“Dear Candidate”

September 27, 2022

Dear Candidate,

Thank you for your letter asking for my support.  It reminds me that I have a duty as a citizen to know where local and state as well as national candidates stand on the things that matter.  I am not a party voter, although I may make default assumptions based on party platforms.

As a values/worldview voter I represent a significant segment of your constituency.  Central is the acknowledgment that the Almighty is Sovereign, not I, not the state, not the federal government.  My rights, as the Declaration of Independence states, come from Him.  More than half your constituency profess to share this attitude.  Do you acknowledge the Sovereignty of the Almighty in your life and politics?  Or do you choose your own principles and values in response to your situation?  Are you at least willing to tolerate and represent those who do put the Almighty first?

Believing that there is Someone in charge of the universe besides me makes a huge difference in how seriously I apply my Judeo-Christian worldview to my life, my work, and my vote. I do not by any means disqualify anyone else from operating on their principles in office and out — and we may share common cause or compromise on particular measures. Those of us who hold ourselves accountable to a Higher Power have just as much right — and duty — to participate in any sort of democratic system as those who do not. It isn’t all about me.

My worldview determines my values.  We may share worldview but differ in values.  You may share my values without the worldview from which they come and we can still work together on some issues. Your values determine your vote and the policies and measures that you support and I celebrate or regret.  We may share values yet disagree on policies.  For example, Democrats and Republicans tend to have different approaches to the same problems, but many of us have a common Sovereign, faith and values.  I get that.  I vote values rather than party or personalities.

The Judeo-Christian deity is holy — perfect in truth and dignity, just — precisely right in His laws and decisions, and love — desiring the absolute best for mankind and all He has made. Typical values that such an Almighty calls forth from me and perhaps half of your constituents (to one degree or another) are the sacredness of humanity, of marriage and the family, and of religious liberty.

Is every human being sacred – of intrinsic and inestimable worth – to you?  Regardless of age, sex, status, opinion, handicap or anything else?  Or are some human beings expendable? Politically, this question particularly applies in Connecticut to our political rhetoric, to abortion and to euthanasia.  Who has rightful discretion over the life or death of another?  Is it justice for the party in power to have the right to silence dissent?  Sensor crisis pregnancy centers?

The Dobbs-Jackson decision changed nothing here in this blue state but put the value-laden decision in the hands of the Connecticut State Legislature.  The vindictive lurch to the left was unnecessary.  The ultimate pro-life objective is not to make abortion illegal, but unthinkable.  The closer the infant is to birth the more uncomfortable most people, of any worldview, are with killing it.  But why stifle those who try to encourage and assist mothers who make the other, more difficult, choice?

Do you support the human dignity and equal value of every human being? Or is human value dependent on ability, contribution, and quality of life? What about unwanted children (pre-born and newborn)?

Closely related is the sacredness of marriage and family. The Creator (or evolution, if you prefer) determined that the continuation of the human race and its flourishing should rest securely on the permanent multi-dimensional union of a man and a woman producing and nurturing children to maturity. Adoptive families plug the gap for orphans, but it isn’t quite the same. The Almighty has a particular interest in children and He is not pleased when our adult pleasures damage them or prevent us from meeting their needs. His holiness, His justice, and His love are all offended.

History and social science show that exceptions and mutilations of natural marriage, as lived out in the natural family, simply do not work as well as the original. Tragedies and disruptions happen — and need help from public and private sources. Individuals who are diverse in their sexual desires and gender identities must not be abused — or idealized. We have chosen, as a society, to permit creative forms of sexuality and alternative forms of relationship — notably “hooking up,” co-habitation and same-sex marriage — that leave little room for children. Encouraging these options among our young may not be good for them or for society. The continuation of the community, the nation and the civilization — human flourishing — depends on the raising of healthy citizens through healthy families.

Whether you consider marriage and family sacred, ideal or just practical, will you abstain from attacking it and allow others to support it? Will you let kids be kids and keep sexual politics out of early primary grades? Or do you wish traditional marriage and families to be replaced by new alternatives? Can you allow a level playing field?

One more non-negotiable value: liberty of conscience and freedom of religion come with allegiance to a Judeo-Christian Deity. Loving the Lord thy God is a choice. Mine is a voluntary faith and I am required to give others the same choice.  One of the foundational principles of this country is the liberty to worship a Higher Power according to deeply held beliefs and to obey His commands.  One who is not free to obey his conscience is not free at all.  From that we derive freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly (as in the Bill of Rights).

Christians were thrown to the lions for refusing to say “Caesar is Lord.”  Ultimate obedience belongs only to the Eternal.  In a state where morality is controversial, will you defend my right to abide by my conscience, to write and speak for what I believe is right, and to refuse to live by what I consider lies?  Even if I were a physician, a therapist, a photographer, an artist, or a florist?  Or do you wish to punish and silence anyone who does not yield their conscience to contemporary ideology? 

It all comes back to who is Sovereign.  Can you live with people who will not say “Caesar is Lord”?  With people who value every homo sapiens?  With people who value covenantal marriage and natural families?  With people who march to the beat of an eternal Drummer?

Your answers will determine whether I can support you.

David W. Heughins

Citizen