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Spirituality

5 Spiritual Reasons to Vote Your Conscience

David Langness | Aug 12, 2016

PART 1 IN SERIES Partisan Politics and the Divine Polity

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the authoritative views of the Baha'i Faith.

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David Langness | Aug 12, 2016

PART 1 IN SERIES Partisan Politics and the Divine Polity

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the authoritative views of the Baha'i Faith.

Let me… warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party. – George Washington

Do you vote for a party, or a person? Some people still vote a “straight ticket,” casting their ballot for members of a single political party. Those strongly partisan voters often care more about ideology than character—but Baha’is have a different approach.

You probably already know that Baha’is don’t participate in partisan politics—but how do Baha’is vote? How do Baha’is approach the fractious and often dis-unifying political process, with all of its bickering, pettiness and corruption, in a spiritual frame of mind while honoring the Baha’i goal of unity? What civic reasoning do Baha’is employ when it comes time to cast their ballots?

First of all, the Baha’i writings ask us to show honesty and loyalty to our governments:

In every country where any of this people reside, they must behave towards the government of that country with loyalty, honesty and truthfulness. – Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah, pp. 22-23.

Secondly, the Baha’i Faith, with its lack of clergy and its democratically-elected global administrative structure, exalts the benefits of participatory democracy:

Praise be to God that the chains of injustice and the fetters of the oppression of the Pharaohs of the earth and the despotic rulers of men have crumbled to dust, and the age of justice, equity, brotherhood and real democracy is inaugurated. Praise be to God that the crowns of the despots have fallen to the earth, and the thrones of the absolutists are shaken to the foundation. But the real diadems of glory and power and the royal seats of just governments and democratic institutions were raised high. – Abdu’l-Baha, Star of the West, Volume 6, pp. 111-112.

Third, Baha’is who live in democratic countries take the responsibility of voting very seriously:

Thou hast asked regarding the political affairs. In the United States it is necessary that the citizens shall take part in elections. This is a necessary matter and no excuse from it is possible… Now, as the government of America is a republican form of government, it is necessary that all the citizens shall take part in the elections of officers and take part in the affairs of the republic. – Abdu’l-Baha, from a 1907 letter to Thornton Chase, Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha, Volume 2, p. 342.

Fourth, Baha’is believe in universal suffrage—and have supported the right of women and minorities to vote long before most Western governments granted them that right:

At the time of elections the right to vote is the inalienable right of women, and the entrance of women into all human departments is an irrefutable and incontrovertible question. No soul can retard or prevent it. – Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, pp. 182-183.

Fifth, the Baha’i teachings encourage social activism and participation in the political process—as long as it can be accomplished without party affiliation or political partisanship:

…no vote cast or office undertaken, by a Baha’i should necessarily constitute acceptance, by the voter or office holder of the entire programme of any political party. No Baha’i can be regarded as either Republican or Democrat, as such. He is above all else, the supporter of the principles enunciated by Baha’u’llah with which, I am firmly convinced the programme of no political party is completely harmonious… – Shoghi Effendi, from a letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, January 26, 1933.

So, with those five underlying principles in mind, how do Baha’is actually vote?

Essentially, Baha’is approach the voting booth as true independents, casting their votes based on the character, qualities and qualifications of each candidate, rather than his or her party affiliation:

It remains for the individuals to so use their right to vote as to keep aloof from party politics, and always bear in mind that they are voting on the merits of the individual, rather than because he belongs to one party or another. The matter must be made perfectly clear to the individuals, who will be left free to exercise their discretion and judgment. – Shoghi Effendi, Principles of Baha’i Administration, p. 30.

While no particular candidate or political party completely matches every one of the Baha’i principles, what overall positions and policies do Baha’is strive to foster and support? This single sentence from Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, summarizes the major Baha’i ideals Abdu’l-Baha advocated, and guides the vision of every Baha’i toward the future advent of a more divine polity:

The independent search after truth, unfettered by superstition or tradition; the oneness of the entire human race, the pivotal principle and fundamental doctrine of the Faith; the basic unity of all religions; the condemnation of all forms of prejudice, whether religious, racial, class or national; the harmony which must exist between religion and science; the equality of men and women, the two wings on which the bird of human kind is able to soar; the introduction of compulsory education; the adoption of a universal auxiliary language; the abolition of the extremes of wealth and poverty; the institution of a world tribunal for the adjudication of disputes between nations; the exaltation of work, performed in the spirit of service, to the rank of worship; the glorification of justice as the ruling principle in human society, and of religion as a bulwark for the protection of all peoples and nations; and the establishment of a permanent and universal peace as the supreme goal of all mankind — these stand out as the essential elements of that Divine polity which [Abdu’l-Baha] proclaimed to leaders of public thought as well as to the masses at large… – God Passes By, pp. 281-282.

Next: God, Politics and the Rise of the Independent Voter

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Comments

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  • Jairo Dechtiar
    Aug 13, 2016
    -
    Very good. We need that, more than candidates, atitudes. By the way, the word, candidate, comes from "pure of heart".
  • Aug 12, 2016
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    I watch C-SPAN 1, 2, and 3 and regularly call in on the Independent line. I also check social media, news sites, and blogs. The CNN two Libertarian Town Halls recently were a good interview of the characters, qualities, and qualifications of Gary Johnson and William Weld who I will probably wind up voting for in November.
    Despite following blogs of various religions and religious people, I'm
    Buddhist and Unitarian Universalist. I'm also extremely accepting and tolerant on social issues. I also believe we should be responsible, logical, rational, fair, proportional, free, and respectful of liberty when it ...comes to economics.
    God and religion aren't things people associate with independent politics. While there is diversity in religion in America, not all religious people are the stereotypical "religious voter". Despite being religious, I'm not a "religious voter" as I don't have moralistic and unacepting and intolerant views on social issues. The various culture war issues show examples of what the various political issues of the day are.
    Life issues
    Capital punishment
    Universal healthcare
    Abortion / Reproductive rights
    Right to die movement and euthanasia
    Stem-cell research
    Sexuality
    Age of consent
    Homosexuality, Gay rights, and Same-sex marriage
    Pornography
    Sex work
    Sexual revolution
    Polyamory
    Education and parenting
    Creation-evolution controversy
    Family values
    Homeschooling and Educational choice
    Corporal punishment and Child discipline, most notably spanking
    Sexual education and abstinence only education
    Drugs
    Legal drinking age
    Recreational drug use and Drug decriminalization
    Harm reduction
    War on Drugs
    Environment and Energy
    Global warming and climate change mitigation
    Society and culture
    Animal Rights
    Feminism
    Gun politics
    History wars
    Immigration
    Race, affirmative action
    Media bias in the U.S.
    Moral absolutism vs. Moral relativism
    Multiculturalism
    Permissive society
    Political correctness
    Secularism and Secularization
    Law and Government
    Capital punishment
    Law and order
    Separation of church and state
    Crypto wars
    An Independent vote is someone who studies each issues while listening to both sides and making a logical and rational decision based on the facts. A "religious voter" goes on what there religion teaches. Religious people aren't neccesarily "religious voters" but it's complex. Take abortion, an Independent weighs issues of life and choice while the RV would just repeat life begins at conception according to their religion, therefore all abortion should be banned without logically and rationally weighing the issues. The same can be said of each and every issue.
    Read more...
    • Robert Ross
      Aug 13, 2016
      -
      Not taking a public stand on political/moral challenges such as those listed leaves the final decisions to everyone else - and that is risky to say the least - even an abdication of setting an example of effective social leadership in a sectarian society.
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