Commentary: Voting is a tool for people of faith to effect change

As the late congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis once said, the right to vote is “sacred and the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union.” As we approach Election Day, we call to mind saintly figures such as Lewis, Fannie Lou Hamer and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

, who, in generations past, fought and struggled (and sometimes died) for the ability of all to participate in the electoral process. These sacrifices impress upon us the precious opportunity voting provides and the importance of all eligible voters making their voices heard. In that spirit, we implore everyone in our community to get out and vote.



As faith leaders, we are often thought of as the people who occupy the arena of “thoughts and prayers.” But we believe that voting, too, is an important tool for people of faith to effect change and practice the kind of neighborly love we see at the heart of our faith traditions. So when you go to the voting booth this year, we invite you to remember, as the prophet Jeremiah put it, that your welfare is bound up in the welfare of the city and wider community in which we live.

Therefore, mindful of our interconnectedness, the faithful thing to do on Election Day is to consider not just your own needs, but the needs of your neighbors and the most vulnerable and vote like their lives depend on it. As people of faith, this is our call. We must be discerning and vigilant, supporting candidates and policies that are compassionate, welcoming, open-hearted and conscious of our interdependence as part of the same human family.

Violent, hateful and bigoted rhetoric that dehumanizes anyone and diminishes us all should be rejected at every turn. Fear-mongering and insults should never be the way forward. We must, to borrow a phrase from the book of Genesis, strive to truly be one another’s keepers.

Please join us in centering love, compassion and the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. Join us in casting a vote for the sake of the common good this election season. The stakes could not be higher.

The Rev. Adam J. Shoemaker is rector of St.

Stephen’s Episcopal Church, the Rev. Jeremy Rutledge is senior minister at Circular Congregational Church, and the Rev. Rebecca Hinds is minister at the Unitarian Church in Charleston.

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