This morning, Shannon and I left the house about 7:45 to go vote. We first went to the early polling location closest to us, the Northside Drive library. While the line did not look terribly long, the parking lot was full, so we decided to go to “plan B.” Several family and friends who live in Fulton County had shared on Facebook over the past couple of days about their positive experience voting at State Farm Arena (home of the Atlanta Hawks).
We were welcomed to the parking deck (which is free!) by a very pleasant greeter. Once parked and exiting the deck, that same young woman enthusiastically directed us to the correct entrance where we experienced more excellent hospitality. The woman at the door smiled (she had on a mask, but I could still see her smile!) when she saw my Peanuts themed mask – she said, “I LOVE your mask!” While the initial line we were in seemed to be moving fine, yet another energetic poll worker offered us the option of an alternate area that might have less wait. As we walked to the new line, Shannon and I were reminiscing about our last visit to State Farm Arena when we saw Queen with Adam Lambert in concert (one of the things we miss most about our current reality is live music and theatre!). The gentleman next to us asked, “how was that show?!” We responded that it was awesome! He turned to the gentleman who was with him and quipped, “I told you we should have gotten tickets to that show!”
After a brief wait, a very nice gentleman checked me in, issued me a voting card and directed me toward the voting machines.
I enthusiastically voted for a few of the candidates. In many races, I found myself voting for principles rather than the politicians.
I triple checked my selections, printed my ballot and scanned it into the final machine. As we exited, we exchanged our voting cards for our “Georgia Voter” sticker.
No more than 30 minutes from the time we entered the parking deck, we were headed back home.
The entire process was safe and efficient.
Pure statistics tell me that some of the folks with whom we were in line were likely not voting the same way we were. But we were ALL voting.
In preparing to write this post, I read a number of articles about how to characterize voting in the United States. There are some interesting arguments and disagreements over whether voting is a right, responsibility or privilege. One article argued that voting is the most frequently referred to “right” in the Constitution (although not referred to as such until the 14th amendment). Another suggests that legal scholars differ as to whether voting as a right is explicitly or implicitly expressed in the text of the Constitution.
Those who know me well know that I almost always push back against either/or propositions, preferring instead to look at both/and options.
I argue that voting is all three (and probably more!).
It is pretty clear to me that voting is a right. I argued in yesterday’s post that our right to freedom of speech and expression along with our right to freely exercise our religion (or not exercise as the case may be) are the foundational rights on which all others rest. These foundational rights are held in place by our right to vote. In that regard, it is also a tremendous responsibility. The failure to exercise our right to vote is, in my estimation, absolutely irresponsible. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary essentially treats the words right and privilege as synonyms using each to define the other.
I have always thought of privilege as something that was not necessarily earned by the person possessing a certain right. But rather, privilege is a right gained through the sacrifices of others. In this case, I believe all rights guaranteed by the US Constitution are also privileges given the fact that men and women have placed themselves in harm’s way and, in too many cases, made the ultimate sacrifice to protect and defend those rights.
There are some followers of Christ who would suggest that Christians should not engage in secular politics for fear of somehow being tarnished by the process. There are Christians on the extremes of the ideological spectrum who will argue that our faith demands we vote for a particular party or candidate (the one who they believe most closely aligns with their personal beliefs). I consider myself a part of a large group in the middle who believe that as Christians, we have a responsibility to engage in public life. We are called to do so thoughtfully and respectfully.
I will remind you of John Wesley’s rules for voting that I shared in an earlier post.
On October 6, 1774, John Wesley (who along with his brother Charles were the founders of the Methodist movement) wrote the following in his journal:
“I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them:
1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy
2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against, and
3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.”
This morning I exercised my right, fulfilled my responsibility and gave thanks for the privileges afforded to me by those who have gone before.
