View from the Pew
With the negative themes we’ve endured with the imminent election, I’ll bet this is a lofty perspective you haven’t considered: “The vote is sacred.”
Not even candidates for office see themselves and the battleground they’re negotiating in that context.
That was the topic at an Oct. 16 meeting in Honolulu of The Interfaith Alliance Hawaii. It has also been the theme of the national Interfaith Alliance in the months since the U.S. Postal Service announced an intent to interfere in the delivery of mail-in ballots, at the order of the president.
Although the U.S. Supreme Court struck down that unholy attempt, the issue resounds as a worrisome threat. Election officials urge people to vote early, observe the rules about ballot envelopes and take the trouble to get a postal clerk to affix a postmark.
What a downer to be in a defensive position just to take the basic step of civil duty. Those who promote it as a sacred duty emphasize that it is not an option to avoid the hassle and just skip voting.
Being a good citizen is grounded in most faith traditions, said the Rev. Cynthia Lynch, president of TIAH, which has worked for months to inspire people to vote.
Hawaii has the unfortunate record of the lowest voting turnout in the nation, even though it is a matter of belief in Christian, Jewish, Muslim Buddhist, Bahai and other faith traditions.
People of those backgrounds joined together in a political statement Oct. 10 outside the Federal Detention Center near the airport.
One organizer proposed deliberately getting arrested, as seen in news coverage from around the country.
Lynch said Hawaiian-style aloha prevailed, with three dozen demonstrators who were “informational and not confrontational, staying on the public sidewalk (and) not stepping on federal land, polite with no megaphones, just making a point of protesting the policy of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
And, unlike the mainland, there was very little publicity, seen on a single television station.
Father David Gierlach, pastor of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Kailua, organized the march which did not include any Catholic participants, Lynch said. People from Protestant, Buddhist, Jewish, Bahai and other traditions did join the hourlong protest.
“People in Hawaii feel secure,” said the Rev. Deborah Bond-Upson, pastor of First Unitarian Church in Honolulu and an Interfaith Alliance activist. But ICE uses the local federal prison to hold targets of their crackdown from the mainland, away from their families and legal help.
“It is a clear abridgement of our civil rights, religious and patriotic principles,” said Bond-Upson. “All of us have immigrant roots. People came to the United States like no other country and could gain citizenship. In such an urgent time, we must stand up, align with Hawaiian principles of aloha and malama (to take care of).”
Shining a spiritual light on the idea of voting is also a theme of the Catholic Church.
“Faithful Citizenship” is the theme of the political action program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
It has been the task of the Hawaii Catholic Conference for years to represent the Diocese of Honolulu on the public information and political fronts, informing state and city discussions and legislation on social justice and peace issues, education, housing and quality of life.
“The ‘Faithful Citizenship’ ideal is to bring faith into the public square,” said Eva Andrade, executive director of the Hawaii Catholic Conference.
During state legislative sessions, she is the Catholic voice testifying about proposed laws.
In election season, Andrade is on a speaking circuit, giving workshops at parishes about voting. “We work to get out the vote. It is a shame that Hawaii has the lowest voter turnout in the U.S. Unfortunately, there are no figures on how many of those who do vote are faith-based, or if they are the ones who do not vote.”
The conference used to put out a voter guide, but it was discontinued because so many candidates did not respond to questionnaires.
Andrade said that “so much about Catholic stands are a ‘teeter-totter,’ balancing beliefs with the cultural movements and times we live in. The church steps out of alliances with other faiths on issues like same-sex marriage, abortion (and) right to life.
“Sometimes you are faced with competing candidates and you don’t feel good about either of them. Our responsibility carries beyond the election,” she continued.
In the past, I’ve lamented about not hearing a homily on government missteps. The most I hear are the bland prayers of the faithful calling for leaders to work for peace and justice, text provided in the annual liturgy.
Oops. As I well know, to be Catholic is to have rules. So I learned from USCCB guidelines that pastors walk a fine line. Thou shalt not support a political party or candidate. Thou shalt not distribute literature from organizations. Thou shalt not allow candidates or groups to use parish facilities for their public forums.
“As I know from my military background, you need to do recon, to know who you are marching with,” Andrade said.
“Some issues nationwide are not taken seriously here,” she said, such as concerns about deporting immigrants such as Mexican farm workers, who are a factor in Hawaii agricultural industry. “We need to use (the) ‘coconut wireless,’ to remember and share stories from our immigrant roots. We need to stop drawing a line between us and them.”
Speaking of knowing who we march with, the breaking news on the ecumenical front this month found the U.S. bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals joining hands, an unusual alliance from two corners of Christianity.
On Oct. 13, they jointly issued “A Call for Christian Compassion and Wisdom in the Immigration Debate.” You can find it online.
Every little step together can be a step forward.