Christians at the time of political elections – Questions and Activities

10 min read

Laura Kings 11 May 2022

What can the Bible and the example of Jesus teach us at the time of political elections?

Use these resources in conjunction with the article ‘The politics of Jesus’ by young writer Emma Frank.

Lower Primary: Thinking about others

1. Read a book about empathy.
In The Smartest Giant in Town, by Julia Donaldson, a Giant buys a new spiffy wardrobe, but as he passes needy animal friends, he compassionately gives pieces of his clothes away.

Create your own story sequencing exercise by photocopying pages from the book, cutting out the different animals’ pieces of clothing and then matching the piece of clothing to the animal that the giant gifts it to.

Check for comprehension by playing the “thumbs up/thumbs down” game.

Read the following statements and ask students to give a thumbs up if it is true, or a thumbs down if it is not.

George is happy with his old clothes
George gives his shirt to a goat for a boat
George helps an elephant

Use the The Smartest Giant in Town song for a matching game by creating a print or digital worksheet where students match the first half of the verse with the second. For example, match ‘My tie is a scarf’ in column A with ‘for a cold giraffe’ in column B.

Use the The Smartest Giant in Town song for a sequencing activity by mixing up the verses and then asking students to put them back in order again as you read it.

Make a rhyme wheel by photocopying pictures from the book, pasting them to a paper plate and adding arrow hands like a clock with a paper fastener. Students use the clock hands to point to the rhyming words.

2. What is sympathy? What is empathy? How are they similar? How are they different? Look up the meaning of the words in the dictionary. Ask students to write a sentence or draw a picture of an example of sympathy and an example of empathy. Then, create a class Venn diagram to illustrate the similarities and differences between sympathy and empathy. Alternatively, ask students to list their examples and add them to a table or a poster where you classify exaples of sympathy on one side and examples of empathy on the other.

3. Match the feeling to the situation. How would these people feel?
List of situations:

It’s a hot day and Jimmy’s ice-creams melts and falls off the cone on to the ground.
It’s Emily’s birthday today and later on she is having a party with all her friends.
It’s the first time Jody has gone to a piano lesson, and she doesn’t know what to expect.
Tim is on holidays, and there is a cyclone in the area he is staying. There is no power in theholiday unit, it is dark and the wind is blowing outdoor furniture past the window.
Patrick’s older sister got a new alarm clock, and he only got her old hand me down clock.
Lola’s new puppy is sick, and her mum took it to the vet.
Adil wins his first swimming race at the school swimming carnival.
No one will let Anh join in their game at lunchtime.
Harriet left her favourite skipping rope at the park and it was not there when she went back to find it.
John’s ear hurts and he feels weak, hot and tired.
Satya’s Mum helps her figure out how to answer a hard sum in her homework.
Feng got distracted in class and everyone else seems to know what is going but he doesn’t.
Louis’s older brother takes all the good Lego pieces and doesn’t share any with him, even though many of them came from his sets in the first place.
Mateo accidentally trips as he walks up to get an award on assembly.
Lucia’s teacher says her class can have free time last thing on Friday afternoon.
Hakim’s brother and sister have gone to school and he has to sit in the back of the car while his Mum drives around doing jobs on her day off.

List of feelings:

Disappointed
Excited
Nervous
Scared
Jealous
Sad
Proud
Worried
Lonely
Sick
Grateful
Confused
Angry
Embarrassed
Happy
Bored

Next, divide students into groups and ask them to act out the scenarios. At the end of the performance, ask the members of the class who are watching how the character would feel in that situation.

4. Walk in my shoes
There is a possible curriculum link here to a measuring activity.
Dear Class,
Fee, Fie, Foe, Fum! There is a lot of measuring to be done! Can you find things that are longer than my footprints? What things are shorter?
Sincerely,
The Giant
P.S. Can you find anything the same length as my footprint?

Put some scenarios of people who are struggling or have different experiences in a shoe box. Ask for student volunteers or draw a name from a hat. Those chosen take turns to pick a shoe box and then pretend to be that person. Ask students to predict - How would that character feel? You can make the lesson more concrete by asking the students to wear a pair of dress-up shoes or to stand on a pair of footprints.

Focus questions:

Think about what the other person is feeling. How would you feel in that situation?
Think about what that other person/needs wants. What would you need or want from others in that situation?

