My Vote is My Voice     6/16/2008
By Mary Frances Forrester

” Nobody will ever deprive the America People of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they can do this is by not voting.” Franklin Roosevelt

As a child, the tension in our house was thick and noisy around election time. My father was a staunch democrat and my mother was just as staunch a republican. Together, more often than not, they canceled each other’s vote at the polls. But not voting was never an option. We children knew not to risk bad behavior until after an election for fear we would pay a price equal to our parents political agitation.

When I became voting age, it was a long awaited privilege. My mom took me to a home where I proved my identity with a copy of my birth certificate and my driver’s license. I felt this rite of passage was a significant adult responsibility. I still do.

Today the US has the lowest voter turnout in the world among mature democracies. Americans will drive out of their way to save $.50 on a gallon of milk but often times will not cross the street to vote at the polls. Especially, if it raining.

You and I have heard all the excuses for not voting. “My vote won’t make a difference.” “My vote won’t change a thing.” “Politics is so bad, I don’t want anything to do with it.” “I never know who to vote for.” “Politicians are all alike.” “Two things my mother told me never to discuss, politics and religion.” “It’s too much trouble.” “The ballot is too complicated.”

We’ve also heard the rebuttals to these excuses. It took one vote to make the language of America English. It took one vote to bring Texas into the Union. It took one vote to give the leadership of the Nazi Party to Adolph Hitler. John F. Kennedy won the presidency by less than one vote per precinct. In 2000 presidential election, it took only 537 votes in Florida to deny Al Gore the presidency.

In this post-modern 21st Century, our culture is in an amoral morass. Corruption in the government is becoming rampant. Still many do not even know whom their local, state and national elected officials are, or, one of those unqualified officials is their representative. Many do not even know where or how to register to vote. They do not know where to go to vote. Often they are not even aware there is an election in progress. And, many do not know how to find the answers to the above questions.

What about you? Did you vote in the last election? Were you informed about the candidates? Did you encourage your peers to vote?

It is our responsibility as Christians to vote. Only about 50% of Christians are even registered to vote. And I am told only about 50% of Christians who are registered actually vote. The bible gives us the correct admonition in Exodus 18:21 “ But select capable men from all the people, men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain.”

It is our privilege and responsibility as Americans to vote. If our children and grandchildren do not inherit a free America, you and I will bear the fault. John F. Kennedy said, “The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.”

One of the most important issues in the upcoming election will be that of who we select as our local and state judges, those who administer the laws of the land. Because of public apathy and the craftiness of liberal leaders, the judges who administer the rule of law in our counties and state have been put at the bottom of the ballot. They come after the local dogcatcher. There is no party affiliation allowed so you cannot hope to determine their philosophy by their party affiliation. To make matters worse, if you vote a straight ticket, you do NOT vote for ANY judges. In the 2004 state election, 600,000 North Carolinians voted for their congressman but did not vote for the NC Supreme Court Justice, who is the highest Judicial Official in our state Judiciary system.

Why is that so important? Let me share an example. In 2002 there was a woman candidate who ran for the NC Court of Appeals. She was quoted in The Charlotte Observer, Sept.2, 2002, saying; “As the Supreme Court takes fewer and fewer cases, the Court of Appeals is increasingly writing the laws of North Carolina. I believe I have the depth of experience and the commitment to public service to serve the citizens of this state well.” She was elected to the NC Court of Appeals and is serving there at this time. Listen up! Can you identify the error in her statement?

Article I , Section I of the US Constitution, says, “ All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a House of Representative and a Senate.” That also applies to state legislatures. All laws are MADE by the legislature. Judges do not write laws from the bench. This judge not only thinks she can write laws from the bench, she made it a public announcement!

But that is not all. Did you know that it was a liberal judge, not the legislature, in California that declared “Under God” should not be in the Pledge of Allegiance? Did you know that it was liberal judges in the state of Massachusetts that declared same sex marriage as a civil right? Did you know it was a liberal judge, not the legislature, who declared the Ten Commandments should not be allowed in Judge Moore’s Courtroom in Alabama? Did you know it was a liberal judge, not the legislature, who declared that sodomy was a civil right in Texas? Did you know it was a liberal judge, not the legislature that took prayer out of our schools in 1962? And just recently, did you know it was a liberal judge, not the legislature that overturned the vote of 78% of the people in Louisiana who tried to amend their state constitution to ban same sex marriage? Did you know as this article is written, liberal judges in California are trying to ban home schooling in California?

If you are not registered to vote, you can find a registration form at any Federal office, your local library, driver’s license bureau, or Board of Elections. You can even fill it out and mail it in.

If you don’t know who your elected officials are, call your local Board of Elections. It is listed in the phone direction in the ‘government section. They can also tell you where you vote based on your address. Or for state officials, you can go to the website: www.ncleg.net, click on Representation. Under site navigation click on Who Represents Me. Scroll down and enter your 9 digit zip code. When you find your elected officials, find about them. Get to know them and let them know who you are. Know what they believe and how they vote. They are voting on laws that will affect most everything about how you live.

For Congress, you can go to www.house.gov or www.senate.gov and follow the cues to find you senators and representatives. Again, find out about them and let them know who you are. Become active in your local party meetings and activities. They are posted in newspapers on a regular basis and hold candidate forums during election cycles. Inform yourself so that you know who the candidates are and share that information with your family and friends. Make the political process a part of your family life.

My Christian friends, it time to wake up. “We are a nation that has a government, not the other way around. And this makes us special among nations of the earth. Our government has no power except that granted by the people.”(Ronald Reagan in his 1st inaugural address)

If you and I do not use our right to vote as our voice, America will suffer the consequences. It will not be just judicial tyranny, but the tyranny of oppression. Edward Gibbons stated in “The Fall of the Roman Empire,” that one of the reasons for the fall of that great empire was that Christians were discouraged from holding public office or involvement in the politics of the day. Think about it. Could the greatest form of government in the history of mankind, a Democracy in a Republic, diminish from the face of the earth? Think about it?

Mary Frances Forrester
CWA Legislative/Media Coordinator 2/28/2008

Printer Friendly Version