iVoterGuide Partnership: Equipping You To Vote Wisely
We have partnered with iVoterGuide to help you make biblical voting decisions this November. iVoterGuide is the nation’s largest candidate research organization focused exclusively on informing and mobilizing voters with biblical values. As such, we share many values with them including marriage/family, the sanctity of life, God-honoring citizenship, and religious liberty. We firmly agree with their stance that “elections are the front lines of an everyday, year-round, fifty-state battle for the soul of our country”.
We appreciate the valuable research that went into this handy tool and hope that you will too. Please enter your address here to find the specific election information relating to your ballot. Remember, your vote is your voice!
Please Vote "No" on Legalizing Marijuana
I enjoyed my college years, and I have to admit that a significant part of that enjoyment was because I was 2,500 miles from home. I was ready to experience the “sweet taste of freedom” that college offered, and many of my other freshman classmates felt the same way. I’m not proud to admit that many of us did really stupid things that first year. My apologies to the parent we hit with a water balloon from the roof of our dorm, and to the campus security guard we scared by putting a mannequin in the dark closet they needed to check each night.
One thing I did observe was that every so often that freedom took a seriously wrong turn. Instead of water balloons and mannequins, my university classmates often turned to marijuana (aka weed), amphetamines, and similar drugs. The results were obvious. Two of my close friends who smoked “weed” on a daily basis became so detached, that one dropped out after a semester, and the other went on to other drugs and eventually landed in jail from a felony conviction. I am convinced that marijuana played a key role in their indifference to school and life in general. It was really a shame. They became incapable of living up to their God-given potential.
North Dakota is facing ballot Measure 5, which would legalize recreational marijuana, allowing individuals who are 21 and older to possess and use various forms of weed. I’m not surprised by the “21 and older” provision. It makes everyone feel safer to vote “yes”. It’s similar to the laws intended to keep you, your friends, and family members from ever smoking or drinking as minors. Let me know how that works out.
There is also a section of the measure to direct a state agency to administer and regulate the system, and provisions which are intended to shield employers from work-related issues.
Does all this sound familiar? It should. This is the third time that groups have tried to legalize marijuana in ND since 2018. Make no mistake, this is a war of attrition; it has been for every state in their crosshairs.
We at North Dakota Family Alliance stand with many other respected organizations opposing this measure; organizations such as the North Dakota Medical Association, North Dakota Hospital Association, Mandan Police Department, Burleigh County Sheriff’s Office, North Dakota Petroleum Council, North Dakota Association of General Contractors, North Dakota Motor Carriers, North Dakota Farmers Union, and North Dakota Catholic Conference.
As we’ve all seen in Minnesota, Colorado, California, Washington state, and 20 others, marijuana legalization is a road that we don’t want to start down. Let’s not allow ND to become the 25th U.S. state that legalizes recreational weed. Please join with us in voting “No” on Measure 5 in November.
What is important to you?
Since assuming the role of Executive Director of North Dakota Family Alliance, I have been honored to work with other nonprofits, legislators, churches, and our allies across the state to represent our shared pro-life and pro-family values. As we approach the upcoming 2025 legislative session, we’ve been working on a number of topics/bills based upon factors such as, which topics we feel God is calling us to engage on, key social issues, issues raised by legislators and partners, and so on. However, I also find myself asking, what policy issues are most important to you? We represent biblical values on your behalf, so what do you think the most pressing topics should be for us?
As citizens who hold the types of values we do, we often find ourselves under attack. Yes, bills will be introduced into the next legislative session that we will need to respond to, but what bills would you like to see introduced into the legislature proactively? What policies do you believe will enable us to keep North Dakota a state where God is honored, families thrive, religious freedom flourishes, and life is cherished?
You help set our policy agenda in North Dakota, so I want to hear from you. Please email me at mark@ndfamilyalliance.org with the top one or two policy issues that you feel are most important. We are listening, and together we will make a lasting difference in the 2025 legislative session!
