Encouragement for people tempted to quit

sonnyholmes

Aug 19, 20203 min read

Picture perfect.

So, let's see. You have to possess photo identification to check out a book at most public libraries. Likewise for purchasing alcohol and tobacco products. Yes, and opening a bank account; applying for food stamps, welfare, Medicaid, and Social Security; making application for employment or unemployment; purchasing a home with a mortgage; purchasing, leasing, or renting an automobile; airline travel; getting married; purchasing a weapon; adopting a pet; renting a motel room; obtaining a hunting or fishing license; owning a mobile phone; visiting a casino; filling medical prescriptions; donating blood; renting or purchasing "M" rated movies or other recorded programs; purchasing certain medicines or medical supplies; and, according to one account, buying finger nail polish at several pharmacies. But, not to vote. Give me a break. Maybe that's why so many dead people get to cast their ballot at election time. Even more, maybe that's why we're all so disoriented by our value system these days. Voting is evidently not that important. .

Earlier this year the people in the research department determined that 34 states have voter identification laws, 15 of them requiring photo identification. The rest are just come as you are and cast your vote. Yes, registration is required and if your name isn't on the list you can't vote. Other than that, it's free-for-all in many states. Conservatives whine about the potential voter fraud in non-identification states, more so in those not requiring photo-identification. Moderates and liberals cite voter-identification as a type of poll tax discriminating against eligible minority, elderly, and special needs voters. Recent studies reveal a wash in both categories. There's little evidence that voter i.d. affects election fraud in any direction. The same research provides little proof that photo-i.d. would improve voter turnout. Some of that depends on who you ask.

My personal support of voter identification, and photo i.d. for that matter, derives from what most people will classify as an oddball direction. You see, there are these two adorable grandchildren in our family, one thirteen years of age and one aged nine. Mimi and Ganga, and their parents of course, genuinely desire that they understand American history, what differentiates us from other nations, and what is significant in our value system. So, are we teaching them that checking a book out of the library, or picking up a pack of smokes, or taking a flight to Miami is of greater significance than voting.? Of course not. A fishing license is not more important than electing a President or members of Congress. Lord help us! It's takes more to buy a bottle of finger nail polish that to vote our convictions.

It's the urgent/important conflict again, the eternal struggle of differentiating between what is significant and what is not. Call me a quibbler, but it is just difficult to explain to these younger ones, future American voters all, why ordering a school yearbook is more important than voting. And, this thing touches more in life that getting into the voting booth. It happens in government, industry, families, and even local churches, the error of dedicating precious resources to activities, events, and circumstances with little consequence in the greater scheme of things. How often our values are twisted when we adopt policies and procedures that make watching a movie more significant that casting our vote. Holy moly!

The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10 illustrates this confusion.

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha

welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's

feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And

she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve

alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are

anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen

the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.

Luke 10: 38-42, ESV

You know the story. Jesus arrived. Mary sat at the Lord's feet and absorbed his teaching, the important element. Martha was obsessed with providing a luscious meal, distracted with much serving, the momentary urgency. Pay attention to the Lord's commendation. It is a lesson from which we cold learn a thing or two about voting, among many others.

Voter identification? Photo Identification? The perfect picture would be to place such a value on voting, that we'd insure every eligible voter could get to the polls and cast their vote, and have the i.d. to do so.

Picture perfect. Rant over.

sonnyholmes

Aug 18, 20203 min read

Special delivery?

The United States Postal Service delivers 472.1 million pieces of mail every day. They calculate processing 19.1 million mail items every hour, 327,838 per minute, 5,464 every second. Employing more than 600,000 career and non-career employees, the Postal Service pays out more than $2 billion in salaries and benefits every two weeks. In addition to delivering our mail they processed 6.6 million passport applications in 2019,

3.5 million corporate emails daily, deliver to 42,000 zip codes, and traveled in excess of 1.34 billion miles delivering the mail in 2019. Well, and yes, they are in serous debt. The mail service has lost more than $69 billion over the last eleven years, and has debt and other liabilities of $143 billion in 2018. And, you already know this, the United States Postal Service is suddenly a campaign issue. President Trump is reluctant to provide federal funding for the Post Office. His opponents want a re-modeled version and subsequent funding. And, of course, the real issue is whether or not mail-in voting will be the nation-wide rule in the 2020 election. And, that is a hard one.

It's an especially flammable topic right now. The pandemic has altered the coming college football season, the way colleges and universities operate, and how businesses function. In the margins of election season are questions about polling places, people getting to them, and sanitation/security for American voters at the polls. In one corner are the mail advocates who insist in-person voting will be problematic, perhaps dangerous, and seriously limit voting by minorities, the elderly, and other special needs citizens. In the other corner are originalists who insist that our founders were insistent about voters traveling to the voting places, even when imperiled by the distance and the undeveloped nation. Travel to remote polling places and in-person voting in early America is really not prescribed by the Constitution of the United States and is presumed for the most part. But, even our very first Postmaster General, the venerable Benjamin Franklin, couldn't have envisioned mail in voting even with their lower population numbers.

