Posted by Simeon (208.24.179.129) on April 23, 2002 at 09:38:42:

In Reply to: Re: Voting for an American President posted by Grant on April 22, 2002 at 15:48:39:

Grant,

I've always understood it this way: We are free to vote our conscience
in any elections: local, state or federal. In the United States,
voting for a candidate does *not* imply membership in or endorsement
of a party, as witnessed by that fact that many people will split
their votes, picking a Republican President and a Democratic Senator,
for example.

What we must not do is make our votes a cause of dissension among the
Baha'is. Can you imagine Democratic Baha'is and Republican Baha'is
engaged in some of the ridiculous political infighting that passes
for debate these days? We also may not lend our endorsement to any
specific party or platform. We *can* support political positions (a
recent example being to encourage our representatives to support
payment of the US debt to the UN), but not parties - because, as
George Washington realized, parties are inherently divisive. And,
of course, we cannot become members of a party.

The only elections I can think of (in the US) that would be "off-limits"
for Baha'is would be primaries, because to vote in a primary, one must
declare a political party. Having voted in primaries in my pre-Baha'i
life, I know that I'm not missing too much!

Peace,
Simeon

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