5. Jesus taught key messages about love, compassion and forgiveness, including the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). Jesus's wisdom also challenged people about the way they were living (e.g. The Greatest Commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind and love your neighbour as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39).
What are some situations where you can show your love to others in challenging situations?
Think about the following places and make a list the situations you could encountering them where you are called up to act with empathy and compassion:

In the school playground
At the park
At home
In the classroom

Make a comic strip story about the situation. Your comic strip should tell a short story with a beginning, a middle and an end. Imagine what would happen, paying close attention to the pictures in your mind. Then, choose six important parts of the story and draw pictures of them in the comic strip boxes. Draw and colour the pictures you saw in your mind when the six parts of the story happened. Make speech bubbles to show what each character is thinking or saying at each point.

Upper Primary: Humans are rational beings with the freedom to choose

1. According to Christian teaching, God created people as rational beings with the freedom to choose. Choices between good and bad, right and wrong involve the whole person - emotions, feelings and reasoning. Read the parable of the Ten Lepers (Luke 17:11-18) and complete a Sketch-to-Stretch activity:

Make a quick drawing of what the parable meant to you.
Do not make an illustration of the story, rather it should represent your connections to the text.
Share your sketch with a partner, or a small group.
Ask them to tell you what they see in your sketch.
Share your meaning.
Discuss each other’s sketches and discuss the different ideas raised by the sketches.

Students then answer the following questions:

How is empathy demonstrated in the parable?
How do the lepers demonstrate freedom of choice?
Who makes good choices in the story? Why?
Were there any poor choices made in the story? Why? What should the character(s) do differently next time and why?
How do you think Jesus felt at the end of the story?

Pretend you are Jesus. Write a letter home to Mary, telling her about the experience and how you felt about it.

2.Opinion writing: does making good choices towards others make you a good Christian? Why? Explain your opinion using evidence from the Bible. Use a graphic organiser to plan your paragraph or use the O.R.E.O. method (opinion, resaon, evidence, opinion).

3. Walk in my shoes
Each student traces an outline of his or her own shoes on a piece of paper. Students can decorate the shoes in a way that reflects their personality and interests.
Students’ names are drawn from a hat to randomly partner them with a student they may not know very well. Students exchange shoe drawings with their partner. Students interview each other and write. Students discuss their strengths, likes, dislikes, successes, failures, joys, sorrows, family, school, feelings, life experiences, and so on.
After the students have completed their drawings and notes, share them with the class, or in a small group.
Discuss the following:

What did you learn about another classmate?
How can you better prepared to understand them?
What can you do to better to enable yourself to show empathy?

4. "What You See With Empathy"
Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a thought-provoking picture from a newspaper or magazine. Ask students to answer these questions in relation to the person in the picture:

What can they see?
What can they touch?
What can they hear?
What can they smell?
What do they feel?
What are they thinking about?

After each group has had a few minutes to discuss their picture as a group, share some of their ideas with the class. Discuss what the students can do to look at others more empathetically using verbal, physical, and situation or cues.

5. Review the concept of empathy by looking it up in the dictionary and then compiling a list of examples of empathy shown in the students favourite movies.
Discussion questions:

How can understanding others (empathy) can help us get along and improve our relationships?
Our feelings towards others are rarely static. Think of a time when your feelings changed towards someone, or towards a particular situation. What caused the change? Did it change because you received new information, or by changing your perception (looking at the situation in a different light.)?
How do empathy and kindness work together?

Students write a journal entry regarding a person with whom they are may have had some problem. What are some of the other person's challenges and struggles and how can we affect their actions? Students conclude by describing what they can do to better understand that other person and what they can do to get along better.

6. What is an election? Why do people vote? When is the next election occurring near you? Use your Bible to read these verses that illustrate peaceful and just actions or relationships. Make a list of examples of how Catholics can live out these texts at the time of elections:

Matthew 7:12
Romans 12:10
Philippians 2:3
Titus 2:7
1 Peter 2:17
1 Corinthians 10:33
John 13 34-35

Why is it important to consider the idea that Christians are expected to act with peace and just actions at the time of elections? Express your response as an opinionative paragraph using the O.R.E.O. method (opinion, reason, evidence, opinion).

Lower Secondary: Catholic moral theology

1. The ‘three good things’ exercise can be useful for dealing with stress around election times and reminding oneself about what is important.

