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| Someday, nonvoters might regret staying home By Sylvester Brown Jr. ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Tuesday, Nov. 07 2006 Although many of us are scurrying to vote today, a greater number will likely opt out of the whole process altogether. While voter turnout in Missouri is expected to be nearly 50 percent statewide, that still leaves a sizable portion of the voting age who won't visit the polls today. It's easy to beat up on this politically inactive group. We can angrily remind them that many loyal Americans spilled blood to make sure everyone had a right to vote. We could lay a patriotic guilt trip on them by pointing out that people in dysfunctional democracies like Iraq and Iran outvote Americans, as an Associated Press article recently pointed out. As far as I'm concerned, nonvoters deserve a little slack. Who knows what turned them off. Perhaps it was what they deemed as months and months of lies, hype or downright ugly campaigning. Maybe they feel their votes won't matter. Or, maybe they reason that big money and big power always, always win. If the national numbers prove true, I can empathize with this segment of the population because 20 years ago, I still walked in their shoes. I was raised around loving, nurturing people who took righteous pride in nonpolitical positions. Members of my faith, the Jehovah's Witnesses, took Jesus' advice literally. Rendering "to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" meant no voting and no involvement with other "worldly" matters. The issue of voting did catch my attention, however, in the late 1960s. That's when I saw images of people on TV, mostly black, marching, being beaten, arrested, slammed by bone-breaking water hoses and angry mobs. "They want their equal rights, Junior. They want to vote," Mama explained. Her words confused me. The "they" she mentioned looked like "us," yet she and other grownups in our lives seemed disconnected from the unfolding events. I vividly remember April 4, 1968, the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. "They finally got Martin," Mama whispered. The tone she used, as if describing a hurricane in a distant land, reinforced the notion that we had no control over the things "they" do. Much has changed since the 1960s. Black citizens vote and black politicians hold mayoral, senatorial, congressional and other political offices. There has indeed been progress, but I'm bothered by the notion that my mother and other adults in my childhood circle had nothing to do with that progress. That's the question nonvoters should grapple with today. No matter the candidate or initiative, will they, years from now, be OK with the fact that they had nothing to do with the outcomes? I eventually shook off the shackles of my religious upbringing and started voting in my late 20s. Even though my candidates rarely won, it's still an empowering experience. This weekend, my daughter Lexi, 11, enjoyed some time with six of her fifth-grade girlfriends. In between mouthfuls of Reese's peanut butter cups, Kit Kats, and other left-over Halloween candy, the girls went back and forth explaining the pros and cons of stem cell research, and discussing some of the negative advertising they had seen lately. My wife and I couldn't contain our proud smiles in the next room as the girls' conversation segued to their "idea presidential candidate" in 2008. It would have to be an "African-American Muslim or Jewish female," the girls decided. The group gave a resounding "YES" to the last criteria: "She has to be in a wheelchair, too!" Clearly my daughter and her friends are more politically connected than I was at their age. They actually complained that it was "unfair" that they can't vote today. Unfair or not, it's the way it is. Children can't vote. In the meantime, it's up to those who can to determine the outcomes. |
Someday Non-Voters might regret staying home-ex-JW speaks out
by Dogpatch 9 Replies latest jw friends
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Dogpatch
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DannyHaszard
I voted yesterday at Bangor Maine city hall all but two of my slate of choices won.Danny Haszard
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heathen
yah but these politicians are nothing more than con men . To vote for them is a vote for corruption . That's the way I see it . They lie their way into office then blame the opponent for all the their problems they can't fix . I didn't vote and probly will never .
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ithinkisee
::::yah but these politicians are nothing more than con men . To vote for them is a vote for corruption . That's the way I see it . They lie their way into office then blame the opponent for all the their problems they can't fix . I didn't vote and probly will never .
Then don't complain about the government.
-ithinkisee
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heathen
I'll complain all I want ............ Don't tell me what to do on that ....
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Anitar
I'm terribly sorry, my computer has some sort of virus and it won't let me post my text!
The Jehovah's Witnesses like to say they are "neutral," but for my mom that is just a nice word for arrogant. George Washington once said he was impartial regarding government and foreign affairs, but there is a big difference between neutrality and impartiality. Where in the bible does it say for a christian to be neutral? For a logical person, it is no more possible to be neutral than to live in a "paradise earth."
This is just another example of the double standard of the watchtower. They won't vote, but they have no problem accepting government money. They do absolutely nothing to help the community through charity, yet they claim to be a non-profit organization to avoid paying taxes. They lie in court, yet they have no problem taking their cases of "religious freedom" to the supreme court. They are the first to complain about being denied their constitutional rights, yet they deny the freedom of speech and thought in their own congregation.
The democratic system can work if people care enough. For example, just last night, The Democratic challenger for Representative in my area beat the incumbent Republican by three thousand votes. Yet the Republican population is 18 thousand more than the Democrats in the district!
To all the JW's who arrogantly profess to be "no part of the world," I say go right ahead. But just remember this:
Those who refuse to partipicate in their government end up being governed by their inferiors.
Anitar
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Anitar
So I see it's been a few days and nobody's responded. What did everyone think of the elections?