
This is not to condone vote buying and selling. What is wrong is wrong no matter how we justify it. The guardrails of the law must be upheld for the sake of our Christian public witness. But, the wider social context of vote buying and selling forces us to open our eyes and see the plight of the disadvantaged sector of society.
For Christians, this is useful in two ways. First, this helps us view the marginalized with less judgment and more compassion. Second, those of us who are in a position of power could use this information in lobbying for policies to uplift the lives of the poor.
Why are some issues more complex than they seem? How should we view issues like these?
๐ฎ. ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ง๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต. ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฑ:๐ญ๐ญโ๐ญ๐ฎ
Vote buying is not an isolated action that someone does in a corner. It is part of a larger ecosystem of corruption that starts even before a politician is in office. When a candidate pays for votes, he or she is not competing fairly, but is using illegal means to get elected. If the candidate is doing something illegal now, who knows what other illegal things he or she will do next once in office?
But, the wrongness of vote buying doesnโt stop with the candidates. It goes down to the voters as well. When voters allow their votes to be sold, they eventually help create a society where only candidates with deep pockets can win elections. Ideas, platforms, experience, and virtues are all set aside in favor of money. This is morally wrong.
The Bible offers a word of caution for the people of God: refuse to participate in these works of darkness. Unmask them for what they are. According to Ephesians 5:8, who are we and how are we supposed to walk?
๐ฏ. ๐ง๐ฎ๐น๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐.
โ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฏ:๐ฎ๐ฌโ๐ฎ๐ญ
One of the signs that vote buying and selling are wrong is seen in the way we donโt talk about it openly in our Christian circles. Thereโs an air of secrecy about it that we canโt bear to bring it into the light. The Bible says that ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. This means we have clear consciences before God. Why do you think truth is exposed in the light? How is having a conversation about such topics exposing truth?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข What would you do if you were offered money or personal gain at the expense of morality and violating your conscience? What do you think would enable you to say no?
โข Why do you think a cycle of corruption exists? What is the source, and what is the solution? What is your participation in this?
โข How can you set an example for others to follow? What is one thing you will do differently, starting today?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for His word that guides and teaches us. As a believer, declare that Godโs word is the final authority over your life.
โข Pray for those in your nation to know God and make decisions that honor Him, not themselves or others.
โข Pray for righteous leaders in government who will trust God and do what is right.
The Question of Vote Buying
Week 2
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