My Faith Votes: Pledging to Vote, Complex as Brain Surgery?

I stay updated with a very respected brain surgeon, Dr. Ben Carson, whom I voted for in the primaries earlier this year. I was moved by his kindness, his honesty, and his reasoning. His constant telling of ways to “use your brain” and “do your own research” spoke to me. I hoped it would speak to the others in my generation as well. I truly wanted him to be President.

Since dropping out of the presidential race, Dr. Ben Carson went on to become the Honorary National Chairman of My Faith Votes, a non-profit organization focused on inspiring Christians to vote according to their faith.

I admire what My Faith Votes is trying to do and support their cause entirely, however, I’m afraid a lack of incentive will hinder their outreach. If it is true what their website says, that 25 million registered voters who are Christians did not vote last presidential election, it’s because voters did not have an incentive to vote. It might be that they are stuck in a paradigm of thought keeping them from it. In order to understand why so many people are staying home on Election Day, we must explore the paradigm they are in, and the possible hindrances that are causing them not to vote.

One possibility is the social impact that culture has on modern Christians. Popular opinion says: truth depends on who is talking, not on one, solid source; everybody has their own way of living; nobody should tell anyone what to believe; to be American is to be free; to be free is to be free to think anything. While a Christian will usually accept the Bible as truth, today’s Christian interprets that truth through the viewpoint of popular opinion: not judging means not discriminating, loving means accepting all races, religions, and genders, and following Jesus means being free to live life however one pleases. This viewpoint, part of the paradigm, results in Christians who are without incentive to do anything but allow things to be, letting the future unfold before their eyes, without doing anything more than maybe praying a prayer for “God’s will be done”.

A second possibility that stops Christians from voting is peer pressure. Take my life for example. When I turned 18, I didn’t shout for joy that I was the age to vote. “I don’t really like politics. It’s not for me,” I said. Really, I didn’t want to vote because having an opinion meant judging, which I thought was basically the same as discriminating. As a millennial, my generation taught against anything that would impose on another person’s wellbeing. As a woman of God, the Bible verse 1 Timothy 2:11-15, instructing women to remain submissive, gave me a way out of having my own opinion, which was just going to make people mad and offend them. Most of my friends were liberal non-Christians, while my family was conservative Christians. Since I chose to be a listener, not a warrior, I was backed into a corner of silence and “indifference”. That became my reason not to vote. I chose to be silent because it was the right thing to do for my friends, for my family, for God, and ultimately, for me. Not voting meant the same to me as caring.

These two hindrances, popular opinion and peer pressure, created a paradigm of thought that influenced Christians like me to decide not to vote in the last presidential election. The danger WAS voting: if I chose to vote conservative, my non-Christian friends would judge God as being hateful because of my political stance; but if I voted liberal, my Christian family would be judgmental against me for not doing as God wants.  I did not want to give either of the people I loved the stumbling block into sin. That caused me to see voting as a dangerous act of rebellion. My status with friends and my respect with family was more important to me than one vote which may or may not matter, considering it is only one vote, anyway, so what difference does it make?

Therefore, I truly am afraid that a lack of incentive will hinder the outreach My Faith Votes wants to have. As for me, I have done my research this year and I am deciding to vote. Back in 2012, nothing felt at stake. Now in 2016, I can’t sit out of it this time, not when my freedom is in question, my faith ridiculed, and my values forgotten. The USA does still offer freedom of religion, but for how long? How many years ahead will we be able to speak about our faith in public? Tomorrow, I’m not sure. The world is changing. The nation is changing. The leaders are changing. There’s more at stake – authorities are contemplating on how to take away the rights of Christians, our rights to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and our ability to share our faith with others – and that’s why I am going to vote and my vote is going to be the conservative choice this year. I wish I had the ability to tell every Christian who doesn’t want to vote what I know, what I learned from the research I have done. I can only pray that God’s will be done…. but this time, I’m going to vote, because my faith matters.

Kat’s pledge: Kat is making a pledge to vote this November. She also wants to challenge you (if you’re American, if not, no worries) to make your own pledge.

Dare to Draw Donald J. Trump

Last week, Donald Trump came to my state shortly after I took a survey asking if I wanted him to come here. I clicked ‘Yes’. I didn’t think he’d listen. And I doubt I was the only one who took the e-mail survey from Trump’s campaign staff. He probably didn’t listen personally TO me. Who he listened to was probably a huge amount of people. But I don’t care. I want to thank him for making the effort, anyway. So I drew him a picture that I think represents who he is.

For you, my reader, I want to tell the steps on how I drew it so you can learn about my art. First, I drew a sketch from a variety of Trump pictures I found online. Using just 1 isn’t my style; I cross-reference up to 20 pictures to draw my own. I sketched the portrait on a blank piece of paper with an ordinary mechanical pencil. Then it was scanned in, outlined digitally, and shaded with an airbrush tool. At last, it was time for Kat to have it, making it look gorgeous with colors and polished lines.

Note: I drew this picture of Trump before I saw him at the “Roast and Ride” event! Although from his outfit you couldn’t tell, could you?

Mr. Trump spoke about ending violence, political favoritism, and crime. It wasn’t the best speech I’ve ever heard him say, however, two actions he did said a lot about how he cares: he let the women of The Remembrance Project speak out on stage about their tragedies, and he let the border patrol men have a chance to say how dangerous the situation is, specifically down on the southern United States border. The danger of drugs is everywhere because there’s a major distribution center in Central Texas, selling illegal heroine nationwide. Seriously, search “The Remembrance Project”. You won’t be disappointed at the humanity you find on their website. Maria Espinoza is the Co-Founder of the project set on bringing justice to families who had loved ones tortured, raped, and murdered by criminals.  It’s wrong they have to wait for fair trials, when all they’re asking for is justice and order, so violence can be stopped.

Back to Donald J. Trump, he is more than just a candidate for USA’s President. He’s a mentor to me as I watch his campaign. He may not know it, but I notice his personality to find out what kind of man (or woman) you have to be to make money in the industry of business. I’ll admit I’ve not been good at making money. That’s bad considering my goals. But now, for the first time, my self-esteem is going up thanks to Mr. Trump. I’m a patriot again.

Donald Trump may not be popular for these facts, but he defends the rights of the voiceless, promises liberty to citizens, and loves the country enough to fight for it in his own unique way. Of course, what he’s QUITE infamous for is the flaws: rambunctiousness, big talk, and bragging about himself. Ok… Let’s get real, though. Let’s get down and dirty. Nitty-gritty. Who is flawless? Who doesn’t make mistakes? Who tames his tongue 100% of the time? How would anyone act if the reporters and cameramen cut and edited one’s words out of context? Haven’t I gotten into a heated argument once or twice? (If you know me, you’ll know, yes, I have. Maybe you know how I feel?) Donald J. Trump is human and he’s not been a politician. We also need to take note that in business, bragging wins. Bragging is the strategy to get people to look at you and your products, whether to scrutinize or out of interest, and you WIN if you have what it takes to impress them. Because when BRAGGING is validated by SUCCESS, suddenly, that’s now considered BRAGGING RIGHTS. You go from BIG EGO to BIG GAME. That’s who Mr. Trump is. He’s a big game player. As the old saying goes: “Money talks”. He wants to make the  American dream possible again by dealing with the national deficit and allowing cash flow to return to the USA and back into the American people’s pockets so they can start succeeding once again, and immigrants can start coming into a country worthy of their dreams.