Last week on this broadcast, we talked about who to vote for. In the cacophony of T.V. ads, radio ads, glossy mailers and billboards, how do we choose the right candidate for us? Where do we go for relevant information on the issues that WE care about? I suggested our website at montanafamily.org for information on candidates’ positions, current issues and party platforms. This week I would like to move upstream and talk about the importance of voting, the CRITICAL importance of voting.
All across the state, I hear people, filled with anxiety and despair, complaining about their choices for President. Okay, I get that, but what I don’t understand are the people who say they will sit out this election cycle because they don’t like their choices for President. It makes no sense. The race for President is only one race on a long ballot. Who will be our Congressman or Governor? Who will administer government-mandated healthcare in the state? That’s the job of the State Auditor. What about Public Service Commissioners whose job it is to set utility rates? Or the Superintendent of Public Instruction who will play a key role in stopping or promoting President Obama’s policy of allowing boys to use girls’ locker rooms? Below that, we have races for State House and Senate, and four ballot issues, including expanding the use of medical marijuana. What I’m trying to say is that not voting because of who is running for President is short-sighted. There are lots of other races that will impact your life far more personally than who gets elected as President. In 2012, millions of disillusioned Christians decided not to vote. It gave President Obama his second term and affected other races up and down the ballot. We cannot afford to let that happen again.
With that in mind, the Montana Family Foundation is partnering with Focus on the Family in urging you to commit to vote. This week we mailed hundreds of voter registration packets to churches across the state, urging them to hold a voter registration Sunday on October 9th. The packet contains voter registration forms and a flash drive with short fun videos explaining why your vote is critical. The same packet is available on our website at montanafamily.org and we are asking all of our listeners to go to their pastors and ask them to show one of the videos and then urge the congregation to vote their values on election day. Ecclesiastes 3 says, “There is a time to remain silent and a time to speak.” NOW is the time to speak. The church in Montana has been silent for far too long, and our state is suffering as a result.
This week the Montana Family Foundation also partnered with the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America on their Values Voters Bus Tour. The bus is making a swing through 20 states urging Christians to register and then vote their values. Time is short. Absentee voting begins on October 14th, and the close of regular voter registration is October 11th. That’s why we’re asking YOU to head up a voter registration Sunday in YOUR church on October 9th. The materials are on our website. If not us, then who, and if not now, then when?
For the Montana Family Foundation, this is Jeff Laszloffy reminding you that this government is your government and your input DOES make a difference!
