Most of you may have already voted.
If you have, thank-you for your good citizenship.
Records for early voting have been broken in this United States midterm election.
Lines are drawn. Passions are up. Final results are awaited.
In the USA, election outcomes will influence multiple issues from social justice to immigration policy to fairness in business. Worldwide, this election will have repercussions on issues ranging from climate change to our strangely re-calibrated relationships with Europe, Russia, and the Middle East.
Last Thursday evening at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto, Jim Wallis of the Christian social justice group Sojourners stated that the November 6 election is “a referendum on white nationalism.”
There’s a lot of truth to that.
But for me, this is not an election simply against the policies (and behaviors) of the past 17 months, but for something.
It’s an election for values and policies that “foster the greatest good, to the greatest number of all [people] and for the greatest period of time.” (The Urantia Book134:5.4)
In The Urantia Book Jesus counsels a wealthy man in Rome about how to manage his finances. At the conclusion of the session Jesus advises the man:
“When in honest doubt about the equity and justice of material situations, let your decisions favor those who are in need, favor those who suffer the misfortune of undeserved hardships.” (132:5.13)
When in honest doubt, favor those in need. Those with undeserved hardships.
Jesus also tells the man God would not look askance at him if he “erred, in doubtful situations, on the side of merciful and unselfish regard for the distress of the suffering victims of the unfortunate circumstances of mortal life.”
When in doubt, err on the side of mercy.
In our world of complex interdependency and extremes of wealth and poverty, erring on the side of mercy seems to be good policy when confronted with decisions regarding how we can spread our wealth as far and as fair and as effectively as possible.
When I cast my one vote in this political season, this is how I think about it.
Does my vote add to a person’s freedoms, particularly the powerless and disenfranchised, or remove them?
Does my vote ease the burden of economic poverty, or does it increase the financial misery and instability of the poor?
Does my vote encourage the rich to create jobs and opportunities, or does it support their personal excesses and positions of power?
Does my vote advance a world powered by renewable energy and reduced carbon emissions, or does it continue the dependency on fossil fuels and further the blight of global warming?
Does my vote improve excellence in education for all young people, or does it corrode public education while making private school less costly for the few?
Does my vote expand access to quality, affordable healthcare for all, or does it maintain a status quo system in which only the wealthy or employed have health coverage?
Does my vote increase access to affordable transportation and safe housing, or does it diminish it?
Does my vote enhance the dignity of greater numbers of people, or does it erode it?
Does my vote reflect the values of Jesus, or undermine them?
If you haven’t voted yet, do.
Voting is a hard-won, precious right.
And if you can’t stand any of the choices on the ballot, err on the side of mercy.