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“It doesn’t matter if I vote.” Not!

Wednesday, June 25, 2014, 9:45 am | Randy Thomasson

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randy_thomasson Do-the-Math-logo“It doesn’t matter if I vote.”

“God’s in control — what will be will be.”

Do you believe you should always vote? It used to be that moral citizens believed voting was a sacred act before God in a proclaimed republic as ours. And voting has, for generations, been regarded as at least a duty of every patriotic citizen.

But just as Independence Day has devolved into simply a day off with fireworks and picnics, registered voters have forgotten the purpose of voting.

By now you might have heard that, after most of the counting has been done, around 25% of registered California voters actually voted in the June 3 statewide primary election.

As I wrote earlier, for immoral or irresponsible citizens, this is understandable. But this low turnout is unacceptable for moral citizens, who have bought into fuzzy thinking, laziness, faithlessness, and fatalism.

In the month before the June 3 election, I heard from people who complained that judges overturn their vote. But while corrupt judges have indeed destroyed moral ballot measures, such as Prop. 8, this has not happened with candidates. It is fuzzy thinking to claim judges will destroy your vote.

And others — stung by the defeat of moral-issue ballot campaigns and depressed by the two-thirds Democratic control of the State Legislature — utter fatalistic complaints instead of being fruitful in an election cycle. In elections, it appears that union bosses and homosexual activists have more “faith” than most pastors and churches!

An honest talk-show host told me it was such a struggle for him to vote this time. But I reminded him that if we think like losers, we will lose. And I explained why a low voter turnout expectation actually FAVORS moral virtues, if we’ll simply recognize and seize the opportunity.

How could this be, you ask? Think about it. Because when average or non-family voters have a LOW turnout and pro-family voters have a HIGH turnout, there will be victories for moral values.

It’s simple math. If there are 100 possible voters in an election cycles, and half of them actually vote in the election, my vote is 1 out of 50 or 2 percent. If 100% of registered voters go to the polls, I am 1% of the voters.

Here’s an example of 1 out of 100 voters (the highest possible voter turnout), where 1 voter has 1% influence:

1of100

Now imagine yourself in a low-turnout election where only 20% of registered voters actually cast votes. Now you are 1 of 20 voters — you are 5% of the electorate. Your influence has quintupled. It’s like having 5 votes per person!

1of20

As veteran political columnist Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee wrote this week:

Although election officials are still counting votes from the June 3 primary election – and a few contests are still in doubt – the lukewarm tenor of the Nov. 4 general election is evident, and that could be bad news for California’s dominant Democrats.

The record-low voter turnout in the primary – about 25 percent of registered voters – is very likely to be reflected in November for many of the same reasons.

The outcome of the top-of-the-ticket contest between Gov. Jerry Brown and Republican challenger Neel Kashkari is virtually certain months in advance, there’s no U.S. Senate contest, and there will be no barnburner ballot measures to motivate occasional voters.

So my question is, are you only motivated by stuff on the ballot, and are thus an “occasional voter”? Or are you motivated by God’s values, patriotism in our Republic, or one who seizes the day because you understand the math and recognize the great opportunity that a low voter turnout affords?

Choose to make a calculated difference. The outcome of many state assembly, state senate, local races, depends on pro-family voters. If you love God and love people, you will vote and vote wisely. Even if you didn’t do this in the June primary election, plan now for November — to vote wisely and use creativity to influence many others to vote wisely. Seize the day!

“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote … he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”
Samuel Adams, 1722–1803 (The “Father of the American Revolution”)

“Now more than ever the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature.”
James Garfield, 1831–1881 (20th President of the United States)

Source

Digest this before your Fourth of July picnic

Saturday, July 3, 2010, 10:53 pm |

With America’s Christian values seeming to erode wherever you turn, we must be honest about our own unpatriotic values. Will you join me in admitting that you look forward to food and friends and fun on July 4th more than you want to thank God and rehear the patriotic sayings of our founding fathers on Independence Day?

Yes, it’s taken only 234 years since 1776 for our minds to become clouded and our senses to become dulled. For whenever deeply rich, real and precious things are replaced with more pleasurable substitutes and fantasies, these counterfeits secretly rule our hearts, minds and souls. Yes, the strong materialistic pull of our “me first” culture affects even conservative, pro-family folks!

Do you want America to return to its moral excellence and again be “one nation under God?”  Do you want to extinguish all counterfeits, ignorance, and useless frivolity regarding America’s past, present and future? Do you want to “walk in the Spirit” so that you don’t “fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16)?

If you want to experience a real Independence Day, please take some time to rediscover the treasure chest of truth about the Christian roots of the United States of America. For there is both great purpose and tangible benefits of being an American!

So before you attend a Fourth of July picnic, please digest this and plan to share it with others. As a result, you and they will become better and our country has a chance to become better too:

1.    The 1337 words of the Declaration of Independence
2.    Pat Boone: “Let’s redeclare our independence”
3.    Celebrating America’s Birthday: Famous July Fourth Orations by David Barton
4.    John Quincy Adams’ Independence Day speech (1837)
5.    Jane Chastain: “Christians are slackers”

“It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.”
— Founding Father John Adams, our 2nd President

How to have a REAL Memorial Day

Monday, May 25, 2009, 11:38 am |

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 NIV

This weekend, I went to the grocery store. The checker, who seemed to be in her early 30s, asked if I had any plans for fun over the holiday weekend. I said I was working harder at remembering the reason for the holiday, which was to appreciate the sacrifice of those who laid down their lives so we could have freedom. I asked her if Hitler were waging war in Europe today, would America’s young men have the moral fiber to join the army to go against him? “Oh, no,” she exclaimed, “they wouldn’t.” As she stood there realizing that America wasn’t all she had hoped for, I put words to what we were both thinking. “America hasn’t ‘changed,’” I said, “it’s deteriorated.” It must have been an unusually serious discussion for her because she mistakenly undercharged me by more than $30. (After later discovering the error, I returned to the store and made it right).

This Memorial Day, I encourage you to ponder the real reason for the day, to remember those who died for you, and to consider what lessons you can learn from it. For one, freedom is not free. Those who died for you and me gave us freedom unmatched by many nations. If they could see us now, these fighting men would either be proud or embarrassed by our behavior. Many in America have used their hard-won freedom for good. Yet many others have used freedom to squander their lives away or to bring evil upon America from within.

Let appreciation fill your heart by viewing photos of U.S. military cemeteries around the world

Read the riveting account  of the World War II battle of Tarawa in 1943, as told by the late Gil Ferguson, who, at age 19, survived the battle, and later served 10 years for pro-family, conservative values in the California Assembly. Tarawa was the first major American offensive in the Pacific. Victory here came at the price of 3,000 dead or wounded U.S. Marines. Consider reading it aloud to family and friends to help you have a REAL Memorial Day.