In another week or two early voting will begin all over the country and those with mail in ballots are already casting their votes. As Christians we need to view voting as a duty, something we take so seriously that we take the time to be fully prepared to cast educated votes. It is also important to include your children in this process. What better way to teach them about their responsibility as citizens and how the political process works. Children learn more by what we do than what we say so giving them opportunities to go with you when you vote or get involved, when they are old enough, with a campaign. This is also a very practical way to teach them your core values and educate them how your values benefit society.

When we vote we should do so with the children in mind because they are the future and every vote affects the kind of future we leave them. God’s idea for families is that each generation leaves the next generation better off, then they take what their parents had in revelation of God, His word, prosperity etc. and they advance God’s kingdom with the revelation, wisdom, knowledge He imparts to them and they then pass on to their children. In this way society continues on a sustainable path of prosperity (spirit, soul and body)).

Since World War II we have gotten away from this type of thinking and each generation has tended to be less generational minded than the previous. Because of this deficit of generational thinking or awareness interest in protecting our history has diminished which has resulted in the rewriting of our history leaving out the Judeo-Christian foundation upon which the nation was built.

Campaign commercials also make for good teaching moments with your kids. There are three different types of ads prevalent during political campaign season. The first is aimed at introducing the public to the candidate and is all about them and their political philosophy. The second is aimed at stating the difference between them and their opponent especially if they both have a past voting record. Third are those vitriolic attacks on a candidate that are filled with half-truths, exaggerated to make them sound like criminals of the worst kind. These tend to be more personal in nature.

The last week or two before an election are usually filled with the third type of ads. This is a good time to teach and train your children in how to investigate the real truth because with the internet it is only a few keystrokes to find out what is true and what is highly exaggerated or blatantly false. Negative ads work because voters seldom take time to check out if the charges are true or not. The lesson learned by your children will be that you can’t take these charges at face value but they need to be investigated. Of course, if you have personal connections to the campaigns you can check it out that way.

There are also two different entities that run these ads: the campaign and private political action committees or 527 Organization. The latter is usually responsible for the most vitriolic ads. They can run these without the campaigns approval, therefore, the campaign is protected from any backlash. It is always good to find out who is behind the ads and then follow the money trail. That will tell you a lot about the candidate. During presidential election years knowing the organizations promoting certain candidates can be a help in know who to support. During the primary elections in the presidential election years the media has been actively engaged in promoting the Republican candidate they want. This has resulted in giving them the ability to pick the Republican candidate because that is the one we all hear about most frequently.

We tend to think that political campaigns are much nastier than in the past but this is not true. Campaigns have always been nasty. We do not want to turn our children off to the political process so as a fun exercise have them look up the history of campaigns to help them understand this is not something new and that it is something we choose to endure because it is so important to the future of our state and nation.

Next Week: A Word about Presidential Elections

Dinner Table Discussion Question: Discuss how your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents have influenced your generation. Talk about how your family might participate in a campaign as a family project.