Responsible Citizenship
In the past one year, Christian leaders in Malaysia have been encouraging responsible citizenship by instructing Christians that they should vote. Voting is the responsible exercise of one’s right as a citizen, they say.
So here we are at the brink of the major elections. Of course no one knows when exactly the date will be. But how effective the exhortation of the Christian leaders to the Christians in the nation has been remains to be seen through the response of the grassroots Christians themselves at the election event.
Because the message has been so resoundingly transmitted again and again that “to be a responsible citizen is to vote at the election”, I’ve been pondering over this message very intensely. Something in me hasn’t quite vibed with this message as yet. And then I realised why:
When you cast a vote, you’re not just casting a vote to choose the people you think are to be the deserving leaders of the nation. Anyone who casts a vote actually casts a double vote. You are not just casting a vote for a particular leader, but you’re also casting a vote of confidence in the electoral process itself! It matters not who you vote for; just by turning up to vote is itself a reflection of your confidence in the electoral process. In this sense, your vote is a double vote.
Let’s face it, if we didn’t think that our votes actually mattered, we wouldn’t have shown up to vote, would we? And if you think that your vote actually matters, then it’s an indication of your confidence in the electoral process. The fact that you actually show up to vote means you’re placing your vote, not just for the leader you choose, but also a vote of confidence in the electoral process itself.
So here’s my question: what if being a responsible citizen may also mean casting a vote of non-confidence in the electoral process by not turning up to vote?
Comments (5)
Yes, I have been contemplating skipping next year's election depending on who the candidates are.
I think it is wiser to let the other party rule with a bad leader than to have your own party lead with a bad leader.
Sometimes an unrepentant nation needs to take it's medicine.
Posted by Josh R | January 23, 2008 10:33 PM
Sherman... please excuse my ignorance of your country's political situation. We have one here in America that isn't instilling great confidence in me, either :-)
I was just curious about your electoral process that you don't have confidence in? Is it the candidates themselves, or the system possibly being corrupt?
I've always looked at voting as an act of good stewardship. In our upcoming presidential election here, however, I don't see how I can be a good steward of my vote if we end up with 2 unfit candidates.
Posted by dean | January 24, 2008 12:24 PM
Hi Dean,
Thanks for the note! In the case of my country, I'd say we have candidates with almost "absolute" power and what looks like infinite resources, which renders the system corrupt. In other words, they have the ability to make themselves win an election using various means.
If you follow the elections here (which isn't quite worth doing, actually), you'll find issues of phantom voters and all emerging.
The thing is, I'm not sure the opposing parties who're elected would be much more honest either once they got into power. So this leaves a big question mark for me.
Posted by sk | January 24, 2008 5:20 PM
Your reasoning is pretty similar to that of the Election Commission Chairman's. He told the Opposition parties that if they are unhappy about the electoral process, they can boycott the election.
I think we have not reached a stage where there the election process is completely rigged but it will if we do not turn out to cast our votes.
If you have no confident about the electoral process, the thing to do is to support civil society groups like Bersih and call for electoral reforms. It is not by not casting your vote. No one will know what you think by not turning out to vote. No one will hear your voice.
There are also many like you who are thinking of not voting because they have no confidence in the Opposition parties either. The reality of Malaysian politics is if you do not vote for the Opposition, you are indirectly voting for the BN. If the Opposition are not going to be honest when they are in power, we can vote them out. That's the essence of democracy. The people decides and the elected government is merely a steward of the people. The people have the right to boot them out if they turn out to be a bad steward.
Posted by splim | January 25, 2008 8:38 AM
I live in the United States. I'm not proud of it. We strut around on the world stage like we are God's gift to humanity, but often we work for the other side. This lack of humility coupled with the lack of honesty by our politicians has led me over the years to loose confidence in the democratic political process. For a while I just withdrew and did not participate. And then my prayer motivated me to go beyond passive observation and yet I did not know how. I became convinced with Paul that our citizenship is in heaven not earth and yet I am still a stranger and foreigner here. As such I have the God given mandate to struggle against evil in the world using the resources I have. I need to join with my Saviour in this conflict. Sometime those resources are a cup of water, a hot meal, a warm bed, and sometimes it is a vote.
I no longer worry about my vote necessarily always being right. See Romans 8:28. I can't worry about it any more than I worry about the eventual outcome of my charitable giving. Who am I to wonder if the food I gave to the family of an alcholic gave him money to buy more alcohol. I just need to know that Jesus smiles when the kids go to bed not hungry.
Until a better system is invented than Democracy, I'll participate. It is just another cup of water in a fallen world.
Posted by Russell Ashbaugh | January 25, 2008 9:26 PM