Will moral character affect your vote for president? It should.

Tough topic - Let’s see if I can address it with grace.

Does character matter in who we’re choosing for president? I think 99% of people would answer with an affirmative. What determines character? Let’s take a look at the definition of “character” from the American Heritage Dictionary:

1. Moral or ethical strength.
2. A description of a person’s attributes, traits, or abilities.
3. A formal written statement as to competency and dependability, given by an employer to a former employee; a recommendation.
4. Public estimation of someone; reputation.

Where does one derive moral or ethical strength? One would suppose that they would come from a set of moral or ethical beliefs. Since we use Judeo-Christian values as a foundation for a good deal of our laws in the United States, I think we can safely use them as a basis for determining moral or ethical strength.

One of the great morals standards of the Judeo-Christian faith is the idea of fidelity. Now let’s take a look at the definition of “fidelity”:

1. Strict observance of promises, duties, etc.
2. Loyalty.
3. Conjugal faithfulness.

When you think of the term fidelity it’s easy to think about faithfulness in marriage. Marriage is one of the biggest commitments a person makes in life. It’s more important than buying a house, buying a car, what you’ll do for work, etc.

Unfortunately in America, we’ve got a real problem with fidelity in marriage (and in other things). The divorce rate in the United States is around 50 percent. That’s an astonishing statistic. In fact it’s such an intimidating statistic that a lot of people are just forgoing marriage altogether because they figure, “Hey, I don’t want to be another statistic!”

It might be easy to criticize that kind of disrespect for making a commitment if it weren’t for the fact that half of all the people out there make the same mistake! I’m not here to preach to anybody, and I’m not here to judge anybody, but I want you to think for a minute. I want you to ask yourself something.

Do you find that statistic alarming?

Clearly there are extenuating circumstances, and it’s true that everybody makes mistakes, but 50 percent?! That’s a bit overwhelming isn’t it?

There’s no question that a lot of people have a problem with keeping promises and being loyal.

And just because you’re loyal in one area doesn’t mean you’re not loyal in other areas either. Someone might be loyal as a husband or wife but they might not be loyal with their taxes, loyal in the way they treat their kids, or loyal to their country.

That’s all pretty negative stuff. I’m going to try to be optimistic here for a minute.

The encouraging part about this marriage statistic is that about half of all marriages do work. The good news to me is not that we have 50 percent of Americans that are good people. No, the good news is that it is possible to demonstrate fidelity! We can be faithful. We can be faithful in marriage and we can be faithful in other areas of our lives.

Part of doing the right thing is admitting when you’re wrong and repenting. Sometimes we get so caught up in how bad a mistake is that we judge that and don’t look at whether or not someone has admitted they were wrong, and has changed their ways.

I say all of this to get back to my original question: Should we use character as a means to help us choose who we’re selecting as our next president?

What do we know about the remaining candidates and their character? What about their fidelity in marriage and in other areas? I have to admit I’m a little disturbed by two of the remaining candidates for the Republican nomination.

I’m concerned about Rudy Giuliani because of his lack of fidelity in marriage. He’s on his third wife, and frankly when I read his story I’m not sure I could vote for someone like that (let alone the fact that he’s pro-abortion). There are lots of places that reference his adulterous affairs and strained relationships. If you want to read more about him visit his Wikipedia page here.

Again I’m not doing this to drag Mr. Giuliani’s name through the mud, I’m doing it because I think character matters in who we elect. It’s important that we are informed about such matters and I think what I’m saying has merit.

The other candidate who seems to have a rocky past is John McCain. There are people just drooling over this guy now and calling him the comeback kid. Conservatives are flocking to support John McCain with the veracity of a starving weasel. (Not that I’ve ever witnessed the veracity of a starving weasel, but I can imagine it’s quite the site.)

I hate to spoil the party but when I read about John McCain and his marital history I was both stunned and bothered by it. Apparently John McCain had an affair, ditched his wife who had been in a car accident and gained weight while he was fighting in Vietnam, and then married a rich young woman 17 years his younger. Here’s where I found that interesting tidbit.

On the other hand, you’ve got the other three remaining candidates that should be commended for their ability to maintain fidelity. Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul have all maintained long term marriages, and while we shouldn’t judge their character solely on this, it’s not a bad start!

Now to be fair, I don’t know if Giuliani or McCain have admitted their mistakes with a repentant heart. Maybe they have. We know statistically they wouldn’t be the first men in America to make mistakes like this (although what’s striking about these two men is their stories seem appalling).

Should we take into account these terrible mistakes as we cast our vote for president?

Should one of the most important positions of power in the entire world go to men of the highest character?

I believe so and I believe that we must consider these facts as we weigh who to vote for in the coming election. To not do so would be negligent and irresponsible as citizens of the United States of America.