Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, November 2, 2000
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Everyday Graces
The Southern Cross, Page 5
Voting models good citizenship to next generation
A baby boomer, I was
blessed to be raised by
parents who took voting
seriously. From a very
early age, I have vivid
memories of the impor
tance my parents, like
most of their generation,
placed on elections. My
parents not only voted,
but frequently became
involved in the political process by
supporting candidates through
financial contributions and serving
as volunteers in their campaigns.
One of my earliest memories is
singing, over and over again, the
slogan “I like Ike,” echoing my
parents’ enthusiasm for Eisenhower
in his bid for the presidency. At
one point in the campaign my
brothers and sisters and I stood in
our front yard waving homemade
signs endorsing Ike to all the neigh
bors passing by in their cars. In my
family, political activism was
encouraged at a young age.
In my elementary school years,
during every election day, the audi
torium of my public school would
be transformed into a polling place.
On that day, as our class walked to
the cafeteria near the auditorium, I
would seek out a glimpse of my
mother, who frequently worked the
polls. I remember the pride I took
in knowing she was involved in
something so official. I’d also look
Mary Hood Hart
for the elderly neighbors
whom I would often see
as I rode my bike
through the neighbor
hood and who seemed
so out of place on the
schoolgrounds, where
they came only on that
day to vote.
Before leaving for
school on election days,
I’d watch my father sitting at the
breakfast table, pen in hand, the
morning newspaper folded before
him, as he filled in a sample ballot
he would take to the polls later that
day. Through my parents’ example,
I understood early in life that vot
ing demanded careful thought from
the voter. To them, informed
involvement in the political process
was not an option; it was required.
As I reached adolescence in the
late 60s and early 70s, I formed my
own political opinions, often
opposed to theirs. Though I no
longer echoed my parents’ choices
for political candidates, many dis
cussions around the dinner table
centered on political affairs. It was
a time of great political and social
unrest, and the evening news
brought home constant reminders
of the turmoil. From Vietnam to the
Civil Rights movement, there was
always something to talk about.
Frequently we didn’t agree, but we
shared our opinions nonetheless.
And in that dinner table debate, I
learned how to express and defend
my positions.
At that time in my life, when I
was old enough to drive, on elec
tion day I was often assigned to
drive my elderly grandmother to
the polls. Granny lived to be 99,
and she took pride in the fact that
she’d never missed voting in an
election—that is, since women had
been granted that privilege. My
grandmother was strong-willed,
bright, well-informed. To imagine
her as a young woman prevented
by law from voting was a real eye-
opener for me. I knew that to honor
her, once I reached adulthood, I
would vote at every opportunity.
And I’ve done that, even when
voting was inconvenient, even dur
ing “off” years, when the presiden
cy wasn’t at stake, even in seem
ingly “insignificant” local elec
tions. When my children were
small, I’d take them all into the
voting booth with me, showing the
older ones the process, holding the
baby on my hip as I flipped switch
es or filled in blanks.
In the year 2000, it’s tempting for
my generation to forget or take for
granted the legacy of civic respon
sibility our parents and grandpar
ents have left us. Nowadays, it’s
easy to justify neglecting to vote.
We don’t vote because we’re cyni
cal, overwhelmed by the issues,
underwhelmed by the candidates.
We neglect to vote because we’ve
become so immersed in the
demands of our daily lives, we put
voting, and, just as important,
informing ourselves about the can
didates and issues, at the bottom of
the “to do” list.
Many of us avoid talk of politics
among our relatives, co-workers,
and friends because talking politics
makes us uncomfortable. Instead of
a lively, informed debate around
the dinner table, in the break room,
in the living room, we politely
avoid discussing the issues, the
candidates. However, without
debate, we don’t learn to express
and defend our opinions, and we
don’t model that process to our
children.
I would venture to say that
almost every American who takes
voting seriously can link his or her
attitude to a family member who
showed a genuine enthusiasm for
and a commitment to participating
in the political process. Tuesday,
before you leave for the polls, take
a moment to give thanks for that
influence. Then vow to honor that
person’s legacy by modeling good
citizenship to the next generation.
Mary Hood Hart lives with her
husband and four children in
Sunset Beach, N.C.
.
Catholics and Jews today
Remember that Jesus was Jewish
l J. Kavanaugh
can do to achieve a
of Judaism is to re-
om of a Jewish mother
the people of Israel,
lasting love and forgiveness
, 'VnG ii i
By
T h firsts
prop*
member
of the seel
and that
embraces his owri people and the whole world.
The ancient, historical origins of the Hebrew
people are uncertain. Some scholars identify the
ancestors of the Jews as the Habiru, a people
mentioned in Sumerian literature from the 20th
century b.c. and the Mari literature of the 18th
century b.c. Again, the Habiru are mentioned in
Egyptian records from the 15th to the 12th cen
turies and are described as foreigners with the
status of slaves. That the enslaved Habiru are
mentioned in Egyptian documents from the
12th century BC coincides with the most com
mon scholarly dating of the Hebrews’ exodus
from Egypt and settlement in Canaan.
These uncertain origins notwithstanding, the
messiah Jesus Christ was a Jew, coming from
the seed of David. Both the Letter to the
Romans (1:3) and the Second Letter to Timothy
(2:8) remind us of this fact. As much as some
people may want to think otherwise, everything
we know about the historical Jesus—from his
circumcision to his frequent visits to worship
and to teach in synagogues—speaks of his
Jewishness.
From the time of Abraham, the Hebrew peo
ple have had a unique relationship with God.
Over the centuries the Jewish people have had
to struggle to overcome the mistaken idea that
because they were the Chosen People they were
the only people loved by Yahweh.
While is is through the Jewish people that
God has made known his will that all people be
saved, it is not only the Jewish people (nor any
other ethnic or religious group for that matter)
who are loved by God.
Two notable examples from Scripture illus
trate how hard it can be to let go of “exclusivi
ty”—the notion that God loves us more than he
loves them. Cyrus the Persian, a foreigner and a
non-Jew, was the instrument used by God to
allow the Israelites to return in 537 b.c., after
the Babylonian exile to Jerusalem and rebuild
the Temple. Isaiah goes so far as to call Cyrus
“the Lord’s anointed” {messiah). And Jonah, of
the book that bears his name, was sent by
Yahweh to preach repentance in Nineveh, an
Assyrian city full of people who were not part
of the covenant Yahweh established with the
Jews. That God would use the non-Jew Cyrus
to free the Chosen People, and that God would
send his prophet Jonah to non-Jewish people
was a certain sign that, in fact, God’s love is
without boundaries. We Christians can fall into
the same trap. We can tend to become rather
exclusive in the way we understand God’s love,
excluding "those who are not like us" from
God’s compassion and care.
Nothing, however, could be further from the
truth. Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, Hindus,
Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, and even
atheists (!) are loved by God. They are all made
in the divine image {Genesis 1:26) and they are
part of our own family. God’s everlasting love
and forgiveness embraces them as much as it
embraces us.
Father Michael J. Kavanaugh is dioce
san director of Ecumenism. This is the
second in a series of articles on Jewish-
Christian relations.