10 for 10: Voting Vision Not Division | The Character of a Nation

In the final episode of our "10 for 10: Voting Vision, Not Division" series, Faith Commons reflects on the importance of character in leadership as we approach Election Day. Through a lens of faith, George, Mara, and Nancy explore how integrity, responsibility, and truthfulness in our leaders shape our collective identity and influence our values. From local offices to the highest levels of government, this conversation underscores the impact of character on policies that affect our communities. As you head to the polls, consider how each candidate’s character reflects the future you envision for our nation, grounded in shared moral principles. And as we move past this election, consider the role you can play in shaping that future.

What is 10 for 10: Voting Vision not Division? Starting on September 2, 2024 and continuing every Monday for ten weeks through November 4, Faith Commons is offering ten 10-minute reflections on topics related to the upcoming election through the lens of religion. Our premise is that religion should be used to unite people and groups of people rather than to divide them, and that the founders of our country shared our view.

Watch the video, here.

George (00:00):

Welcome to 10 for 10 Voting Vision, not Division. I'm George Mason and I'm joined by my partners Rabbi Nancy Kasten and Mara Richards bim. Uh, and we are Faith Commons, and we've been having these conversations around issues related to the upcoming election and asking how our values might help inform our vote. This is our last of the 10. Uh, we are, uh, from the, in the Christian tradition, uh, we are looking at All Saints Day, and Saints of course, have, uh, high character. And so while politicians would, would hardly ever be called saints, I suppose, <laugh>. Nonetheless, uh, the theme seems appropriate as our last theme. Before we get to the voting booth, some of you have already voted. Uh, but, uh, to begin, we're going to look at character today. Mara, will you lead us?

Mara (00:59):

Yeah. Um, so the first election that I was eligible to vote in was Clinton's reelection. I didn't vote sadly. Uh, I was very young and, and, but I remember the conversation being so much about his character, right, and rightfully so. And, and so as someone who is conscious of that, then it has been interesting to me over the last eight years that this conversation around character, um, has flipped. Suddenly, um, there are a lot of people saying that character doesn't matter, that the ends justify the means, right, whether that is Supreme Court justices or policies or whatever it is. And, um, as a Christian, um, that doesn't resonate because as a Christian, we, you know, um, follow Jesus, who we believe to be the incarnation and, um, and that, and so what we do and say matters, it matters. And, um, you know, Jesus, um, follow me, right?

Mara (02:07):

I am the way. So, so he, throughout his ministry was, um, having his disciples follow in his footsteps. And he was very much about, um, the ends do not justify the means. And when we look at the stories of, um, his time in the wilderness, uh, we see these parables about Satan tempting him with different things, power and glory, and even food turning stones into bread. And Jesus rejected that each and every time because the ends do not justify the means. And, um, so as a Christian, I cannot divorce a candidate's character, their actions, how they treat people. Um, I can't just ignore all that. And we're talking about the highest political office in the land. And so for me, um, I've been shocked and appalled at, um, some who call themselves Christians, um, allowing certain types of behavior, even condoning it, saying, you know, well, this is just politics. Um, and I just don't think that's the case.

Nancy (03:26):

You know, it's interesting because, um, we live in such an era of media image, right? And so we see people with very similar ideas about policy, um, presenting themselves in very, very different ways. And the question is, you know, if you present yourself as a noble, decent, humble human being, is that important? And I think yes and no, right, bBecause really what we're looking for is, are the people who are going to create the image of our nation? What is the character of our nation, and, you know, if the people that we vote for have the interest of the public in at their heart, then I think that we can hopefully trust that they are going to be responsive to the needs both of our nation and of a global reality that we're dealing with now. Whereas if you have people who, you know, really, it's pretty clear that they are, they have their own self-interest at heart.

Nancy (04:34):

Beyond what, you know, the kind of, um, ego you have to have to be a public official. I mean, you can't run for office and not have some sense of ego and some sense of purpose that, but, but if that purpose is for yourself versus if that purpose is to help others, I think that makes a big difference. I also, I wanna say that, you know, I think this election is really about our character because if you think about what's happening now, um, many of the policies that President Biden are, is putting into place, are not policies that he started out wanting to put into place, but in order to remain politically viable, he's being shaped by what he's hearing from us. So we have to make sure that we are acting with our own sense of nobility of our sense of, um, purpose of our commitment to others to bring people together. to work for a vision of this country, not division with a country and we have to make sure that we're really engaged in communicating that to people both on the local level, all of our elected officials on the local level, on the state level, on the national level.

Mara (05:44):

And I was gonna say, um, Bishop William Barber has said that a, um, a budget is a moral document, and I, a vote is a moral commitment. And, um, and to your point, I think this election is as much about our individual and collective moral character, um, as it is, you know, the people and the part... And the parties running. Um, and, and just echoing Yeah. That, um, we as a collective, um, part of our, um, founding as a nation and part of our character is, um, can be tied back to different religious traditions, echo religious traditions, meaning we treat each other equally. All people are created equal that we, you know, um, take care of our neighbor. And so I'll be thinking about those kinds of things. And character, when I go to vote,

George (06:46):

One of the character issues that concerns me is simply truth telling. ,

Mara (06:51):

Oh Yeah. <laugh>.

George (06:53):

I just think that we are in a time when we have, um, well, it, you know, Pontius Pilate, uh, when, uh, the trial of Jesus was taking place said famously, what is truth? And there is a sense in which political leaders are always, uh, thinking about truth in ways that they can shape it rather than a commitment to an objective standard of truth that we should all be committed toward. So we, we have a kind of propaganda that, uh, that, that everyone is trying to shape it according to their need for approval or power or, or whatever. And, and I think that it's not just, in other words, about the character of the person, is this person good or is this person bad? Do we like this person's deeds or not? But do we have a common sense of commitment to truth telling?

Nancy (08:00):

So, well, you know, and I'm thinking you talked about the budget being moral document. One of the ways I think we could be a lot more engaged and hold our elected officials to truth telling is by, you know, going to budget meetings in our council districts. Yeah. You know, when they come up, really knowing what's in our budget, and being able to, um, see that in, in juxtaposition to what we're actually seeing on our streets at our workplaces when we drive downtown and go to an event, you know, to, to say, wait, you're, you're telling me that we need money for this? But what I'm seeing is we need money for that. We, we need to be a lot more engaged in that Yeah. In order to, um, hold ourselves to the standard that we want our elected officials to reflect.

George (08:49):

Yeah. And I, I, I think that raises another matter, and, and that is so much of, uh, attention in this election is focused on the presidency and I, I think there is a, a kind of trickle down nature about that, that we all understand, but I, I think Nancy, what you're raising is the point that there are so many other, um, spheres of political life that are being, uh, contested right now. And our engagement at the local level and at every level of political life, including school board, uh, races, uh, these things are all important to the life of, uh, our, our, our life together and the public good. And so we need to be doing more than deciding who's going to be our next president. We need to decide at every level how are we gonna live together? And what's really important,

Mara (09:48):

And at very level that reflects our character, it does as much as the individual.

George (09:52):

It does. So thank you for joining us for these, uh, 10 episodes that we hope have been stimulating to you. Uh, please go out and vote if you haven't already. Please urge other people to vote as well. Turn out as critically important, not just because of who might be elected. if you turn out, but, because this is what democracy is about, everybody having their say and voting their conscience. Take care.