You want to vote, know you should vote, but feel you don’t have a clear choice based on faith, so you’re opting out. Just not voting.
I urge you to instead, think.
I could go into strong arguments and bog you down with a lot of compelling information to digest. But if your interest in that information was there, you’d have those compelling arguments also. That isn’t a judgment—many are truly struggling with the choice of not having person who represents their vision of their faith on the top of the ticket, and not because they aren’t informed but because they are informed. (I would remind folks that the VP is a heartbeat from the presidency, and there are faith connections worthy of consideration there also.)
Simply put, if you’re struggling for whatever reason and opting not to vote, you’re failing yourself, your family and forfeiting the direction of your future by default. So what do you do?
Cut through the clutter and fog. Look at the four candidates vying for the top two positions. Their conduct—actions, not words—and ask yourself which group of two have conducted themselves in a way that fosters an environment aligned with the tenants of your faith. Which two most respect your right to worship your way, most support your freedom of religion?
It’s that simple.
If faith is your primary concern, then you vote for the candidates least likely to infringe upon it.
Voting is a duty of each American. One that has been won with blood and treasure and has been retained with more blood and treasure. Opting out because you don’t see a vision of a perfect choice before you is being derelict in that duty and dismissive of the costs of the privilege.
It is up to the individual to decide the personal criteria necessary to earn his or her vote, and in a free society, that is as it should be. The process can be as simple or complex as any one individual chooses. The bottom line is that the individual should set those criteria and choose.
A political philosopher, Edmund Burke, once said, “Nothing is so fatal to religion as indifference.” Not voting, for whatever reason, results in an expression of indifference.
Doesn’t that indifference—not voting—really express an indifference to your future expression of faith?
Blessings,
Vicki
