WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE

I received the following message in a forwarded email today. It's hard to believe that 90 years ago I would not have even been granted the privilege of casting a vote and within a century later a woman could become our first vice-president. Not a woman within the liberal party, but a conservative Christian woman with values much like my own. God works in mysterious ways. If the Republican ticket wins the White House, a conservative Christian woman will be the one to make history. I can't imagine neglecting to cast my vote for history to be made in this way (as opposed to what I have sadly anticipated).

The following email message talks about our duty to vote based on the sacrifices of others. I agree with that. But there is also another, more important, reason to vote. We may not be finding ourselves thrown into a den of lions for our faith at this time and in this country (thank goodness), but as my pastor frequently reminds us, "This is our time in the arena."

I believe that whomever wins this election is the man God selects for His purposes. The best person does not always win and sometimes God even works through evil men (I'm not calling Obama evil...just making a point). However God's purposes will be accomplished and wherever we are in his timeline only God knows. And I rest in His sovereignty and control. But I don't view that as a reason to do nothing. Whether my one vote really matters in the overall scheme of an election or our country's direction, I will cast my vote because I have the God-given privilege of doing so and because I would hope that every Christian voice would be heard.

Having said that, I realize there is not a Jesus-party. There are views embraced by each party that could be defined as morally upstanding and we all know there is also corruption in both parties. I'm not trying to tell anyone how to vote. But I do think as representatives of the Kingdom of God, we should feel a conviction to be led by God in whom we vote into office. And I believe our voices should be on record. The result and repercussions of this election may bring changes to our country and to our lives in the years to come that we cannot fully anticipate or appreciate today.

Here is the email about the sacrifices of women who came before us. I especially loved the quote from a psychiatrist toward the end.

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This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago. Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because- -why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.

All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use , or don't use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'

HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum. I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse.

Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.

The doctor admonished the men:

'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'

Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.

History is being made.