On my walk yesterday I saw these pretty wildflowers along the road. These little gifts of beauty always make me smile.
Then when I went into my back yard, I saw the blooms on one of my butterfly plants. Two smiles in one day. 🙂 I’ll take them.
Since tomorrow is election day here in the States, I thought I’d send out a reminder to folks to please go and vote. As the Nike slogan says, “Just do it.”
According to some statistics I found online, about 60% of eligible voters turn out for presidential elections, but only 40% vote in the midterm elections. That is really sad. Who serves in Congress is just as important as who sits in the White House, and if we really want to see a change in government, it is vital to vote in some fresh blood in the House and the Senate.
Today’s podcast on The Daily was about how evangelicals traditionally vote, with a focus on some of them who are changing how they vote. Prior to listening to the podcast, I didn’t know that most evangelicals vote straight Republican regardless of who the candidate is because they believe somehow, that God has ordained the Republican party.
Really?
Tess Clarke, a woman from Texas, was interviewed about her upbringing in a tight evangelical religious home where, from early on, she was taught that the only way a Christian should vote is Republican. Basically, she believed that If you do not vote Republican, you are not a good Christian. She talked about how her worldview broadened after Trump became the GOP presidential candidate, and she could not bring herself to vote for him, so she didn’t vote. Because of her upbringing it felt sacrilegious to vote for a Democrat.
Then when Trump was elected and started imposing the ban on Muslim travelers, she took another step back from him and the party he represented. She and her husband work for a refugee organization in the Dallas area, and they had gotten to know many Muslim families who were good solid people. They were not terrorists or gangsters, nor were the family members they were sponsoring to join them in America.
When the travel ban was first imposed there were a number of those families at DFW Airport there waiting for their loved ones to come, and many of those family members were sent back. Tess talked about how crushing that was to the people, and to her, and her worldview broadened even more.
Part of the story on The Daily Podcast included a phone conversation Tess had with her father who was a staunch Republican supporter. It is his belief that to be a good Christian you voted straight Republican no matter who the other candidate was. When Tess asked him about the current Senate race in Texas between Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke her father commented that, “Yes, Beto might be the better man but in order to be a good Christian you had to vote Republican regardless.”
That comment boggles my mind. I guess because I never knew people who believed that way. I’ve never been closely associated with an evangelical family, and I didn’t know this aspect of their Christian beliefs.
Wow! What an awakening this podcast was.
I do hope that in the next two years some of these evangelical people will come to realize that we need to vote for the person who is the best qualified to hold that office.
Regardless of party affiliation.
Regardless of our own personal religious beliefs.
We need to stop tying those two things together so strongly that it gets us into positions of having people in power in Washington who are not serving all the people all the time.
And one final note about the Senate race in Texas. Ted Cruz spent more time on the presidential campaign trail after being elected state senator in 2012 than he did taking care of business for Texans in Washington. He has the full support of President Trump. A fact that may, or may not, sway your vote for Cruz. But people with a broader world view than what they were taught in grade school might be swayed toward Beto.
Tess Clarke is one of those strict evangelicals who has been swayed, and I do hope that many others can join her. I also salute her for being a strong woman and standing up for others.
That’s the end of my political speech. Comments are welcome, but, as always, I ask that they be civil and polite.
Excellent blog, Maryann. There was a reason the Founding Fathers wanted a strict separation of church and state. It’s unfortunate that those who claim most to be patriots are ignorant of the fact. It’s also scary that the government is in the hands of people who have no idea what they’re voting for as long as they’re Republicans. God works in strange ways, but I don’t think one of them was to vote Republican.
Had to chuckle at your last sentence, Polly. You are so right about that.
Eye opening! Good post. Thanks for that.
Thanks for stopping by, Kaye. I was so surprised at what I learned listening to that Daily Podcast. I had no idea that people were being taught that you were only a good Christian if you voted Republican.