by onesong 22 Replies latest jw friends
I'm not into politics and don't put much stock in the government having anything to do with my happiness, but I decided it would be a new experience and why not.
I have to admit it felt good. Seeing democracy in action was great and as small as my 1 little vote is, it feels empowering to have a say.
Heya Onesong, we haven't met before, so I wanted to say 'howdy' and congratulate you on your first foray into politics. It may feel like it doesn't matter to be just one vote, but I believe it to be important.
Did you get one of those 'I voted today!' stickers or is that just something the locals here give out?
Eagle
I have to admit it felt good. Seeing democracy in action was great and as small as my 1 little vote is, it feels empowering to have a say.
Congrats!! Makes you actually feel like part of society, doesn't it!
Good for you -- you let your voice be heard !!
I know the feeling. I voted in the governor's race two years ago; the sense of empowerment I felt was awesome.
Freedom tastes grand.
Sylvia
Onesong,
Congrats! One of the first things I did when I stopped going to meetings was register to vote. I listen to NHPR everyday, so I'm following this pretty closely over there.
Hey, I'm in Vermont. Where in NH are you? I'm right on the border with NH in Westminster. I apologize if I've asked you about this before. I forget things sometimes....
S4
Well done!
For me voting in the 1997 uk election was the first time i did anything that i could be disfellowshipped for. That was the point i crossed the line of being a witness to non witness.
Unfortunately i voted for Tony Blair :-(
Hey S4, I'm over in Milford just outside of Nashua, not to far from you.
Anyone know what is the Society's official stance right now regarding voting?
I remember as I was leaving during the 2004 campaign someone dug up a recent Question's From Readers that actually left it open to your conscience. I remember sharing this with my family and other close friends and they were shocked--it had quietly slipped by them.
Hi onesong!!!
Wow, all these things you can do if your not a JW... I've never even thought about that one...
Congrats onesong,
Just like S4, I too, here in Vermont registered to vote. It's exciting at times.
The Watchtower, June 15th 1999 Issue, Page 30:
Questions From Readers
How do Jehovah’s Witnesses view voting?
...As for Jehovah’s Witnesses, they do not interfere with the right of others to vote; neither do they in any way campaign against political elections. They respect and cooperate with the authorities who are duly elected in such elections. (Romans 13:1-7) As to whether they will personally vote for someone running in an election, each one of Jehovah’s Witnesses makes a decision based on his Bible-trained conscience and an understanding of his responsibility to God and to the State. (Matthew 22:21; 1 Peter 3:16)
...those who have a part in voting a person into office may become responsible for what he does. (Compare 1 Timothy 5:22, The New English Bible.) Christians have to consider carefully whether they want to shoulder that responsibility.
[...]
In view of the Scriptural principles outlined above, in many lands Jehovah’s Witnesses make a personal decision not to vote in political elections, and their freedom to make that decision is supported by the law of the land. What, though, if the law requires citizens to vote? In such a case, each Witness is responsible to make a conscientious, Bible-based decision about how to handle the situation. If someone decides to go to the polling booth, that is his decision. What he does in the polling booth is between him and his Creator.
The November 15, 1950, issue of The Watchtower, on pages 445 and 446, said: “Where Caesar makes it compulsory for citizens to vote . . . [Witnesses] can go to the polls and enter the voting booths. It is here that they are called upon to mark the ballot or write in what they stand for. The voters do what they will with their ballots. So here in the presence of God is where his witnesses must act in harmony with his commandments and in accordance with their faith. It is not our responsibility to instruct them what to do with the ballot.”
What if a Christian woman’s unbelieving husband insists that she present herself to vote? Well, she is subject to her husband, just as Christians are subject to the superior authorities. (Ephesians 5:22; 1 Peter 2:13-17) If she obeys her husband and goes to the polling booth, that is her personal decision. No one should criticize her.--Compare Romans 14:4.
What of a country where voting is not mandated by law but feelings run high against those who do not go to the voting booth--perhaps they are exposed to physical danger? Or what if individuals, while not legally obliged to vote, are severely penalized in some way if they do not go to the polling booth? In these and similar situations, a Christian has to make his own decision. “Each one will carry his own load."--Galatians 6:5.
There may be people who are stumbled when they observe that during an election in their country, some Witnesses of Jehovah go to the polling booth and others do not. They may say, ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses are not consistent.’ People should recognize, though, that in matters of individual conscience such as this, each Christian has to make his own decision before Jehovah God.--Romans 14:12.
Whatever personal decisions Jehovah’s Witnesses make in the face of different situations, they take care to preserve their Christian neutrality and freeness of speech
Dismembered