Step 1: Think about anything good that happened to you today. It can be anything at all that seems positive to you. It need not be anything big or important. For example, you might recall the fact that you enjoyed the oatmeal you had for breakfast. On the other hand, you might also recall that you got a good grade on a test, or you had uninterrupted sleep. Anything from the simplest to the most exalted works, as long as it seems to you like a good, positive, happy thing.
Step 2: Write down these three positive things.
Step 3: Reflect on why each good thing happened. Determining the "why" of the event is the most important part of the exercise. For example, you might say that your oatmeal tasted yummy this morning because your partner took the time to go shopping at the local farmer's market, where they have fresh, organic oatmeal. Or you might say that your child took its first step today because God was pouring blessings down upon your family, or because it really wanted to get to some cookies on the table. You get to decide reasons for each event that make sense to you.

2. "Not Like Me" game
Before students enter the classroom, organise the room so that half the room is easy to favour and teach and the other half is not. This game consists of one team receiving extra attention, while the other team will not. The objective is for students to be able to empathize with the main character of a parable who has been marginalised, such as the woman at the well (John 4:1-42).

As students enter the classroom, show each child where to sit (Team 1 area, Team 2 area). When seated, teach one side of the room only and favour one team over the other. Happily greet each student, even giving him/her a broad smile, a pat on the head or gift (favorite type of candy--or new pencil). Next, go to the second team area, say a brief "hi and welcome" and then tell them to be quiet and behave. Continue talking and smiling to the "favoured" team and ignore the other team.
After a minute or two, "act yourself" again, and ask students to discuss in their pod groups how they felt with this activity. How did it feel to be in the "favoured" group, and how did it feel to be in the "ignored" group? What did you think about the other group?

Report out to the whole group. Introduce the word, "diversity". Ask students to talk about challenges that may be present on the school campus around diversity. ( Race, gender, religion, etc.)

3. It’s often easier to make ourselves feel better that to do the same for others.
Read the following article about Jesus healing the bent over woman Luke 13:10-17.

What is empathy? What is compassion? Write a definition in your own words, then look up a definition in a reputable dictionary. How close was your understanding to the real meaning?
Write down three examples of how you can feel empathy for another person. Now, write down three examples of how you can show compassion for another person. How do empathy and compassion work together?
How does Jesus demonstrate empathy in the story of healing the bent over woman?
How does Jesus demonstrate compassion in the story of healing the bent over woman?
Could Jesus have healed the woman if he had not felt empathy? Why/why not?
You don’t have the ability to heal someone by performing a miraclemiracle, but what could you do to help an elderly person who seemed to be struggling?
Read this article from Australian Catholics for ideas:
Students make real-life connections online by Bruce Carr
Do you know anyone who is bent over with responsibilities or burdened by sadness? How can you demonstrate empathy and compassion for them?

4. Based in Scripture, the Church teaches that all people are created in the image of God. The Church teaches that all people have dignity and natural rights and deserve respect, regardless of their religious, social or ethnic background. God's plan is that people help each other to live safely and happily together. Societal laws are intended to be for the good of all. This is illustrated by Jesus' teaching (e.g. The Golden Rule, Matthew 7:12//Luke 6:31). Consider the following questions:

Does your classroom have rules? How do you feel about those rules? Why do you think those rules are there? What would happen if there were no rules in your classroom? How would you feel? Would you be better or worse off?
How about elections? Do you know what an election is? Why do we have elections? What is the next election in your area? Do you think we need elections? What would happen if we didn’t have them? Why do we vote in an election? Should we just think about our own needs at election time or should we take into the needs of others as well? What advice do you think Jesus would give you about voting in an election?

5. The Scriptures provide a foundation for moral living, specifically the Decalogue, Beatitudes and the fruits of the Spirit.

Read the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-11; Luke 6:20-26). Who were they written for and why?
Read The Decalogue (Ten Commandments) (Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21). Who were they written for and why?
What are the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? How told us about the fruits of the Spirit and why?
Identify the connection between The Decalogue (Ten Commandments) and Jesus' teaching in the Beatitudes and the fruits of the spirit. What do these three texts offer Christians?
Read ‘Understanding the Natural Law’ in Australian Catholics. What is Moral Theology? How does it help guide us in decision making? How would a knowledge of Moral Theology help you make a decision when voting.
Read Galatians 5:1-13. What does this passage say about the nature of Christian Freedom?
How do these passages guide us when we are making decisions? How do they influence us when we are making decisions about who to vote for?
Is it enough to consider Moral Theology when voting or is there more to think about? Read this article from the Parish Life Blog ‘Men for others’ by Andrew Hamilton SJ and see if it helps you to come to any conclusions.

