Voting is a Sacred Obligation

The Right to Vote

“Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves, and the only way they could do this is by not voting.”

                                       Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote.”

                                        William E. Simon

Tomorrow is the day. Please, whoever you are, wherever you are, go and vote. Too many people have died fighting to obtain the rights and privileges of voting that we enjoy in this country. Let us not take them for granted, nor lose sight of the fact that voting is not only a right but the responsibility of democratic people.

We had an unfortunate accident here in Alabama during our primary election. So few people voted that a man who had a criminal record was chosen as the Democratic party's candidate for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court! A hastily called meeting of the party rectified that, but if apathy had prevailed, we would be looking at two equally 'dis-qualified' candidates for our state supreme court—one who was removed from office when he hauled a 2,000 pound statue of the ten commandments into the lobby of the statehouse and refused a court order to remove it, and one who engaged in an eleven-hour long, armed stand-off with police! How's that for Judicial Activism! Only in Alabama...the wild, wild South.

We have an obligation to vote. When we don't take that seriously, bad things happen. In my lifetime alone, more than 62,000,000 human beings have died in wars. I understand that there are just wars and unjust wars, but I'm ready to have leadership who thinks that no war is desirable and should be avoided at all costs. We will never have peace on earth until we stop seeing war as a viable alternative. We need leaders who understand this.

And, while I am beginning to believe that we'll never have enlightened leadership because no one who's enlightened would be stupid enough to run for office, I continue to pray that the grave realities of office will make less than perfect persons strive for enlightenment. We need leaders. Real leaders. Servants of the people. The earth itself is crying out for wise and benevolent leadership. May it be so...go and vote tomorrow.

                                           In the spirit,

                                            Jane