Our state caucuses are this Shabbat. We will not be participating in the caucus but we will be voting in the state primary on the 19th. I have not spent a lot of time discussing the candidates or the issues with friends or family, mostly because I’m not interested enough to make it a topic of conversation. However, I do have an opinion.
I read yesterday a blog entry by AcceptanceWithJoy entitled Where Does A Republican Go To Retire? that I’d like to share with anyone who may read my entry here. I have to agree with much of what Acceptance said but I was shocked that her commentors would be so quick to say that they would likely not vote. This concerns me.
Now I have been told that a particular highly influential Christian leader has announced that if McCain wins the Republican nomination then he will not vote in the upcoming general election. I would firmly disagree with that position. Why does this leader not continue to support and endorse and publicize the candidate he is endorsing today? What, just give up? I don’t understand this logic at all, and I cannot support this leading.
All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing
Do I feel that the Democratic party is “evil”? Of course not. I personally believe that the majority of the party is misled or foolish on some issues but I also feel that they have the best interest of the people at large at heart. I, however, disagree with what should be done in the best interest of the people and how much control the government should have in our personal lives. No, I don’t think they’re evil, I just disagree with their agenda. I use the quote to illustrate a point. If Republicans or conservatives or “what on earth am I?’s” decide to boycott the election, what good is that going to do for us and for our children? We’re not ostriches, we’re human beings.
Maybe I’m a true “northwesterner” when I say, who cares about who gets the nomination? Is it too much for us to grasp that we can vote for someone else, even still? Here in my neck of the woods, people are independent and really resent being forced to check the box saying “I’m a Republican” or “I’m a Democrat” in order for their vote to even be counted, so much so that a lot of people here abstain from the primary election based on that alone. We’re independent thinkers and doers here, yet somehow we’re a very, VERY leftist state – a nanny state. Go figure! Up here in the north west corner of the lower 48, we homeschool and run our own businesses, we “play” more than we work sometimes (not in our house!) and we really resent being put into a box (even if there is a box that fits). Maybe this has rub off on me a little much, but I think that in this case it’s warranted.
Do we really need to bend to the media and their wishes? Goodness, they would like to call the final election results today if we let them. And the primaries aren’t even over yet! Do we really need to give the media that much influence? How about the powers that be in the Republican party – do we need to be boxed in by them? Vote for who you support, even if you have to write in the candidate’s name in the end. Heck, vote for Mickey Mouse (as my 8th grade social studies teacher told us – often) if there’s nobody else to vote for. Be it a Presidential election, a city council position or who will be the port commissioner – vote for who YOU think is the best candidate. But don’t not vote – please!
I think we may need to have a refresher lesson on our freedoms here in the USA – freedom of this, freedom of that – and how it is we come to have those freedoms. We surely won’t be keeping those freedoms if we abstain from voting just because we don’t like the front runners. How silly is that? If we do nothing, good things surely will not begin to happen, hence the quote above. Do we really think that if we sit on our hands that someone else will step up? Do we really think that if we stay silent that the message will be heard? Or do we think that anyone will care that less people will have voted this time than last time, and that there will be a message in that? Do we really want to take for granted the awesome privilege we have in our legal ability to vote for our leaders? What about all of those wonderful men and women who voluntarily serve our country and those who give their lives or of their bodies and minds so we can be comfortable at home? Anyone who says they’re going to abstain from voting has obviously lost sight of what it is that makes the USA a good country and where our freedoms come from.
Here in our county we have a school district asking for more money even though it’s not time for them do ask again. There’s bond issues, levies and more. But they’ve decided that last year what they asked for, and won, wasn’t enough so they’re asking for more again. People, if we don’t vote we don’t count. If we don’t vote, we don’t have any room to complain when our wishes aren’t taken into consideration by “the powers that be”.
All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing
Let’s not do nothing. Even if your candidate does not win, so what. You let your voice be heard and you have NO IDEA how many others might have voted for that same person (even Mickey Mouse) but opted not to vote at all because it wasn’t a front runner. So rather than wonder, get up and do. There’s no such thing as a vote thrown away, unless you abstain from voting at all.
Lisa, I will be voting… for the most conservative candidate that is running. I suspect that this will be whoever is chosen to represent the Libertarian Party. I would love it if Ron Paul chose to run, but he has said he won’t run as a Third Party candidate.
My problem with the Republican Party is that it is being used by the religious right (I realize I am part of that group) to push their ethical/social agenda. That isn’t what traditionally defined a conservative. Conservative governments and the historical Republican Party were concerned with the role of the government in the life of the people. It stood for smaller government, less taxes and more personal freedoms.
Whatever the case, I am tired of voting for the lesser of two evils; I am tired of voting for a candidate in one of the two main parties because third party candidates never win. I would rather “throw my vote away” on someone who understands the Constitutional role of government and is fiscally prudent then vote for someone who is for bigger government, more spending and whose policies encroach on individual freedoms.
I knew you’d have the perfect words to explain my thoughts further.
I know that many consider a third party vote as a thrown away vote. I, however, don’t see it that way.
I agree that smaller government is necessary. I hope that those who feel like we do will decide to vote this fall.
This business of voting is difficult at best. I have had to repent of casting a vote for each of the men I voted for since I became a believer. At the time, I believed they were the “lesser of 2 evils” yet, in office, they have proved to be plenty evil.
I can imagine standing before His throne, and He would ask me, “Why did you vote FOR this man who has commited x, y and z atrocities?” And I would say, “Well, they seemed to be the best man running.” However, looking at x, y, and z I am still ashamed that I cast my vote for this evil.
So which candidate is running that I can have hope will not lead our nation into further evil? Which candidate can I have any hope of not having to repent for casting a vote for?
On the other hand, it would be very hard not to at least try to stop **eh hem** certain people from gaining the white house
Kinda like A.G. in the past. Okay, I’ll stop rambling now.
I understand what you are saying. I’m not sure, however, that we’re to “blame” for who is in office. Leaders that are selected by the people, as opposed to HaShem alone, will always fail and have troubles with one thing or another. If King David were running in this election, would you vote for him? King Solomon?
I’m pleased that you take this voting business that seriously – I wish more of us did! I wish that the candidates took their offices as seriously as you take your voting, too. But my wishing won’t make a thing be.
It’s a game. It’s politics. It’s all a game. We need to learn how to play the game in such a way that our voices are heard. Abstaining from voting or contacting our elected officials or participating in those very things that allow us our freedom is not, in my opinion, playing the game in a way that honors our Maker. If we’re given the ability to have a voice in this country, we need to use it. And if we don’t, then we have no business making noise.
I wish there were a perfect candidate. Here is part of the daily prayers, the Birkat HaDin:
“Restore to us leaders like You gave in years past, counselors as You provided in our best days. Remove from us our sighing and our sorrow. Come and reign over us; be our only Ruler. Rule us in covenant love and in compassion, and rule us with righteous judgement. Blessed are you, HaShem, King who loves righteousness and judgment.”