pacifism and voting
So my last post I quickly mentioned my celebration of Barack Obama’s election to the presidency. I truly am happy about it, and while I won’t repeat my comments just a few lines below, I was surprised that so many folks clearly were unaware that I don’t vote. It wasn’t a fact I have tried to hide, nor would I skirt the truth of it. However, I understand how if you didn’t know that I don’t vote as a matter of faith you could misunderstand why I feel that this is a form of pacifism for me, and indeed a great number of folks in the Anabaptist community. I won’t be defining Anabaptism, that is a topic better left for theologians (like wess who votes by the way!) nor will I necessarily write a laundry list of peace actions I’m currently engaged in. I will however try to explain how I came to my current position on voting and the government.
First of all I am, as the topic implies, a hard line pacifist. Meaning I will do my damndest never to cause harm to other people in any way. Yes that includes not defending myself when being assaulted and yes that means I think our nation should NEVER under any circumstances wage war, even when the government deems the action “just”. I personally believe as a nation we should have forgiven Al Qaeda, our nation and the world would be the better for it (which is fodder for another topic). I also have resolved to intervene on behalf of individuals being attacked non-violently, meaning I would like to believe that I can take the attack so that they don’t have to. Many Anabaptists take training in non violent intervention so that they can intercede on behalf of those being victimized. I hope to take such training sometime soon. To me pacifism is the natural bi-product (and I believe command) of the life of Jesus Christ, therefore it is an act of worship for me.
To folks in the secular and voting church community (my wife votes btw) I can see why these would be arguments for why I should have voted in the recent election. Let me explain why that is a conflict of terms for me on a number of levels.
Now as my good friend Chase so succinctly pointed out the main line arguments against voting in the Anabaptist community are as follows:
(a) majority rule is coercion and/or…
(b) government is a necessary evil apart from the church, but which the church shouldn’t be a part of…
While I agree with both those statements the reason foremost in my mind is this…
Pacifism Means Doing No Harm.
Presidents are Commanders-in-Chief, meaning military power. To my knowledge no president has gone through a term without ordering the deployment of soldiers, and indeed Obama has already detailed ways in which he intends to re-flow our troops to Afghanistan and potentially Pakistan let alone “kill Bin Laden”. That is just the most obvious example harm doing that can be done by a president, further implication in the gears of government would reveal all manner of social and physical violence. By voting for president I would be implicit in these crimes in the same way those who voted for George Bush, in my opinion, share in his crimes.
Ok so Dante brings up a great point in the comments on the last post. What about local and social issues! Well if there is any regret I have about not voting in the last election it is without a doubt that I didn’t express my solidarity with my gay brothers and sisters for their right to equal opportunity in California, and I think it is terrible human rights have been relegated to a hand vote in the first place. Which in a way is just another example of how twisted our political system is, and another reason why I find it redeemable (that is not to say that individuals involved necessarily need redeeming!). This brings me to my, possibly negotiable, position on local initiative voting.
Imposing my morality on others is a form violence.
This is reminiscent of what Chase describes as majority rule coercion, however I think I can be a little more specific. Christians in this country have typically used the ballot box as their form of religious expression, the rest of their life remains largely void of any real social responsibility or awareness. Thus typically Christians have voted solely to shape the world in such a way that it reflects their own personal beliefs. This has NOTHING to do with the life of Christ, and therefor has no place in our culture. I don’t want to force my ideas on anyone, even if it means not putting legislation on place that will force morality on me.
I can suffer violence done to me, I can not however suffer doing violence to anyone else.
That said, currently I regret not voting against proposition 8. Perhaps it was naivete on my part but I felt that it would be defeated with or without me. My heart is with the GLTB community so deeply that I have been sick to my stomach much of this afternoon in light of the outcome, especially in light of the well meaning criticism of my peers. I have said this before but please believe that my action, or in this case in-action, was not meant to hurt but rather to uphold principles in love. Furthermore, I always have and will continue to consider voting on local and social issues on a case by case basis.
Without listing ways in which I or the community I belong to engages in peace as practice (as was requested), I hope this does something to explain why pacifism for me means refusing to take part in what I believe would have a violent outcome. I know this does not help to answer the question of how I “actively promote peace” but in writing this article I felt that it would be better to talk about the non-voting aspect of my life, and have personal conversations about other aspects.
Also as a brief aside there is a distinction I make by referring to myself as non-voting as opposed to “non-participant” (despite that it is a less elegant word). Non-voting is exactly specifying what I don’t do, I like most Christians I do pay taxes and I do allow the government to govern. However, I participate a great deal in the overall dialog of politics (at least on a local scale), in fact I dedicate much of my personal life to walking and talking with people about their beliefs in the hope that I can influence/be influenced by their minds. It is in this way that I am an activist for social justice, and I do not mean strictly faith based change although that is a part of it.
I know there are going to be questions. Please ask! I will try to answer everything in love, and please don’t let my opinions damper your excitement for the times to come.
Blessings.
Craig
So what about important civil rights issues on the ballot? Prop 8?
boli
of course civil rights issues are super important to me craig. i think if you look at my post again you will see that prop 8 specifically is something i personally take great issue with. i hope we can talk about it soon. until then know that i love and support you.
Dress-Down Friday: Post-Election Edition
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