To Vote or Not to Vote? Help me decide!


by Rachel Held Evans Read Distraction Free
VOTEphoto © 2008 Theresa Thompson | more info(via: Wylio)

​Next Friday I’ll post some photos/video updating you on the biblical womanhood project—specifically my afternoon on the roof doing penance over the jar of contention (scheduled for tomorrow) and my first official etiquette lesson (scheduled for Monday). 

In the meantime, I’m trying to decide whether or not to vote in the upcoming election.  Here’s how the conversation has been playing out in my mind - 

Round 1:

Does the Bible say anything about women voting?
Well of course not.  Israel was a theocracy/monarchy. Nobody voted, not even the men. 

Right. So in order to simulate what life would be like for a woman like me in ancient near eastern culture, I probably shouldn’t vote. 
Yes, but I’m trying to focus the project on specific biblical commands and instructions.  I’m not avoiding electronics simply because they didn’t have TVs and computers in Bible times, so why should I avoid voting? (Round 1 goes to voting) 

Round 2:

If you vote, should you submit to your husband’s will and vote for his favorite candidates?
Probably. Ephesians 5:22 says, “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

So how would Dan vote?
Dan’s an independent and I’m a democrat, which means I may end up voting for Republicans...or writing in "Google." (Round 2 goes to not voting) 

Round 3:

What would John Piper do? 
John Piper says that “praying women exert far more power in this world than all political leaders put together” so maybe you should stay home and pray for the election. 

But isn’t John Piper a Calvinist? Doesn’t he believe that prayer is incapable of changing God’s will?
You live in a red state, sweetie. The democrats are down 20 points in the polls. Even Arminians know this election is predetermined.  (Round 3 goes to not voting)

Round 4:

But what about your civic duty? Doesn’t that trump this little gimmick of yours?
IT’S NOT A GIMMICK! I’ve committed a year of my life to exploring and wrestling with every passage of Scripture that deals with women, painstakingly wading through commentary after commentary, struggling to figure out how to apply these passages to my life! This is serious stuff!

Whoa. No need to get testy! I just mean that you’re only doing this for a year and…
The folks who win this election will be in office long after the experiment is over. (Round 4 goes to voting) 

So it’s a tie. What do you think I should do?

End of article logo.

Shareable Permalink
https://rachelheldevans.com/blog/vote

© 2010 All rights reserved.
Copying and republishing this article on other Web sites without written permission is prohibited.
Browse articles with tags: politicswomanhood