Posted by Dave on 08/30/08 at 08:00:03 am
Categories: Religion and Politics, Patriotism and the Nation State

Please read this post: Not Voting as Violence:

Voting, as it is oftentimes seen by historically marginalized groups, is a precious gift. It is not seen, within the language game of the prophetic black church, as a form of violence. That voting is seen as means of violence can only come from Christians who don’t know what it is like to be without the gift. This is why the loudest voices for political disengagement on Gospel grounds tend to be of lighter hue. It is another form of advantage to eschew voting. I profoundly agree with Christians engaging in anti-imperial practices or pro-kingdom activities that give sign to another world in our midst. But understand my suspicion. I am postmodern, after all.

I have long said that I believe that the idea of not voting is, in itself, an act of immense privilege. Of course, I also do not believe that anything that comes from, or out of, privilege is by definition a bad thing, but I do think it means that we need to closely examine the affect such actions have.

Voting is one of these actions. Those of us are are white and middle/upper class find it easy to eschew voting for theological reasons. We have always had the privilege to vote, and for the most part have had the privilege to be impacted by our lack of voting in very limited ways.

Others with less privilege do not have the same context.

And if we are unable to engage with that context, and if we are unable to take actions that help change not only our contexts, but others' contexts as well, we are failing.

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