WeBelieveWeVote is b-a-a-c-k!
Spokane County Elections (part of the Spokane County Auditor’s Office) mailed out ballots for the November 5th General Election late last week, a week earlier than the deadline. If you live in Spokane County and you haven’t received your ballot, first check your ballot’s status at vote.wa.gov. For voters in Spokane County there is more good information here. If you’ve already filled out and returned your ballot, check at vote.wa.gov to confirm that it has been received and accepted.
Still, you’re not done. Encourage like-minded people to cast their ballots, too. Offer help. Encourage voter registration (still doable online at vote.wa.govuntil October 28th—a week from Monday). Recommend the progressivevotersguide.org. It’s a great, rational resource for candidate information including links.
To access past posts from this blog, check the searchable archive at jxindivisible.org.
My Favorite Negative Voter’s Guide
WeBelieveWeVote.org finally posted its voting recommendations this last Monday, October 14th. In the past, WeBelieveWeVote relied on candidates to return a questionnaire asking for their level of agreement with a series of rigid statements like “The duty of civil government is the protection of innocent human life from conception until natural death.” Candidates’ “alignment” was rated accordingly. If you took time to tour the website back then it was possible to see each candidate’s questionnaire. Perhaps for that reason increasing numbers of candidates were nor willing to participate.
This election cycle, the folks behind WeBelieveWeVote rate candidates based on “how well a candidate aligns with a Biblical worldview & Biblical principles,” that is to say, a particular Christian Fundamentalist, Christian nationalist, very current-day Republican worldview and principles you can read here. Since when, you might ask, is every Christian required to subscribe to this:
The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution reserves “to the states…or to the people” all powers not expressly delegated to the federal government. Therefore, state and local governments comprise the vast majority of governmental functions?
Really? States’ Rights is a Biblical precept with which every Christian worth their salt must agrees? I invite skeptical readers to look up the Old Testament references WBWV offers as proof: Ex 18:14-25; Deut 1:13-17. As a Christian, review WBWV’s “principles.” Know the basis of their rating system.
You are asked to blindly accept the judgement by the WeBelieveWeVote team of candidates’ “alignment” with the team’s bizarre list of “Biblical principles.” Then, rather opaquely, the team bases its rating on “a variety of sources, including candidates’ websites, social media posts, endorsements, voting records (if applicable), news articles, interviews, etc.”
Equally telling is the link WeBelieveWeVote provides to guide your vote on the four Republican Greed Initiatives that appear on your ballot: the link leads straight to multi-millionaire Brian Heywood’s “Let’s Go Washington” website—as if voting for the repeal of, for example, the Washington State capital gains excise tax were based on “Biblical principles”. That is preposterous on its face—and demeans the words of the Bible I grew up reading.
Furthermore, consider that your tax dollars help fund WeBelieveWeVote. These folks, none of whom even pretend to the clergy, began claiming tax exempt status after 2021. “We are a 508(c)(1)(a) ministry, contributions made to We Believe We Vote are tax deductible.” For more on the history of this WBWV tax dodge, check out the “Notes” at the bottom of this post from JULY 21, 2023. For some coverage of races outside Spokane County WBWV links to “iVoterGuide.com.” It is interesting to note that iVoterguide IS registered as a Political Action Committee [501(c)(4)] with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission and states (accurately) that donations are NOT tax deductible.
Bottom line: Visit WeBelieveWeVote.org for a reliable NEGATIVE voting guide. You can be assured that candidates with high WBWV “alignment” rates will NOT defend a woman’s right to make her own reproductive medical care decisions, will NOT support efforts to combat global heating, and WILL work to dominate government based this group’s particular twisted idea of Christian law and doctrine.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK, FILL OUT YOUR BALLOT, TURN IT IN. DON’T DELAY. Your freedom to manage your own life according to your religious values depends on your diligence.
Keep to the high ground,
Jerry
P.S. The counter to anyone advocating, as WBWV does, for electing only for those who optimally share WBWV’s narrow idea of Christianity and, meanwhile, essentially claim the U.S. Constitution as an article of faith ought, instead of twisting Bible verses to suit their fixed beliefs, to actually read the Constitution. The third (and last) paragraph of the U.S. Constitution, Article VI[the bold is mine] reads:
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
Granted that this passage prohibits a law or regulation that would require a test of faith in a particular religious belief system, the sort of law that at the time of the founders had been responsible to religion-based warfare that had riven Europe for centuries. WBWV wishes the voter to select candidates willing to adhere to WBWV’s particular religious dogma and legislate to impose that dogma on the rest of us by law.