VOTE!!

“Voting is a decisive act of Christian faith that I matter, society matters, justice matters, and others matter.” Richard Rohr, OFM

This coming Monday there is a Federal by-election being held in my riding. I hope everybody will get out and vote and yet I know that is not going to happen. There will be lots of excuses; excuses about the weather, about one person’s vote not making a difference, about the quality of the candidates, etc. etc. As I told my children when they got to the age where they could vote, “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain about the government you get!” [And we know how people love to complain about politicians!]

Then there is the fact that if you go to church on a Sunday near an election, you won’t hear much about it. Because, ‘don’t cha know’, Church and politics don’t mix. Despite the fact that the Christian religion began its dominance as the major religion of the Roman Empire in the 300s under the auspices of the emperor Constantine, we were all brought up to believe that the church and the state must be separate. King James, who ordered the translation of the King James Bible that was published in 1611, had was interested in upholding the divine right of kings, not in separating the church and the state.

So you might be forgiven for asking, why are the churches today expected to stay away from the topic of elections. If you did ask, I expect you would hear quoted the verse from Matthew 22.21[b] from the King James version, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”

I’m sure we have all heard the sermon that since everything belongs to God, we need to give everything back to him. And yes, I can see that. However I like the way Richard Rohr says that voting is an act of Christian faith, that when we vote we are making the statement that not only do we matter, but that society and justice matters for everyone. It is never too soon to look the party platforms as well as the local candidates to see what is important to the various parties. Are they looking out for the underdog? Are they interested in building a society of which, as Christin people, we can justly proud? OR are they simply looking to increase their own status and bottom line.

But most importantly, make sure your decision as to the kind of society you want to live in is recorded. Get out and VOTE…

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