PVS Episode 9: It's Time for the Conscience of the State to Make Its Voice Heard

October 29, 2020

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool."

As believers, we are called to utilize our God-given consciences to help shepherd our country toward biblical truth, and we now stand at a pivotal juncture. America is "standing at a political, ideological, and moral fork in the road," said FRC President Tony Perkins in the introduction to the ninth episode of FRC's Pray Vote Stand 2020 series. In just five days, the people will choose which direction our country goes.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told PVS viewers that we should take Democrats at their word when they state that they want to upend our Constitution: "When it comes to this group, you need to assume the worst, that they're going to change the structure of the court, that they're going to make D.C. a state, they're going to abolish the electoral college, which means that only a couple of states really matter that much in terms of electing the president. So we should assume that they're telling us the truth."

He expressed optimism in the size of the voice that believers have at the polls: "Here's the good news. There are enough people in this country to stop them. A lot of them go to church. Everybody at your church, if you are listening and a pastor, you need to make sure that people understand the consequences of not voting. Not voting is the same as agreeing with this agenda. If you have a chance to vote and you are eligible to vote and you choose not to vote, that's a vote in and of itself."

If Donald Trump is elected, what will the next four years look like? "From a conservative point of view, it would be a dream come true," said Graham. "Four more years of picking judges. We're up to 220. We've reshaped the court at the circuit level [and] at the district level. We've put three constitutional conservatives on the Supreme Court. Four more years means that you will pick at least one or two more [Supreme Court] justices ... it means the military is going to be in the hands of a commander-in-chief that will make it strong ... it means lower taxes, it means continuing to secure the border and finish out the wall, and fix a broken immigration system rationally."

It's not just the presidential election that will be on the line on November 3. The control of the U.S. Senate will also be on the ballot next Tuesday. How crucial will control of the Senate be? As Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) observed during the broadcast:

"In [my] 10-year time period [in Congress], I've seen a transition where those in the Democratic Party continue to swing farther and farther to the left, and it becomes more of a socialist perspective and a desire to be able to centralize all authority and control. I watched what happened during the Obama administration when one of the early actions they took was to tell Catholic churches and Catholic bishops they could not participate in helping those individuals who were being trafficked because they wouldn't promote abortion ... it was their quiet way of pushing people of faith out and saying 'if you don't think like we do, you're not welcome.'"

But as Lankford noted, a dramatic shift has occurred under the Trump administration, which has gone out of its way to protect people of faith: "We've seen a group of judges that we in the Senate have put onto the court along with President Trump and his selection that dramatically changes the protection of people of faith to be able to live their faith."

Senator Lankford concluded by summarizing what believers must do in the next five days: "Elections are won by people that actually show up. Those that believe in these values but don't actually show up and don't encourage other people to actually show up means that we just watch it drift away from us. We can't have our country just drift away from us during this time period. So, pray, show up, vote, encourage other people to do it."

Be sure to watch the entire ninth and final episode of our Pray Vote Stand 2020 program, which also features David Benham and FRC's Lt. General (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, as well as a comparison of the two presidential candidates -- in their own words -- on the most important issues of the day, including abortion, Planned Parenthood funding, judges, freedom of religion, education, and even on God our creator.