Part One
by Cherilyn Bacon
Between now and the U.S. general election on November
2nd, Meridian Magazine's Family
News Network will feature
a series of articles addressing what it means to be "anxiously
engaged in a good cause" in the political process.
The series will cover a variety of topics selected from
the following: how to volunteer for campaigns, setting
family policy standards, where candidates stand on the issues,
why this election is so important, the value of a single
vote, getting out the vote and beyond the election.
The
United States and nations of the world are at a critical, cultural crossroads. Decisions
made on Election Day November 2nd in the United States. will bring global consequences for years to come. You can make a difference
in your community and nation by standing for something good
for the world to model. We hope that principles of responsible
citizenship will resonate, motivate and translate into action
wherever you live.
My mother, Dorothy Bacon, taught me
the value of the vote literally from the day I was born.
Numerous times throughout my life she recounted that day.
It was Election Day 1950 (now you know how old I am). She
was in labor on her way to the hospital, but first made
the ambulance driver stop at the polls so she could cast
her vote. I've been anxiously engaged politically ever
since. You could say I was born to write this article.
“Anxiously engaged” is a phrase we hear often but perhaps neglect
to consider what it means. Words have meaning. So important
is etymology that at one point in our recent political history,
the media bombarded international airwaves, newspapers,
and the Internet with a prolonged and agonizing public debate
over the meaning of the tiny word "is." Former
U.S. Representative Bob Barr, one of the presidential impeachment
managers, has even written an entire book about it called
The Meaning of Is.
Merriam-Webster defines anxious as "characterized by extreme
uneasiness of mind or brooding fear about some contingency."
Another adjective is "worried." As a political
activist, opponents have asked me more than once, "What
are you so worried about?"
Webster's
Dictionary 1828 Edition,
contemporary to the early leaders of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, defines anxious as "greatly
concerned… respecting something future or unknown; being
in painful suspense, full of solitude, unquiet, very careful."
Here's a more upbeat definition: "ardently or earnestly
wishing, eager." I like that. Eager means
"avid, keen, athirst…. Moved by a strong and urgent
desire or interest…." Eager implies "enthusiasm
and sometimes impatience at delay or restraint." Keen
suggests "intensity of interest and quick responsiveness
in action."
Now analyze the meaning of "engaged." You'll love
this one. As in, "I'm engaged to Sally." Obsolete:
(thankfully)… "To entangle or entrap in or as if in
a snare or bog…. To attract and hold by influence or power."
Aren't we glad it's 2004?
To engage is "to bind (as oneself) to do something…. Other
meanings are "to involve, to take part in, to participate,
and to pledge one’s self." Here's one that caught
my attention: "to hold the attention of, as in engross
- her work engages her completely." No
doubt, my friends and family would describe me as one "engrossed"
in good causes ranging from my own children and grandchildren
to local and national charities as well as defending marriage
and family.
Getting
Started
With meetings to hold, lessons to teach, deadlines to meet,
clients to please, lawns to mow, cars to fix, taxes to pay,
money to make, meals to fix, clothes to wash, children to
raise, diapers to change, noses to wipe, boo boo's to kiss,
journals to write, gardens to grow, scriptures to read,
prayers to say, tithing to give, testimonies to build, and
genealogy to search, the thought of adding one more good
cause to this run-on sentence of life could overload even
the least anxiously engaged of Latter-day Saints.
Politics does take time. If you get hooked as I did, it can
eat you alive unless you're careful. Occasionally it's
been a good weight loss program for me. Not running faster
than we are able is wise, and setting priorities depends
on individual circumstances. The upside is that often you
can choose short-term or long-term involvement.
To those Latter-day Saint moms or dads who bravely, and perhaps
naively at first, became anxiously engaged in a political
cause and it became their life's work, let me say, "Thank
you." You have spent untold hours at your computers,
on the telephone, at local school board and city council
meetings, and at state capitols and the halls of Congress
representing us. I admit that when a friend has thanked
me for my small contribution, I've been complimented but
conflicted with this glaring possibility: if more of us
had been and were now involved, perhaps we wouldn't be facing
such troubling times.
