Tag: vote

Five Reasons I Believe Hate Will Not Win the 2018 Midterm Election

by Teresa Blythe

In the last few days the pre-midterm-election rhetoric and divisiveness have ramped up. I found it pretty depressing until I took some time to check in with what I truly believe. I hope this blog post will inspire you to do the same.

Here are five reasons I believe hate will not win on November 6.

  1. There are more kind people than hateful ones in our nation.

The hatemongers seem to get a lot of airtime, but overall, most Americans are kind, compassionate and desirous of a more civil political culture. From all the polls I’ve seen, more people are turned off than energized by hateful speech. That looks good for the midterm ahead.

  1. The kind people are tired of being lied to. They are fired up and motivated to vote.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Our president tells so many lies it has become what we now expect of him. People who care about truth and integrity are motivated to vote for a balance of power on November 6. Even many Republicans are horrified at the casual way Donald Trump tells lies and how he cares only about one thing: gaining power.

  1. Our nation was founded on resistance to authoritarianism.

We have a long history of bucking anyone or any political power that tries to bully us or our neighbors into submission. We threw off British authority and then fought a civil war to dismantle the evil practice of slavery. We don’t like bullies and are prepared to resist them at every turn.

  1. Kind and compassionate people will never give in or give up.

Love has staying power. Collectively we will keep up resistance to oppression. Even if it takes the next generation to win hearts over, we will keep up the good fight. And we will continue to believe that love will win over hate — in the long run.

  1. There is no place for hate to hide anymore.

It is so important that those of us who value kindness, mercy and compassion not lose hope. One way I am fighting discouragement is to remember these five truths when I get down. It may feel like our country is headed toward a nightmare of authoritarianism, but in reality we can stop the worst of it in its tracks.

That is, if we vote in the midterm for people who share our values on November 6.

Voting as a Spiritual Discipline

by Karen Richter

One of the core purposes of spiritual practice is to remember who we are.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;
 what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?
 
Yet you have made them only slightly less than divine,
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
~ Psalm 8

We struggle to remember our worth: a little lower than the angels. We struggle to remember our humble embodiment: to dust we shall return. Sometimes we experience both sides of this tension moment by moment in a single day!

Humble and as temporary as the grass… and yet.

Of infinite worth, in the image of Creative Mystery… and yet.

So, vote next week if you haven’t already.

Voting as a Spiritual Discipline by Karen Richter, Southwest Conference United Church of Christ

Vote? What? Maybe this feels like a leap. Maybe I’m reaching (picture in your mind my family and friends nodding vigorously). Electing leaders is a tremendous task. The voting booth is holy ground, an acknowledgement of our respect for democracy, a nod to our common humanity and our shared citizenship responsibilities. And yet… my little vote is one of millions, the proverbial drop in a bucket. Voting is a way to remember who we are. Of course, we vote prayerfully. Of course, we vote our values as people of faith. But the act of voting itself – participating in the ground of our communal life – can call us to balance between our humanness and our divine source.

I’ve heard our General Minister and President Rev. Dr John Dorhauer describe the United Church of Christ as a truly democratic institution. So maybe on November 6, instead of rocking the vote, we can sacred the vote.

Do you think the poll workers will scold me if I kick my shoes off before going into my voting booth?

A Prayer for Today:

God of Hopeful Tomorrows – Renew our faith in voting. Strengthen our fight to honor the rights of all. Set fire in our hearts a vision of our communities, state, and nation united in compassion and action. Walk with us into the voting booth and then out into the world. Amen.