I really am breaking new ground. Not so long ago I was writing about football and now politics! What next?
Tomorrow is the federal election in Australia (which will determine amongst other things whether John Howard stays Prime Minister). In Australia voting is compulsory which I think is a good thing. If it wasn’t I probably wouldn’t vote – it is such a bore! I think the best parliaments are the ones where the governing party has a very small majority. It means that they actually have to listen, even cooperate sometimes with the opposition party as opposed to what they normally do which is denounce them. However it is very hard for me to vote in such a way as to bring this about.
If it wasn’t compulsory and I didn’t vote I would feel guilty because a lot of women fought very hard so I could vote and I do appreciate their efforts. It is interesting though that feeling guilty would not be enough to make me do what I perceive as the ‘right’ thing. Guilt, punishment, reprimands do not make us do the ‘right’ thing. We only ‘go and sin no more’ (John 8) when we understand we are deeply loved and don’t want to cause grief to the One who loves us.
