In less than one year we will have elected a president and a congress. The results of that day will affect the future of our country.
But sadly, I predict that a large percentage of voting-age Americans will not cast a ballot. Not from fear. But most likely, out of apathy.
Only 57 percent voted in 2008. Those who couldn’t or wouldn’t accounted for a huge percentage ... enough that their votes would have most definitely made a difference in any number of elections and ballot initiatives on the local, state and federal levels.
As Jews, we understand the importance of having a voice, of not remaining the passive participant in society. In fact, our tradition teaches that it is better to act — and to act wrongly — than to not act at all.
Another time when we chose not to act, the results were disastrous. It was in the late 1930s, in Nazi Germany. Jews could not imagine that their lives were in danger. While some left following Kristallnacht (to learn more, go to http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/kristallnacht.html), so many didn’t. And when it was too late, the Jews were sent to camps and endured a random selection process, where those who went along one path survived and the others walked a path to their destruction.
This is NOT a condemnation of the Jews who died or those who left. Rather, it is a comment about apathy ... the apathy of all peoples during those years that led to the slaughter of so many innocents.
Apathy is the enemy. And it will be the Achilles’s heel of our country unless we stir ourselves into action.
The election in 49 weeks is an opportunity to change history, to help our country steer a course towards prosperity, healing and hope. While I have my own private opinions as to who and which political vision will allow us to achieve such a goal, what is most important is that (a) each of us acts according to our own beliefs and consciences; and (b) we get as many other Americans as possible to vote as well. Only when we all participate can our country be strong and a mandate be clear.
I write this now to encourage you to volunteer through whatever organization you want in order to help register voters in Kansas and Missouri (and other states, as well). If you haven’t registered, go to www.sos.ks.gov or www.sos.mo.gov for Kansas or Missouri registration forms.
It may seem like an unlikely stretch to connect the Holocaust with a failure to vote, but given the temporal proximity of Kristallnacht and Election Day 2012 (three days apart), the connection is there ... whether we like it or not. And let us remember the words of Pastor Martin Niemoller, who wrote:
They came for the Communists, and I didn’t object — For I wasn’t a Communist;
They came for the Socialists, and I didn’t object — For I wasn’t a Socialist;
They came for the labor leaders, and I didn’t object — For I wasn’t a labor leader;
They came for the Jews, and I didn’t object — For I wasn’t a Jew;
Then they came for me — And there was no one left to object.
May we encourage every American to register to vote; to learn about candidates and causes; and most importantly, to care enough to decide how our country will move forward in the coming years.
