BY LYNN UNGAR, MINISTER FOR LIFESPAN LEARNING, CHURCH OF THE LARGER FELLOWSHIP
If you look through this issue of Quest, you’ll find that it has kind of a split personality. Because this November not only brings us Thanksgiving in the United States, but also the US presidential election, we’ve kind of put together two topics that don’t really go together. I mean, every year the US president pardons a turkey, but that rather silly ceremony is about as close as the two different topics get. Or is it?
Well, I’m sure that I’m not the only person who is very grateful that the US will have a new president in the near future. Couldn’t come soon enough for me. But that’s not the point I wanted to make. Really, what I wanted to say is that those of us who live in countries where there is an open democracy, where we get to freely debate issues, and vote for the people who we think we will do the best job helping to run the country, we have every reason to be grateful.
Democracy, a form of government where decisions are made by the people voting, is a pretty new way of running countries. For most of history, power belonged to families that had always held power—or to people who managed to grab power with weapons and fighting. It’s only in the last couple of hundred years that this democracy idea has really caught on in a big way, and there are still countries where the average person doesn’t have a voice and a vote.
But this whole idea of a voice and a vote is so important that we put it into our Unitarian Universalist statement of principles and purposes. Our fifth UU principle affirms “the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.” In other words, UUs want all people to be able to decide what is right for themselves, and to have a say in the decisions that affect them. Of course, you may be saying about now, “Hey, what about kids? I don’t get to vote in elections!” Which is a good point. In most congregations, and in “society at large,” which is to say, the world in general, children don’t get to vote.
That sounds pretty unfair, the way it was unfair that to begin with in the United States, the only people who got to vote were white men who owned property. But here’s the thing about democracy. It’s not just about voting. It’s mostly about the whole process that happens before the voting. Because before you cast your vote, you need to figure out how to cast your vote. And I don’t just mean punching out bits from a paper ballot or using a touch screen. If you are voting on who should be president, first you need to decide which candidate will do a better job. Who will help create a peaceful world? Who will do the best job making sure that people can get a good education? Who will be best at building an economy where people have jobs and can afford what they need? Who will be the most dedicated to taking care of the planet? Those are only a few of the important questions that people need to ask before they vote. And finding out the answers to those questions—or what you think are the right answers to those questions—takes work.
Responsible voters read articles in the newspaper or online. They listen to opinions on the radio. They watch the candidates debate, listening to each person answering questions about how they would do the job. Responsible voters talk with their friends, and maybe even seek out people who disagree with them, so that they can make sure they’re hearing different opinions. They find out what choices the candidates have made earlier in their careers, so they have an idea of what choices they will make in the future.
Of course, not everyone who is allowed to vote goes to all that work. But the people who designed the system really had in mind that democracy was something that took effort—thinking and talking and listening and learning. They wanted people to really get involved in running the country, not to just cast a vote because they liked the sound of someone’s name or because they liked their looks. They wanted voters to take that responsibility seriously, knowing that their choices would affect everyone in the country.
Although there are certainly some children who are ready to take on that responsibility, it seems like a lot to put on the shoulders of someone who hasn’t had a chance to grow into the job. But, it’s never too early to start growing into the job. Talk to grownups you trust about who they vote for and why. Ask your teacher about what “the economy” is, and why people are concerned about it. If you or your family belong to organizations, like the Sierra Club or the Human Rights Campaign, find out if those organizations support a particular candidate. And if you disagree with your parents or your teacher or your friends’ parents, explain to them why you disagree. You may not yet have a vote, but you have a voice. And that’s something to be grateful for.
If you look through this issue of Quest, you’ll find that it has kind of a split personality. Because this November not only brings us Thanksgiving in the United States, but also the US presidential election, we’ve kind of put together two topics that don’t really go together. I mean, every year the US president pardons a turkey, but that rather silly ceremony is about as close as the two different topics get. Or is it?
Although there are certainly some children who are ready to take on that responsibility, it seems like a lot to put on the shoulders of someone who hasn’t had a chance to grow into the job. But, it’s never too early to start growing into the job. Talk to grownups you trust about who they vote for and why. Ask your teacher about what “the economy” is, and why people are concerned about it. If you or your family belong to organizations, like the Sierra Club or the Human Rights Campaign, find out if those organizations support a particular candidate. And if you disagree with your parents or your teacher or your friends’ parents, explain to them why you disagree. You may not yet have a vote, but you have a voice. And that’s something to be grateful for. 