North Dakota Family Alliance's Statement on Judge Romanick's Ruling Against ND Abortion Law
North Dakota Family Alliance is deeply disappointed in yesterday’s ruling by Judge Bruce Romanick to strike down our state’s abortion law. The court ruled against pro-life values, citing that our state’s abortion law was unconstitutional due to “vagueness,” and because, “pregnant women in North Dakota have a fundamental right to choose abortion before viability exists under the enumerated and unenumerated interests protected by the North Dakota Constitution”. We strongly disagree.
Unrestricted access to abortion is now possible in North Dakota, putting women and the unborn children they carry at extreme risk. Our meticulously crafted law has been thrown out by the court in a ruling derived from activist decision-making and personal opinion.
The court’s ruling dismantles years of careful work done to protect unborn North Dakota children – laws put in place by the North Dakota Legislature with an overwhelming level of support. This decision has the power to make North Dakota one of the most liberal states in our nation on the issue of abortion and is clearly not the will of the people, as evidenced by decades of protecting life in this state.
North Dakota Family Alliance always has and always will fight ardently to protect and defend life in the state of North Dakota and to represent your values. The North Dakota Attorney General’s office has stated that they will appeal this judgment, and we pray the North Dakota Supreme Court will reverse this poorly reasoned decision.
Biblical Voting
You have heard me use the phrase “biblical citizenship” many times. Biblical citizenship can apply to many aspects of the political process: from lobbying to letter writing, from “get out the vote” campaigns to voting for God-fearing men and women candidates. With elections just around the corner, let’s talk about voting.
There are two important aspects of a candidate for office: their personal character and their policies. Both are typically indicators of what will happen if the person is elected.
On the character side, we all want someone who exhibits Christ-like servanthood, but who can also take strong unbending stands on moral issues when needed. Someone who uses the Bible as a touchstone for their actions and doesn’t merely pay lip service to the Scriptures and its teachings. A person who truly wants to pursue biblical solutions to tough problems.
Is there a perfect candidate on the character side of things? Not a chance. Some may be closer to this ideal than others, but nobody meets these criteria to the extent they should, and that includes both of our current presidential candidates. I’m sure there are also candidates running for office here in our state that miss the mark to one extent or another.
All I can say is, let’s give a little grace on these character flaws. That’s not the same as giving politicians a pass – they should be held accountable for what they say and do. However, always keep in mind that you and I are just as flawed as the next person. Someone once told me, "we’re all broken, some of us just show the cracks sooner than others."
On the policy side, there can often be substantial differences between candidates. As North Dakota Family Alliance, we obviously focus on issues that fall under our umbrella, so here are some of the biblical issues I would consider for candidates at all levels.
Abortion: Does the candidate plan to enact policies that protect life from conception to natural death?
Religious Liberty: Is the free expression of religious beliefs something the candidate will protect, consistent with the First Amendment? This applies to individuals, businesses, elected officials, and others.
Education: Does the candidate uphold and protect the primary rights of parents to determine and guide the education of their children?
Marriage/Family: Is marriage defined as being between one man and one woman, biologically distinct from birth, and is this marriage the nucleus of a healthy family?
Disadvantaged: Is the candidate committed to helping the “widow and orphan” – those living on the fringes of society – as God commanded? This might include those such as the homeless, unemployed, families who can’t make ends meet, the disabled, etc.
While both personal character and policies are important when choosing a candidate, the difference is that policies live on and shape our county long after the elected official has faded into history. Some of the greatest presidents this country experienced over the years had spotted character attributes but did amazing things for the advancement of our nation and ensured we held to the fundamentals upon which this country was founded.
I’m not going to tell you who to vote for. In fact, North Dakota Family Alliance is nonpartisan, and we want to keep it that way. We want you to vote your conscience and vote your values on the types of issues highlighted above. If you do that, you are exercising your biblical citizenship and one of your most privileged freedoms. Do not waste it.