Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Vote!

Vote!

Last updated on: October 28, 2018 at 3:00 am by John Beckett

Vote! 2018-10-23T12:11:38-06:00 John Beckett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In case you haven’t heard, there’s an election coming up. 435 US Representatives, 33 Senators, 36 Governors, and hundreds of state and local representatives are up for election. Tuesday, November 6. Everywhere in the United States. Some states have already started early voting.

Presumably you are registered and haven’t been unregistered (which is another rant for another time). If not, it’s too late in most states, though a handful allow same-day registration. That’s yet another rant for another time. But most likely you are registered.

So I have a one-word message for you.

Vote!

I don’t need to tell you how to vote

Not that you’d follow my directions if I did. But seriously, I don’t need to tell you how to vote. I know the people who read this blog, as a group if not as individuals.

80% of you will vote Democratic. 10% will vote Libertarian. 5% will vote Green. 5% will vote Republican. So if I can persuade more of you to vote, the vast majority will vote my way.

Vote!

Not that the Democrats are our saviors

They aren’t. They’re still in the pockets of Wall Street. They’ll still go to war to preserve the empire. And on the whole, they’re only slightly less sleazy than the Republicans.

Though to set aside my cynicism for a moment, I’m happy with most of the Democratic candidates running in Texas. Especially Beto O’Rourke, who stands a very good chance of unseating conservative theocrat Ted Cruz.

That election, like so many, will come down to turnout.

Vote!

But elections have consequences

We had an election in 2014 and another in 2016. Because of those elections, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh now sit on the Supreme Court instead of Merrick Garland and a younger version of Elena Kagan or Sonia Sotomayor (there’s only one RBG – and she’s 85 years old). Conservatives will hold the Supreme Court for at least the next 15 years (the oldest conservative justice is Clarence Thomas at 70).

There will be no more advancement of social issues by court rulings. Roe v. Wade is in serious jeopardy, and if Roe falls, Obergefell and even Lawrence v. Texas could follow.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to appoint lower level judges who will consistently rule in favor of corporations, law enforcement, and state legislatures and against individuals, especially vulnerable individuals. And the Republican-controlled Senate continues to confirm them.

Late last year Congress passed and Trump signed into law a $1.5 trillion tax cut. The vast majority of that money went to corporations and the very wealthy. Now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the deficit is out of control and to fix it we have to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. This after Trump campaigned on not cutting any of those programs.

If we have another Republican Congress it is almost certain they will cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

Vote!

We cannot fix the system all at once, but we can make it better. Or worse.

The modern conservative movement began in 1964 with the landslide defeat of Barry Goldwater by Lyndon Johnson. It took 16 years before it could began to implement its agenda with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. It continues to this day, making regular incremental progress toward its goal of a society where the idea of the common welfare is abandoned in favor of the unconstrained accumulation of private wealth, and the goal of a culture that looks like the 1950s.

And they’re not done yet.

Too many of us on the liberal and progressive side are of the opinion that if it can’t all be done at once it’s not worth bothering with. Single payer health care. An end to the War on Drugs and freedom for all non-violent drug offenders. A military sized to protect the homeland and not to facilitate corporate interests abroad. Congressional districts drawn by non-partisan commissions instead of by political parties. Even universal basic income.

All of these are possible, eventually.

Conservatives have remained committed to their vision for 54 years, taking what they could get when and how they could get it. Too many liberals are “socialism now or I’m staying home.”

Commit to seeing your vision turned into reality, eventually. Or watch the conservatives continue to implement theirs.

Vote!

This is not a choice between Coke and Pepsi

Donald Trump is the least presidential President since Andrew Jackson. He’s the most corrupt President since Warren G. Harding. His admiration for brutal dictators would be amusing if it wasn’t so frightening.

But as distasteful as I find him personally, what he is is far less important than what he does. And what he’s done has been horrible.

Separating families and putting children in detention camps to get funding for his twisted dream of a border wall.

Increasing tariffs unilaterally, adding billions to the price of goods and costing jobs in the US. Even if you believe something needed to be done to address the trade imbalance with China (and I do) the way he went about it has caused far more harm than good.

Denying climate change, promoting the use of coal, and attempting to silence government scientists who promote actual science.

Appointing FCC commissioners who killed net neutrality.

Banning transgender persons from serving in the military, and now seeking to define gender as fixed at birth, essentially removing legal protections for transgender people.

Plus the tax giveaways to the rich, pending cuts to programs for ordinary people, and the appointment of regressive judges we’ve already talked about.

Conservatives love to talk about “separation of powers” and “checks and balances.” Those are good and necessary things.

A Democratic-controlled Congress probably couldn’t impeach Trump, and even if they did we’d get Pence, who would be even worse. But they could refuse to fund his priorities, and they could overturn his executive orders with legislation.

A Republican-controlled Congress will continue to be nothing but a rubber stamp for Donald Trump.

Vote!

There are no house elves in a democracy

This is a religion blog, and I’d much rather be blogging about religion. Like most of you, I’d prefer to let someone else handle running the country so I can focus on running my life. Trouble is, when we do that we end up with elected officials who decide they want to regulate other people’s personal lives while screaming “I’ve got mine, screw you.”

The early days of the Trump administration saw people taking to the streets and calling their representatives in numbers unseen in decades. Trump and those who put him in power ignored us – they counted on us getting tired or bored or burned out, so they could go back to building a country with more exploitation of people and the environment.

But this is the moment of truth.

This is the moment where we can do something that will make a tangible difference over the next two years, and – if we follow up and follow through – set the tone for 2020 and beyond.

Or we can continue to allow 26% of the country (the percentage of registered voters who voted for Trump in 2016) to drive us off the cliff.

If we turn out, we win.

Vote!

covers of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” and Leonard Cohen’s “Democracy” by Rallying Call

Previous Post

October 25, 2018

Rethinking the Big Tent of Paganism

Next Post

October 30, 2018 Wayist Druids Celebrate Samhain in Athens Tennessee

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which letter is addressed "to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jude Galatians 2 John James