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No potentially deciding votes among Jehovah’s Witnesses
FLINT TWP. – Ever wish, as you listen to the candidates’ latest attacks and appeals, you could just ignore the fever-pitch final days of this knock-down presidential campaign? Or in good conscience treat Election Day like any ordinary Tuesday?
Jehovah’s Witnesses do exactly that.
At a time when it seems all of the country is wrapped up in the Bush-Kerry race for the White House, this one small sect of Americans remains above the fray, going about their lives as normally as they can.
To put it plainly: They don’t vote. Period.
“We don’t get caught up in all the politics,” said Jeff Ragan, presiding overseer of the West Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 1187 S. Dye Road. “The only thing we do is remain neutral, and that’s no secret to people who know us.”
Ragan estimated there are about 1,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Genesee County, worshipping in 12 congregations – part of 930,000 congregations worldwide. Ragan has presided over seven elders at his congregation since 1997.
It’s not that the Christian denomination is oblivious to all the political hoopla, said Ragan, 49, of Flint Township.
“We watch TV, listen to the radio and read newspapers like other people,” he said, “but to us, our king is our Lord Jesus.
“We appreciate and respect the position of government, but we realize they are just men” added Ragan, who works as a home mortgage loan officer for Flagstar Bank. “We believe in Christ, and we support his kingdom.”
That’s the Witnesses’ stance worldwide, according to Ragan. They take their cue from, among other things, Jesus’ words in the gospel of John (chapter 17, verse 14) when he said, “They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world.”
Another Jehovah’s Witness, Anthony Bryant, 44, of Flint, said Witnesses are not prohibited from participating in nonpartisan elections, including school district millage votes, but most stay away anyhow. Most don’t even register to vote, he said.
“It’s their decision to make,” said Bryant, an appliance technician, “but if it is their decision to remain neutral, there is no reason to register to vote.”
He said Jehovah Witnesses also are able to withstand all the hoopla of political campaigns.
“Witnesses respect and cooperate with authorities, so it’s not a matter of being irritated or affected by what’s going on in politics,” Bryant said.
By contrast, Chico Jabero, 48, an east-side Flint businessman, treasures his right to vote. Jabero, a Chaldean, emigrated from Iraq 30 years ago.
“Everybody should vote, because we can show our values by voting,” he said. “Everybody should hear our voice.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses, though, say if they were to help elect a leader, they would be responsible for his or her subsequent actions.
“The subject of politics just does not come up at our meetings, because of our beliefs,” Ragan said.
Witnesses also distance themselves from worldly matters by rejecting military service and not recognizing holidays or birthdays.
So, what would happen if a Witness were to weigh in Tuesday by casting a ballot?
Ragan said the congregation would make efforts to return such a person to good standing in the church – but also held out the prospect of complete shunning, or “disfellowshiping.”
“We make every effort scripturally to readjust that person before further steps are taken,” said Ragan, who added that he hasn’t heard of such a case during his 24 years as a Witness.
He said he knows of no other group that shares the stance of Jehovah’s Witnesses on politics.
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