Vote...Don't Stay Home

photo by Terry Chan / flickr

I am doing some heavy thinking about our election next week. I am not alone. People all over the country are in the same boat. And people all over the world are watching us closely to see the results of what we do on November 8th.

This has been a stormy and disturbing time. The unrest across the country has seeped into our  souls. And the bitterness, the anger, and utter confusion has effected a great many of us. 

No election in our history has brought out any more division and genuine fear in so many hearts. Some have told us they will not vote. I am scared that many of our citizens feel this way. Many are going to write in names because they do not like either major candidate. Others tell us they will vote for one of the Independents that have no chance of getting elected. Any one who does not vote for one of the two major candidates may as well not vote. One of these two people will be elected on November 8th.

Benjamin Franklin was leaving Constitution Hall one day when a woman outside recognized him. She asked, “What kind of government are you giving us?” “A republic, Madam,” he said, “if you can keep it.” And every national election has faced this same challenge. Can we keep a republic and a democracy and live up to our name of United States?

We have drifted far from that word, united. And whoever we vote for should try to bring this nation back together. Keeping this republic strong is the real challenge. Leadership is about pointing us in the right direction and stoking the flames of hope. Any candidate that does not give us hope and positive guidance would be a sorry leader. 

The people of this country, Republicans and Democrats are sick and tired of where we are right now. But we need someone who will interject realism into our present condition. The last eight years have been mostly wasted because we tied the hands of the person this country elected, not once but twice. To thwart the will of the majority simply diminishes democracy. And much of this gridlock can be laid at the feet of Congressman and Senators. They have simply failed to live up the charge they was given when they were elected. The bottom line is not power or who wins but getting something done which will help us all.

Fanning the flames of fear will not work. Scaring immigrants and Muslims is unconscionable.  Pitting one group against another does harm and no good. Vice President Biden said recently that we should not question any candidate’s motivation but we should always question their actions. We are not voting for a Pope or a Rock Star but we are voting for the most important leader in the free world. 

Our agenda is large and important. We have a war that is seemingly endless which must be addressed. It has almost bankrupted our country. We must deal strongly with terrorism but not allow its dangers to blur all the other challenges we face as a country. The infrastructure of country needs attention. The public education system today demands serious work. The inequity between the the poor and the very rich is embarrassing. Liberty and justice for all cannot be shoved aside. The common good must be resurrected and worked on by the majority of us. The right leader can help us. All this anti-immigrant talk ignores  the Statue of Liberty and the promise we have made to the world. 

So we stand on Tuesday before the ballot box. We, the people should speak. And with a loud voice we should vote for America. We are not perfect. These flawed candidates are not perfect.   Yet—we are a great people. And despite all our flaws we are a great nation.

There is a powerful verse in the Old Testament that reads, “He gave them up to their request but sent leanness to their souls.” I do not want that to be the epitaph which we hang over the 2016 Presidential election. And this is why we should all vote.

(This article was printed in the Greenville News (SC) November 6, 2016 on the eve of the election.)

--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com