Today, for the first time, I voted. Having been a Jehovah's Witness for three decades, I never had opportunity to cast a vote. After having left the religion last year, I decided to give registration and voting a try.
I felt a nice sense of empowerment from the act of casting my vote. I had always felt bad about benefitting from the freedoms afforded in this country while at the same time giving the system that was responsible for such freedoms no support. I felt like I was in a sense leeching, and I never liked that feeling. The United States Of America is by no means a perfect country, but it is a free country, and I enjoy those freedoms. Today, I felt that I was giving at least a little something back.
Elections in the US are free. We do not live under a dictatorship or some other form of tyranny. When a person votes, he or she does so on their own volition, under the established rules and proceedures of a free democracy. As I see it, participation in such a sytem is not in any way the same as political subterfuge, a coup, an uprising, or any other radical attempt at effecting change. Therefore, in good conscience (if one still wants to invoke some religious issues) today I cast my vote.
Anyone else here vote today?
http://.blogs.salon.com/0001963