Rock The Vote: my secret is discovered

under_believer

A while back, I registered to vote. I even voted in our primary (nonpartisan issues only at this point--I'm still finding my "center.")

At the time, my wife asked me if all this voting stuff we were getting all of a sudden was some new thing the state was doing--maybe you just get enrolled to vote when your drivers license renews, or something. "Um... yeah, maybe so..." I lied, feeling guilty the entire time, but not willing to either tell her the truth (and face the music) or give up my precious act of disobedience.

I was a fool. Don't lie to your wife, at least not if you still love her. I lied to my wife.

In the end, she found out anyways, and the results were absolutely shocking--SHOCKING, I say--to me.

LAST WEEK:

"Here, this came in the mail for you," she said, handing me the ballot and voting info for the next election.

"Huh, cool. They sure have been sending us a lot of stuff lately," I muttered, tossing it nonchalantly into a pile, for later sneaking out to my car.

"Yeah, they have. Listen, did you register to vote?"

Uh oh. "Welllll.... okay, yes, I registered to vote. I just don't think it's wrong. In fact, I have decided it's wrong NOT to vote."

"A year ago," she said, "we discussed this. We decided that the Society says it's a conscience matter."

"Well, they SAY that, but from what I've heard you can still be punished for it. That was mostly for people in countries like Brazil, where they have mandatory voting laws. Anyways, even if it's not a conscience matter, I decided I still want to do it. I think that teaching is wrong."

And what she said next took my breath away: "I agree with you. The Society is wrong to forbid voting--these are issues that affect us all, and we should have a say in them. It's not being no part of the world to help decide how your country is to be run."

**********

So. I was a fool to lie to my wife. How a woman with no college education, very little time for intellectual pursuits, and an institutional dislike for civics issues came to that point of both A) disobedience to "God's Channel" and B) a mature understanding of what democracy means is beyond me. I underestimated her.

She'll never read it, but: Baby, I'm sorry. I underestimated you. I won't do it again.

Chameleon

Wow, that's great. And so the cracks in the WT armor begin.

under_believer

One would hope, Chameleon. Time will tell.

Warlock

Hang on now U.B. It was either Leolaia or Blondie that posted the "Questions from readers" about voting and it said we COULD vote, if...............................

Hopefully, they will read you experience and post it again.

Warlock

daystar

U_B, that's fantastic!

under_believer

Warlock, that QfR is what my wife and I found a while back, what made us decide it was nominally a "conscience matter." However as others have pointed out it's understood that this is a concession for Witnesses in mandatory-vote nations. At the very least, other Witnesses would take a very dim view of us if they knew we were voting. I personally think (depending on the BoE, and we have a very conservative BoE) we'd be marked.
Based on that QfR, I doubt we'd be DF'ed or be considered DA, but anything is possible.
Trust me, there isn't a sudden organization-wide acceptance of voting.

Warlock

Trust me, there isn't a sudden organization-wide acceptance of voting.

I know, but that could be your "out", as it were.

Warlock

Borgia

UB,

I'm happy for you, dude. It brightens the horizon, does it not?

Give your misses a big hug and be proud of her.

Cheers

Borgia

Kudra

U-B:

Neat-o, it seems like somehthing that would bring you guys closer together. It's always nice to be pleasantly surprised by your partner.

BTW, what is your new avatar from? It's like on the tip of my tongue... I remember that guy from something....

-K

under_believer

Kudra, it's Hugo Weaving playing Agent Smith from The Matrix. I kinda miss Aang, though. I might bring him back. He was happier. This guy reflects my current state of mind so well, though.

Rock The Vote: my secret is discovered

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