Regardless of what you think of Ted Cruz’s speech at the Republican National Convention, he is right about one thing: Conservatives should vote according to conscience.

The two most important issues in selecting the future political leaders of this country are religious liberty and protecting the unborn. These are issues of conscience that trump (no pun intended) many another issue that have gotten far more press. Without equal protection for innocent life, and with the recognition that religious liberty is a God-given right, there is no enduring ground for positive change generally.

Safety for the unborn should not have to be discussed. Murder is not only morally wrong based on religious beliefs; it is a guarantee of mutual annihilation. Eventually the governing powers who decided killing babies was legitimate will decide to permit the killing of other segments as well — until the society has decimated itself. This isn’t conjecture. It’s human history. In How Civilizations Die, David Goldman details how civilizations that cease to cherish life and children eventually crumble.

The very fact that we are still debating the life issue as if it were just a political decision should shock us awake from our politically induced coma. When 58 million of us die at our own hands while we celebrate the right to choose, we have placed ourselves on very shaky ground for judging the Nazis or any other murderous regime. Murder is not a political position. It violates the core of morality.

The other, religious liberty — and with it, freedom of conscience — is a God-given right. There’s a reason it is enshrined in the Bill of Rights as the first right in the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It’s known as the first freedom because it is the foundation on which all other freedoms stand. If we don’t have the freedom to live out what we believe, all other freedoms are irrelevant.

We are created to respond to God and his order, and we are ultimately accountable for our response. When under the guise of equality for all, any authority enacts laws which infringe on our responsibility, that authority stands in direct opposition to God. That government will assuredly fall. It might last a little while, but as sure as the sun rises and sets, the kingdom of God will bring it down.

When we have any loyalties that pressure us to violate our own conscience, they are illegitimate. God never meant for the crown of his creation to be manipulated or dominated by any political structure. God stimulates us to think and believe for ourselves. Governments don’t grant freedom, but if they are beneficial they will ensure it is protected.

People are not free just because there is no barbed wire fence around them. They are responsibly free when they can think, believe, speak and act according to their own conscience, and especially when their conscience is enlightened by the word of Christ.

Refuse to be distracted by lesser issues. There are lots of fireworks in the air seeking to get our attention. Make sure your conscience is aligned with the word of God, and vote accordingly.