With Labor Day behind us, the November election now looms large, drawing the focus of national attention — and rightfully so. With each election, our nation reaches a crucial crossroads. The policies and priorities of the two major political parties stand in stark contrast, reflecting two very different philosophies of governance. As we approach this election, we must keep three words in mind: pray, vote, and stand.

First, we need to pray for our country and the upcoming election. We desperately need a move of God in our hearts and in our land.

Second, we have a duty and responsibility to vote. This means being informed about the issues and the candidates and voting for those who most closely align with biblical truth.

Lastly, we must stand for biblical truth, regardless of what may be politically popular or culturally acceptable at the moment.

I was reminded of this truth last month by an Associated Press article about a German court upholding the conviction of a former secretary at a Nazi concentration camp. This is one of, if not the last, trials of a Nazi war criminal. The woman, Irmgard Furchner, is now 99 years old. She was only 18 or 19 when she served as the secretary to the SS commander at a Nazi concentration camp in Poland during WWII. She was convicted of being an accessory to the murder of 10,505 people — Jews, Poles, and others — by assisting the work of the camp commander and failing to oppose it.

Lutheran Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who bravely challenged Adolf Hitler, once said: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

If an 18-year-old secretary is being held accountable 80 years later for her failure to speak out against the atrocities of the Nazis, where will that leave us when we stand before a holy God who sees everything?

Proverbs 24:11-12 (NKJV) speaks directly to this: “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?”

We have a responsibility to speak up and act against the evil we see today that is bringing harm and destruction to the lives of others, which stands contrary to the unchanging standard of truth — God’s Word. 

Eighty years from now, how will our tolerance of abortion be viewed? What about the perverse and destructive gender ideologies being promoted today — ideologies that confuse children and lead to the scarring and mutilation of their bodies, minds, and souls?

As Bonhoeffer said, “Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

We must: Pray. Vote. Stand.

Tony Perkins is president of Family Research Council and executive editor of The Washington Stand.