In my personal opinion, mail-in voting poses multiple voting dangers, greater than those encountered when we vote in-person. The Postal Service already warned about possible delays in transmitting ballots due to weather, normal human error, and deliberate voter fraud and interference. Someone noted that around 1.8 million deceased American voters remain registered to vote, making their mail-in ballots more than comic relief and actually conceivable. The in-person vote with picture identification, my topic later this week, seems less accessible to to the voter hacks among us.

Voter hacks? Surely not. But, oh yes, there are system geniuses who can hack our most protected technological systems, even a well-designed mail methodology. And, yes, they can invade in-person profiles and sophisticated identification systems as well. You know the truth. Evil can permeate any human system. So, both systems are insecure to some degree. But, even the most ardent USPS champions concede that the mail-in system may be more susceptible to criminal slickness than the in-person vote.

Does the Bible address mail-in voting or in-person voting? Not quite. There are many references, however, about honesty, integrity, and doing the right thing. Give these a thought---

No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall

continue before my eyes.

Psalm 101:7, ESV

Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.

Proverbs 20: 17, ESV

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to

human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to

Christ.

Colossians 2: 8, ESV

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

James 4: 17, ESV

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

1 Peter 2: 1, ESV

No, Scripture doesn't specifically address dishonesty at the polls. But, intentions to deceive and promote dishonest behaviors are clearly wrong, even in the political realm. There is a system of absentee balloting available to those hindered from traveling to a voting place. Still, if there is to be a special delivery in election 2020, let it be the special delivery of a well-thought vote honestly presented by an honorable American citizen who pictures voting as a significant matter.

sonnyholmes

Aug 17, 20203 min read

The voting public

The right to vote is guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and several subsequent Amendments. Article 1, Section 4 of the Constitution grants state legislators the governing authority to schedule the times, places, and manner of election for senators and representatives. Not until the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution is the right to vote defined more specifically. Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment affirms that states will lose their congressional representation "...when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime." Male inhabitants, at least 21 years of age, holding United States citizenship, were given voting rights. Later amendments to the Constitution expanded voting rights to include every United States Citizen.

Amendment 15 1870 Gave African American men the right to vote

Amendment 19 1920 Gave women the right to vote

Amendment 24 1954 Eliminated all poll taxes

Amendment 26 1971 Lowered the voting age in federal elections to 18

Many other federal and state have have been enacted to extend voting rights to our citizenry and insure their ability to exercise their rights. Voting is not mandatory in the United States. According to the Constitution of the United States voting is a right and a privilege of citizenship.

The population of the United States was approximately 323,100,000 citizens in 2016. In that Presidential election year approximately 258,056,000 were eligible to vote. The estimated vote count in the 2016 election was 138,847,000, roughly 55.7% of those with voting privileges that year. There is no national data base of registered voters. It is believed, however, that more than 200,000,000 citizens are actually registered to vote.

Do the math. The most significant voting matter in the United States is the vast number of citizens who do not vote. Among modern, civilized nations our voting record poor, far behind other developed democracies. And, 2016 was a Presidential election with usual higher turnout. In the 2014 mid-term only 36.4% made it to the polls. When asked why they don't typically vote, Americans answered in a variety of ways. Many Americans don't identify with the two major parties and are not driven to the polls by passion for the parties or their candidates. In the same way, many Americans are confused by the vast and varied registration processes in the states. In the United States election day is not usually a national holiday, meaning that many Americans cannot miss work to register their vote. Voting on Tuesdays is thought by some to be inconvenient when considering child care, schools, and work collisions. Then again, a group of potential voters just don't believe their vote actually counts. You know, the electoral college and all. And, yes, some voters have different valuations of time. To some voting is a waste.

You know, there's some strong Scriptural direction about being good citizens. No, these Scriptures have application in the ancient world and don't actually mention the United States. But, kids, truth is truth and fits every culture in every generation. Reflect on these verses when contemplating your privilege and right to vote---

Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint

them as your heads.

Deuteronomy 1: 13, ESV

Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom

belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets

up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have

understanding;

Daniel 2: 21-22, ESV

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good

understanding. His praise endures forever!

Psalm 111: 10, ESV

Hey, our founders believed voting was a right and a privilege. They also held to the strong belief in God's sovereignty in directing the work of us humans. We should all pray, and trust God in the casting of our votes. It's one voting matter that really matters.

We need to awaken the voting public. It matters.