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Jehovah's Witnesses see voting as divisiveThousands gather hereover four weekends Thursday, July 29, 2004 David Briggs Plain Dealer Religion Reporter Call it a campaign strategist's nightmare: More than 30,000 people coming to a central location in Cleveland over four weekends, and hardly a single vote to be had.In this most political of seasons, where small percentages of votes in key states could prove decisive, the Jehovah's Witnesses are staying true to their theological beliefs that their kingdom is not of this world. There will be no voter registration drives for the more than 8,000 delegates at the second of the Witnesses' four district conventions, which begins Friday at the Cleveland State University Convocation Center. Neither candidate will be invited to any of the month-long series of weekend conventions, and campaign literature will be nonexistent. Voting in elections would only be divisive to their work of preparing for a biblical Armageddon that the more than 1 million Witnesses in the United States believe will usher in a time of universal peace.
 "You can't legislate love. You can't make people love each other," said Carole Johnson, 67, of North Ridgeville. "You have to do it from the heart." Jehovah's Witnesses, a true made-in-America religion, grew out of a movement that began with the end-time prophecies of William Miller, the founder of Adventism. The "Great Disappointment" of 1844 - when Miller's predictions of the Second Coming did not come true - did not deter him or others from their vision. Coming out of the Adventist tradition was Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Witnesses. Russell set 1874 as the date for Christ's return, and 1914 for the battle of Armageddon and the beginning of Jesus' rulership on Earth. World War I seemed to confirm his prophecy, but the slogan of Russellites that "millions now living will never die" lost some impact when Russell died in 1916. After several other failed attempts to predict the end of this world, the Witnesses in the 1990s officially dismissed date setting as speculation. But the church continues to teach the end is near, creating an urgency for individuals to prepare for the coming kingdom. In their theology, there is a battle now raging between God in his heavenly kingdom, and Satan, the ruler of this world. Witnesses are called to work for God's kingdom, not to try to improve or prop up the existing system by political means, the church teaches. Jehovah's Witnesses can serve their communities as teachers, doctors or social workers, but voting, serving in the military or holding elected offices are off-limits. Let the Democrats in Boston this week tell how they will change the world. The prize Witnesses keep their eyes on is a new world where the meek, not the politically powerful, will inherit the Earth. "Our only hope lies in God's kingdom," said Blanche Bobich, 38, of North Ridgeville. Last Sunday, in a simple plain brick building next to a strip mall along Center Ridge Road in Westlake, politics was nowhere on the agenda during a typical two-hour service consisting of singing, prayer, a lecture and Bible study. Elders said each Witness is free to make his or her own decision about voting. But when asked how many of the 85 members in the Westlake congregation would vote in November, Michael Dobbs' reply was immediate: "No one." Once the church starts talking politics, the elder said, "it would be impossible" to maintain the unity and peace that he said Witnesses are trying to create throughout the world. Dobbs, 59, served 1½ years in prison as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. He said "The Lord's Prayer" talks of the coming Kingdom of God, and "our allegiance is toward that kingdom completely." Not all religious groups who foresee the imminent end of the world take such a hands-off approach. Seventh-day Adventists, which also grew out of the Millerite movement, say in an official statement on church-state relations that, "We should participate in the voting process available to us when it is possible to do so in good conscience." But that does not mean not voting is necessarily a hardship for Witnesses in the United States. Sociologist Rodney Stark of Baylor University, who has written about the denomination, said Witnesses share a political world view that is not much different from the perspective of many Americans toward the two parties: "A pox on all their houses." In a culture where many people believe their votes don't count, or follow along with the words of the bumper sticker "Don't vote - it just encourages them," most Witnesses probably do not think that they are missing out on much, Stark said. Rather, he said, their attitude may be more along the lines of, "That's just one more thing I don't have to do." Before she became a Witness 32 years ago, Carole Johnson not only voted for John Kennedy in 1960, but also worked for his election. She had traveled in the South, and had seen the pain of segregation, and she was hopeful Kennedy could change things. But that was the last time she voted. "I realize now no man can really solve all our problems. It hasn't been proven yet," she said. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: [email protected], 216-999-4812 | |||||||||||||||
I realize now no man can really solve all our problems. It hasn't been proven yet," she said.
She hit the nail on the head with that statement, "No Man (in my book=GB) can really solve all our problems.