elections
In this election year, voters trying to decide which candidates best uphold Christian values will have plenty of help from the JustLife Education Fund and the Association for Public Justice (APJ).
The JustLife political action committee was launched in 1986 to support candidates who uphold what the group calls a “consistent life ethic.” Last month, its education fund released JustLife/88.
This election guide gives each U.S. senator and congressman a percentage rating, based on his or her voting record on 15 legislative measures. The rating is highest for those who oppose abortion and the nuclear arms race, and who advocate what JustLife calls “economic justice.”
Thus, legislators who in 1986 supported an increase of $211 million for a job-training and placement program for welfare recipients increased their JustLife rating. That was not the case for those who in 1985 favored the allocation of $1.5 billion for MX missiles.
Generally, those who were strong in the areas of the arms race and economic justice, in JustLife’s view, were weak on abortion. There were, however, 55 who received a rating of at least 80 percent, including 12—all of them Democrats—with perfect ratings of 100.
In his introduction to the election guide, Ron Sider, executive director of the JustLife Education Fund, acknowledged that votes “are often interwoven with other issues.” He said JustLife consulted with experts in trying to “concentrate on votes whose primary focus was not clouded by … extraneous considerations.” He urged voters to contact their representatives “for a deeper understanding of their perspective.”
White House Focus
The Washington, D.C.-based APJ has also made an effort to provide biblically based guidance to voters, focusing on the presidential elections. Last month Zondervan published 1988 Candidate Profiles: A Look at the Leading Presidential Contenders. The pocket-sized voter guide is based on APJ profiles first published in the organization’s Public Justice Report. (Some of those profiled have since dropped out of the race.)
The essays present biographical background of the candidates, including information on their religious faith. They describe each man’s political style and philosophy, including stands on specific issues. Analysis of the candidates revolves around APJ’s perspectives on domestic and international justice.
Though the essays include evaluation, the purpose is not to favor a particular candidate, but to help voters understand “what [the office of the presidency] demands of its holder,” in the words of APJ executive director Jim Skillen, who wrote the introduction.
Skillen observes that while some believe America has been on the mend under President Reagan, others think the country now faces “moral, social, and economic crises of unexpected proportions.” Skillen writes that the next President must lead in part by “coming to grips with the real structure of our diverse society and seeking to discover the true calling of government.” Skillen urges the selection of a person “who accepts the mandate to seek justice for the Republic.”
The APJ’s effort has been endorsed by various social critics, including JustLife’s Sider and conservative syndicated columnist Cal Thomas.
