Value Voting: Seeking Meaning In Your Vote
Our generation was introduced to voting during a tenuous time. War, recession, and one of the most divisive, do-nothing governments our country has ever seen.
We're tired. Tired of the bickering. Tired of the accusations. Tired of stagnation. Seriously tired of our government.
I'm not alone in desiring change, but I have found that people around my age tend to:
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- Shy away from politics and not vote at all because it's too stressful and confusing,
- Refrain from voting because they think their vote doesn't matter,
- Vote whatever their parents think is right, or
- Hate the commercials so much they go into complete hibernation until the elections are over (No? Just me?)
Now, I'm not judging. For reasons stated above, politics have become...for lack of a better word, difficult.
What I am saying is that we need to get over our annoyance with the government, figure out what we care about, and vote.
Can you imagine if the Millennials came out in full-force as an educated portion of the populace and voted?! We could change the future of our nation, which impacts the rest of the world.
A lot of us want that. We want to see the world change for the better, but we're just not sure how to do that with our votes. People talk about voting kingdom values – taking biblical principles and applying them to how we vote – but what does that look like?
One of the things we are called to do is help the impoverished. In both the Old and New Testament we're called to care for and bring justice to the poor. Isaiah 58:7 commands us to "Share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter- when you see the naked, to clothe him." And Jesus frequently not only charged us to help the poor, but he exhibited a lifestyle of helping those in need (Matthew 25:34-36, Mark 10:21-22, Luke 11:39-42, etc). We've been given powerful commands and inspirational examples.
What does that have to do with voting?
Did you know that the United States gives a lot of money to help the impoverished worldwide? As in the several billion dollars range. And did you also know that the several billion dollars we give to assist the most impoverished in the world consists of less than 1 percent of our overall budget?
Gone are the days that millions of dollars of foreign assistance is being pocketed by corrupt officials. People seek to ensure the monetary assistance we give is being used for what it was intended. It's not perfect by any means, but thanks to organizations like The Center for Global Development and proposed laws like the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act (https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/2638), people are monitoring and evaluating aid effectiveness and proposing improvements to make it even more effective. There are a lot of myths around foreign aid that just aren't true anymore.
Instead funds are being used to educate girls like Martha who is learning to read because of a US-supported education initiative in Malawi. People like Rebetsy have access to clean drinking water and Belinha are receiving life-saving HIV treatment.
Around the world children are receiving an education and people are alive because of U.S. foreign assistance. Child mortality rates have dropped 70 percent since the 1960s and 3 million lives have been saved through USAID immunizations (USAID). It's creating goodwill toward the United States around the world and providing assistance to communities in need. What's more, they are asking us for our help.
In 2008, church leaders from across the Global South wrote a letter to the Church in the U.S. Because some had not ever learned how to write, a few could only sign this letter with their fingerprints or a scratch on the paper. In this letter, they beseech us to consider them when we vote:
Millions of people in the global South are dying of hunger, violence and injustice. These situations of poverty and pain are not simply the product of the internal functions of our countries; rather they are the results of the international policies of the governments that wield global power...And so we ask you as sisters and brothers, citizens of the wealthiest most powerful nation on earth, to publicly challenge your candidates and political leaders...Out of love for us, the global Church, in holiness, use your citizenship responsibly for the benefit of the entire world; it is for this very reason that the Lord poured out His life on the Cross.
How can we answer this call? How can we use our citizenship responsibly to benefit the entire world? Because we can't say it isn't our problem. If people are dying unnecessarily and we can do something about it, it is our problem.
Six years has passed since they signed this letter, but it still rings true today. If you would like to read the full letter, you can do so here.
One of the simple things we can do is look at the priorities of our candidates. If they don't talk about assisting the impoverished around the world at all you can look at their voting record. See if he/she has supported Acts such as Education for All, International Violence Against Women, Electrify Africa, or Water for the World. Voting records are public, and you can find them at www.Congress.gov.
So, when you hit the polls on November 4th, think about Martha, Rebetsy, and Belinha. Think about the leaders who signed the letter beseeching you to consider their communities who are in need and are impacted by our legislation. Think about the millions of people who are benefiting from U.S. foreign assistance. As Christians we've been called to think beyond ourselves to the hungry, cold, and hurting in the world. While we need to act out Kingdom values we should also be voting those values at the polls.
Proverbs 31:8 commands us to "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves."
Use your voice. Use your vote. Affect change.
