Last week on The O'Reilly Factor, Dennis Miller made a brilliant point that seemed to get glossed over.  He mentioned the last scene of the 1957 classic The Bridge on the River Kwai.  In that scene, Alec Guinness, playing Colonel Nicholson, the bridge's architect, realizes the mistake he's made and literally gives his dying breath to correct it -- his body falls onto the detonator that blows his precious achievement sky-high.  Alec's character throughout the movie had gotten so caught up in building an architectural marvel that he had forgotten that there was a war going on, that he was actually a prisoner of that war, and that his excellent work was without a doubt aiding and abetting the enemy!

Dennis Miller alluded to the fact that it was time for rational people in the Democratic Party to wake up.  The country itself is being destroyed, and party politics needs to be set aside in order to save it.

Many have pointed to the similarities between this political season and the Carter/Reagan election.  The strong character- and ideas-driven campaign of Ronald Reagan gave birth to a voting bloc known as "Reagan Democrats" -- voters willing to cross political party lines to vote for the best candidate, not just mindlessly pull the lever for the Dems because it was tradition in their family.

Miller's urgent and level-headed appeal needs to be taken a step farther.  His call needs to be applied specifically to the voting bloc that should always make the biggest difference in every election: Christians.

An overwhelming majority of all voters describe themselves at Christians, so you would think that the fundamental, biblical principals these folks practice in their own lives would sway them in the voting booth, as well.  A Christian should be asking himself which of the two party platforms, Republican or Democrat, more closely reflects and favors a biblical worldview.  Surely, this election season and the two national conventions have unambiguously defined party values and directions for the nation.

Think about it.  Everyone is ultimately a "values voter."  People who believe in partial-birth abortion and gay marriage have a distinct viewpoint on life, and, consequently, they'd be utter fools to vote for Republicans.  And many of those same folks would chime right in with the booing that marked the convention-floor vote to put God back into the Democrats' platform -- and remember that the conventioneers booed not just once, but three times.  Let's face it: when you deny God three times (by the way, did anyone hear a cock crow after that third denial?) and go all anti-Israel in the same breath, the Republican party will certainly not be representative of your views.

So, when it's so undeniably clear what sort of people will be voting for the Obama-Biden team and the Democrat platform this election, why is it not also crystal-clear on which side Christians should be aligning themselves?  Does a true God-fearing Christian, whether Catholic or Protestant, leave the foundational truths of the Bible outside the voting booth?  Can such people, in good conscience, throw their lot in with the crowd supporting gay marriage, partial-birth abortion, government mandates on church participation in contraception, et cetera?

And in the financial arena, Democrats seem hell-bent on raising taxes.  Has anyone soberly considered the "effect" that trillions of dollars have had on the "war on poverty"?  Since that fight officially began under the Johnson administration in the '60s, the percentage of poor in this country has stayed relatively the same.  Shouldn't Christians be interested in keeping more of their own money so that they can more reasonably invest it through church and ministry donations?  Aren't Christians themselves the "boots on the ground" when it comes to more effectively taking care of the needs of the poor in their own communities?

Finally, there's one important Christian bugaboo that needs to be addressed.  It's the "Mormon thing."

Some Christians have lamented that they cannot in good conscience vote for Mitt Romney because "he's not a real Christian -- he's a Mormon."  Here's a very simple suggestion for Christians who feel that strongly and are intractable: don't vote for him.  There's a third choice -- vote for anyone else you feel mirrors your values or belief system.  Or stay home.  But Barack Obama and his party have clearly chosen their "values" -- do they reflect yours and the Church?

Alec Guinness played a colonel who truly believed in his cause until the truth suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks -- he was contributing to the enemy's victory, not the triumph of the Allied nations.  Colonel Nicholson ultimately did the right thing.  His last, noble act was to blow all his hard work (and ideals) to Kingdom Come.

Will enough Christians do the right thing this election by making their crucial vote a values-oriented one?

Simon de Hundehutte is one of the creative minds behind www.SnarxBrothers.com.