Here is the pledge, as it is posted on their website, (as of the writing of this blog at http://www.focuspetitions.com/135/petition.asp?RID=13147382):
The Values Voter Pledge:
As a concerned citizen, I am signing this Values Voter Pledge for 2008 indicating my commitment to stand for the values of life, faith and family during this election year. I am pledging to support candidates who uphold these bedrock values of:
•Life -- I will only vote for candidates who have committed to
defend sanctity of life from conception to natural death.
•Family -- I will only vote for candidates who stand for one-man, one-woman
marriage and oppose efforts to undermine the
nuclear family.
•Faith -- I will only vote for candidates who support the public
acknowledgement of God and affirm the religious liberties of
all Americans.
I also oppose any and all efforts by the media, organizations or candidates to diminish the role that Values Voters are playing in this year’s election. I authorize Focus on the Family Action to represent my Values Voter Pledge before the media, political candidates or other suitable forums as a demonstration of the strength and seriousness of Values Voters in this election cycle.
We have a duty to protect the helpless and to oppose injustice in all its forms. Abortion is a deadly attack on the most helpless possible human victims. The attempt to redefine marriage is an indirect attack on children and on society itself. I oppose both, and I seek to support political candidates who stand boldly and effectively in defense of children of all ages and of the traditional family.
However, there are times when no such candidate is available. At such times, I may be compelled to distinguish between a candidate who is hostile to traditional values and one who is either passive or simply ineffective in his defense of them. At times, I may be compelled to vote, not for the lesser of two evils, but against the greater of two evils. That, too, is a way to resist injustice.
Focus on the Family's Values Voter Pledge, however, does not allow that option. Those who sign it bind themselves by an oath to do nothing even if faced with a choice between monstrous evil and moral ambiguity.
I cannot help thinking about King Saul's foolish oath in 1 Samuel 14. He had only one goal in mind and lost sight of all else. As a result, he bound not only himself, but also his whole nation, by a foolish oath not to eat until they had won a battle. Tunnel vision, even in the pursuit of a laudable goal, can lead to tremendous foolishness. I hope God's people are wise enough to heed the words of Ecclesiastes 5:2-5:
1 Walk prudently when you go to the house of God;
and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools,
for they do not know that they do evil.
2 Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words be few.
3 For a dream comes through much activity,
And a fool’s voice is known by his many words.
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it;
For He has no pleasure in fools.
Pay what you have vowed—
5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
Lord, protect us from foolish vows.
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