A Few Can Make a Difference
By adding a few more good people, we could make a big difference
in the future. The founders of our country were only a
few, but their constitutional ideas transformed the modern
free world. Sadly, we are losing their genius and wisdom
today because of a small, but vocal minority.
Though small, the opposition's funds are enormous. For example,
the ACLU (very occasionally they're on our side) has an
annual budget of approximately $200 million. The Utah-based
Gay and Lesbian coalition, for example, opposing Amendment
3, which protects marriage between a man and a woman, has
at its disposal at least $1 million to sway (and deceive)
the voters before Election Day. Their deception began with
scare tactics about contractual agreements and litigation—phantom
arguments.
Now their coalition is employing a longtime and effective liberal
strategy to label intelligent supporters with moral compasses
as the "wacko religious right." In debate, if
you don't have the rational arguments on your side, an effective
technique is to discredit your opponent. Unfortunately,
media sound bites do not allow time for the enormous body
of scientific and legal analysis supporting marriage between
a man and a woman.
If Latter-day Saint Citizens do not rise to their duties and
become educated on these issues, our moral foundations will
continue to crumble at a faster rate. Isn't it time for
more Latter-day Saint attorneys and business leaders with
credentials and financial resources to become anxioussly
engaged?
People sometimes ask me what motivates me to engage in such
challenging moral causes that look hopeless in such an evil
world. I tell them, "It's my children. Their future
is at stake. I will fight for their freedom as long as
I live."
Common Excuses: "I Don’t Have Time. It's the
Last Days. It's a losing battle."
Others make excuses
for themselves with comments such as, "It's the Last
Days and these calamities are prophesied. I think I'll
stay home and protect my family." While they are staying
home protecting their family from within, the world is seeing
to it that their family will not be protected from without.
No wonder we're losing our religious freedoms at an astounding
rate.
We
have a balancing act to choreograph. Elder Neal A. Maxwell
described our obligation accurately when he said, “A person
could get so caught up in making civic contributions to
his community that he could lose his family. By the same
token, one cannot readily save his family in an environment
in decay. Thus we have obligations to contribute to the
civic betterment of the communities in which we live.” (The
Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book, ed. Cory H. Maxwell [1997],
59).
My choice to be anxiously engaged doesn't depend on whether
we, with our value system, win or lose. We may lose. What
matters is how I will account for my actions in this life.
I cannot get out of my mind this thought: What will I say
to my Maker when He asks where I was when pornography, gambling,
violence in the media, or sodomy became the law of the land?
Will I say, "Well, it was the Last Days, and I knew
it was a losing battle so I stayed home and did nothing?"
With all my other sins and failings, how could I justify
such a simple omission?
First Steps to Our Duty
Register
to Vote, Become Informed on the Issues, Become Familiar
with the Candidates' Positions and then Vote
Being anxiously engaged in politics doesn't necessarily mean
devoting one's life to political causes above all else.
But yes, it is election time, and I'm suggesting that we
add another good cause between now and November 2nd:
Get involved at a simple entry-level.
In a free society, registering to vote, becoming informed on
the issues and familiar with the candidates and their positions,
and voting are the most basic and important responsibilities,
duties, and obligations of citizenship. These are the first
steps every Latter-day Saint and citizen can and should
take to become anxiously engaged. Utah women were the first to be granted the right
to suffrage in the United States, even before the 14th Amendment became law.
Ironically, statistics now show that Utah women were among
the lowest in voter turnout during the last election. In
a recent Primary, at least one Utah county brought
out only 12% to the polls.
Likewise, showing up at the polls without a clue is akin to
showing up for a final exam without studying, except it's
not a test you're about to fail. It's your children's future.
In 1998, the First Presidency issued this statement:
“We wish to reiterate the divine counsel that members ‘should
be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things
of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness’
(D&C 58:27) while using gospel principles as a guide and while
cooperating with other like-minded individuals.
“Through
such wise participation as citizens, we are then in better
compliance with this scripture: ‘Governments were instituted
of God for the benefit of man; and … he holds men accountable
for their acts in relation to them’ (D&C 134:1).
“Therefore,
as in the past, we urge members of the Church to be full
participants in political, governmental, and community affairs.
Members of the Church are under special obligations to
seek out and then uphold those leaders who are wise, good,
and honest (see D&C 98:10).
