November 2, 2008

When I was in middle school, I attended a church where I was visiting with a friend. I remember going to Sunday School and then hanging out during church in the education rooms, although I cannot remember why; there seemed to be a load of people down there for it to be the worship hour. At one point, my friend came running through with slips of paper and was highly animated. “Mark NO on as many of these as you can,” she told everyone. “We want to vote our pastor out!”

As I have gotten older, I have often wondered about what happened to that man. I guess the reason we were downstairs is because “youth” were being “protected” from the “goings-on” of adults. But not “protected” enough to keep someone from asking for unfounded votes. Someone – whether it was my friend or an adult who prompted her – had thought it clever to ask children and youth to fill in “extra” voting slips and get rid of that man.

I can’t recall his name and maybe he really was a huge loser or something worse. But – I know this – even if that was the case – he was a person, with a family, who was about to get lambasted from his job.

The power to do that to someone shouldn’t have been (even partially) in the hands of kids in the basement who didn’t know what was happening upstairs.

I was clueless at the time, but I do remember knowing there was something wrong, and I do not recall marking any forms personally. In fact, that is my last memory of attending church there at all, so I think there must have been an inner sense for me to accept no further church invitations from my friend. And in retrospect, that moment greatly affected my life. It affected me because I have seen some variation of it happen over and over again, within churches and without.

Some situations really do lack integrity.

Over time, and for a variety of reasons, I have come to take my right to vote very seriously. Whether it is in major presidential elections, or who should be the leader of a volunteer project, I have committed myself to seriousness.

I have felt this way for many years. At first, I just felt I should vote; show up at the polls and mark that ballot. Then I realized that for me personally, the only thing worse than not voting was voting without integrity, without thoughtfulness, without research. I committed myself to really look at the candidates before me.

And I always, always, always vote with a deep sense of gratitude.

This year an email has gone around advertising the HBO Original film “Iron Jawed Angels.” The HBO website describes the movie like this: “They had no vote, no political clout, no equal rights. But what they lacked under the law they made up for with brains, determination and courage. Oscar®-winner Hilary Swank leads an outstanding cast in the inspirational true story of two women who dared to make a stand for women's rights, and ended up shaping the future of America.” Intrigued, I rented the film and was deeply moved by the story. It is easy to forget what a gift it is to vote, and how hard those before us worked for those rights.

Given the right, we now have the responsibility.

I know some that say it doesn’t matter. I worry about how votes are tallied and I don’t particularly like the electoral college way of counting. I often “cancel each other out” with my husband. I am concerned when I show up and DON’T have to wait – where is everyone? In other words, I know the system has its flaws, but good grief, we are so incredibly fortunate to have a voting system in place at all.

This election season has turned nasty, as many do. I know many of us are ready for Tuesday to be behind us and to know what direction we might be headed next. I admire the passion and enthusiasm people bring to the race.

But, let’s not forget our manners, folks. We really can disagree. We really can see things in a different way than our family or our friends. But what we share in common, I hope and I hope, is our desire for good.

Just as I was finishing up my Apple, a friend wrote me about an email she had received which made her feel like she wasn’t a “good Christian” unless she voted a certain way. I too received a similar email this week. These are often emails that contain graphic details of abortions or misquoted Scripture or attacks on a candidate as a follower of Satan or some other religion. They compare candidates to Hitler or remind persons of genocide. They ask how one could vote a certain way, and claim if you do, you absolutely are not hearing the voice of God.

“You can’t be hearing God,” they say, “because I heard something different.”

Now, tell me please, what is so “Christian” about that?

As I recently told another friend, as Americans we have the right to vote for whom we choose; as Christians we have the responsibility to do so with integrity and conscience. We make the decisions we do for reasons. We consider many aspects of our life experience and those of the candidates when choosing. And guess what? We can respect each other for those reasons, even if we do not agree on the selection.

And quite frankly, it is none of our business how others choose to vote.

We sway more people with the taste of honey than with the smell of crap. We’ll never change a single mind by insisting they are wrong and we are right, period. It doesn’t work in politics, and it sure doesn’t work in faith.

If we give up our need to control other people’s decisions, we will find others more eager to hear our opinions.

If you haven’t already, vote this week. Vote for the people you think will best serve our great country. Remember a prayer of gratitude for all those who made that right a gift to us here. Remember what it means to have your voice heard. Be patient with one another and respect that all our opinions matter. Pray and ask for direction. Know that God’s ways are bigger than our ways. And trust that God is with us at the polls, and God will see us through after the polls close.

No matter what.

God, we are so grateful to live in a country where we have the right to vote. Help us take that responsibility seriously and guide us in our decisions. Give us the strength to stand up for what we think is right and also give us the courage to listen to another way. For all those whose names are on ballots this week God, we ask for peace and direction. Be with us all.

Amen.

Mark 12.17: Jesus said to them, ‘Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ And they were utterly amazed at him.

In Wisdom,
Brandi Calhoun Diamond

To find out more about the HBO Original film “Iron Jawed Angels,” please visit their website at http://www.hbo.com/films/ironjawedangels/.

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