Upper Secondary: With rights come responsibilities

1. Walk in my shoes
Each student traces an outline of his or her own shoes on a piece of paper. Students’ names are drawn from a hat to randomly partner them with a student they may not know very well. Students exchange shoe outlines with their partner. Students take turns repeatedly asking each other "Who are you?" Each responds differently each time saying, "I am someone who _______" (is a brother, likes sports, has a hard time in math). If students repeat this, they can learn a lot about each other. Students take notes on the partner's responses and then record this information to the partner's footprints using words or drawings.
After the students have completed their drawings and notes, share them with the class, or in a small group.
Discuss the following:

What did you learn about another classmate?
How can you better prepared to understand them?
What can you do to better to enable yourself to show empathy?

3. Slam the Door! Empathising with people who feel like they have been excluded from society.

As you walk into the classroom. slam the door! Ask the students - How many of you have ever slammed a door? How many of you have ever had a door slammed in your face? How did it make you feel?
Divide students into groups of three. Ask each group to think of a scenario where it feels like a door has been slammed in their face. Each group then constructs helpful responses to take the place of the "slammers". (Example: Let's suppose you meet a person who is anxious in social situations. You feel extremely shy. It's hard for you to meet people, yet you want to be social. How could someone respond in a way that suggested acceptance of you and help you feel more connected in your classroom? What would you tell the person to do or say?)
Ask pairs to share their scenario with the whole group. Ask students, "What makes this a "slammer"? Then ask, "If we wanted to provide a helpful response, what are some things we could consider that make a response a positive one"? (Make a list of these characteristics on the board so students can refer to them when working through the other scenarios).
Ask students - How was it coming up with something better than a "slammer"? Who found it difficult? Who thought it was easy?
Going further: consider asking the pairs of students to act out their scenario for the class in a skit and demonstrate to the class how you can show empathy and compassion for a person who has had the door slammed in their face.

4. Structured class discussion: Different approaches to looking after the weak in society?
Read the following articles from Australian Catholics magazine. What do they tell us about how different groups in society care for people in need? Create a comparison in a T-chart.

What example did Jesus set when it came to helping people in need? Find five examples of when Jesus helped people who were poor or sick. Identify the Bible passages by taking note of the book, chapter and verses that tell the story. What is the proper way to write these out?

5. Consider the different styles of leadership demonstrated in these articles from Australian Catholics. What can they teach us about leadership styles? What sort of leader do you aspire to be in the future?

6. How do you plan to uise your right to vote? When is the next election occurring near you? Use your Bible to read these verses that illustrate peaceful and just actions or relationships. Make a list of examples of how you can live out these texts when you make a decision on who to vote for:

Matthew 7:12
Romans 12:10
Philippians 2:3
Titus 2:7
1 Peter 2:17
1 Corinthians 10:33
John 13 34-35

How will you act with peace and just actions at the time of elections? Write an action plan.

Define your goal
List tasks
Identify critical tasks
Assign tasks
Assess and improve

7. Investigation:
What is anthropology? How can we use the tools of anthropology to investigate a Catholic understanding of the human person?

Consider the following in your investigation:

The influence of our Jewish roots on Catholic Christianity
Human dignity
Individualism vs Collectivism
Relational beings
Common Good
Obligation

Consider also the following sections of the Bible in your response:

Genesis 3
John 1: 14
2 Corinthians 4:4
John 10:10
Genesis 4:9
John 14-17
John 15:12
1 John 4:16
Matthew 25:35

8. Epistemology (Greek episteme ‘knowledge’) is concerned with the act and nature of knowing. A wisdom epistemology affirms the insights of ordinary people in everyday lives to make moral choices for wholesome living. In an age of a multiplicity of choices, how do use the Bible and the example of Jesus to make good decisions?
Consider the following passages from the Bible in your response:

Colossians 1:17
1 Corinthians. 3:10-110

Further resources for teachers:

Christians at the time of elections - resources for the teachers
Use these resources collected from around the web to support your teaching about Christians at the time of elections.