I voted today. Who I voted for does not matter. What does matter, however, is that I informed myself about the candidates, took time out of my life, waited in line, slid the card in, touched the screen, and voted.
Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of the Mormon Church, mayor of Nauvoo, and presidential candidate loved the American system of free elections. It was part of his religion.
When he was asked to sum up the key beliefs of Mormonism, he made a list of thirteen doctrines. The twelfth, however, was not about God or religiosity per se, but about civics:
“We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” (Articles of Faith 12)
Voting comes under the aegis of “obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” I need to actively participate in politics, even if I do not hold office. Patriotism is for all of us, not just war veterans and boy scouts.
My family has been in America since the 1600s. One of my ancestors, Thomas White McBride, fought in the Revolutionary War. America and her freedoms are part of my birthright and heritage.
The Book of Mormon, which is a book of scripture and is another testament of Jesus Christ, says:
“For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.” (2 Nephi 32:8)
Similarly, I believe there is a spirit that teaches a man to vote, and there is a spirit that teaches a man not to vote. So whenever I hear someone say “Your vote doesn’t count,” or “It does not matter if I vote,” or “I think I’ll sit this one out,” I cringe. We need to “obey, honor, and sustain the law.” We need to honor the sacrifice of the Patriots of ’76. We need to listen to the spirit that teaches us to vote and to let our voice be heard. I believe that I will be held accountable before God if I do not vote.
I was a missionary in Portugal. We had been teaching a man our message, and one day we showed up at his home and he was dressed in his GNR (Portuguese Republican National Guard) regalia. We asked him what was up, and he said that they were having elections that day so he needed to be out at the polls.
I was taken back. Every time I have voted in California and Utah, the polls have been so calm that they have been almost comatose. And the polls are always run by a little old lady and her husband, with a college student handing out the “I Voted” stickers. But there have been no riots, no coercion, no monkeybusiness. Voting is a calm and rational process.
I am grateful for this country. I am grateful for our voting rights. I set a goal to vote every time. And I met my goal this year.
Twitter •