“Thus,
we strongly urge men and women to be willing to serve on
school boards, city and county councils and commissions,
state legislatures, and other high offices of either election
or appointment, including involvement in the political party
of their choice” (First Presidency letter, 15 Jan. 1998).
If
you are not registered to vote yet, you can do it easily
online. Here's the link: http://www.eac.gov/register_vote_forms.asp
Go
to the bottom of that page on this non-partisan site, click
on the link that says For Public Use (under the heading
National Mail Voter Registration Form) and follow the simple
instructions. Do it soon because deadlines vary from state
to state, and yours may be past already.
The Forgotten Vote: Missionaries and Students
Don't forget to register your out-of-state students
and missionaries. Deadlines for registration and absentee
ballots also vary from state to state and may be past.
What difference do these votes make? Utah alone has enough
missionaries that, if they had been included in the census
count filed, Utah would be at least one electoral vote ahead
in this election. Similarly, simply registering your students
and missionaries and requesting their absentee ballots can
make a difference in this close presidential race. Helping
your elderly parents and friends with a ride to the polls
is another good cause.
An Obligation We Cannot Ignore
Cheryll Lynn May wrote, "We must not assume that since
the Constitution embodies a 'divinely inspired' political
system the machinery of checks and balances, separation
of powers, and other constitutional limitations will automatically
preserve political and moral freedom for the individual.
The prophets have made clear that no constitution or set
of laws, written or unwritten, can by themselves protect
a nation from corrupt leaders. Brigham Young remarked, 'No
matter how good a government is, unless it is administered
by righteous men, an evil government will be made of it.'
(Journal of Discourses, 10:177.) Bitter experience
has shown that the best way to keep corrupt individuals from subverting constitutional
and legal processes is for committed citizens to maintain a constant, careful surveillance over governmental
activities, opposing individuals motivated only by selfish
ambition in seeking public office. Although ancient and
latter-day scriptures warn that increasing political violence
and corruption will precede the millennium, Latter-day Saints
must continue during this pre-millennial period to struggle to maintain the political freedoms essential
to the spread and practice of the gospel." [Cheryll Lynn May, “Beyond Voting: Some Duties
of the LDS Citizen,” Ensign,
June 1976, 46]
No
Candidate Worth Voting For
Recently a fine Latter-day Saint said to me, "I've decided
I'm not even going to vote in November. This campaign has
become too contentious, too ugly. No candidate's worth
voting for anymore. They're all a bunch of liars and should
be thrown out."
I'm always astonished by the cynical, negative and sometimes
bitter responses of good Americans who watch the news, stay
home from their town halls, caucuses, conventions and Primary
elections, then look at the ballot line, and complain.
How many letters or emails have they sent to their elected
officials? How many legislative sessions or city council
meetings have they attended? Why were there only about
50 people at the last political meeting I attended? How
many corporations supporting bad laws with big money did
they contact?
The Adversary delights in cynicism and pessimism. I'm sure
he delights in discouraging as many as possible to stay
home and not engage in the political process of a free society
so evil can prevail to enslave humanity. Edmund Burke's
famous quote resounds in my conscience with a deafening
whisper, "The only thing necessary for
the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
“No Choice” is a Choice
Whether your time is now to engage politically on a larger
scale or not, every citizen can at least take those first
steps to register to vote, to become informed on the issues
and the positions of the candidates, and then to vote on
November 2nd. Meridian’s Family
News Network will do everything it can to help because
we know the stakes have never been so high. As Sheri Dew
boldly proclaimed at a recent conference on the family in
Washington DC:
“Before this era is over, every living human
being will have chosen. Every living human being will
have lined up in support of the family or against it.
Every living human being will have either opposed the onslaught
against the family or supported it, for if he tries to make
no choice, that in itself will be a choice. If
we do not act in behalf of the family, that is itself an
act of opposition to the family.” (Sheri
Dew, Feb. 28, 2004, Family Action Council International, Washington D.C., emphasis added)
Meridian will help keep you informed on the issues
and the candidates. On November 2nd, exercise
your agency and be grateful for your right to vote. Watch
for Part 2 in this series, which will provide information
about positions open for both paid and volunteer positions
to get out the vote for your favorite candidates around
the country. Now is the time to be anxiously engaged.
