Dear Dharma friends,There is a widespread belief among Buddhists that a good Buddhist practitioner should remain indifferent to politics, and so, when election time comes around, too many Buddhists decide to sit out the vote. To vote, they think, is to take sides, and a “real Buddhist” remains “neutral,” utterly detached from mundane concerns.
Such a belief involves a wrong grasp of the Dharma. While it is true that politics can be toxic, it becomes toxic when emotions about candidates and issues lead to irrational decisions and disruptive actions. It is not politics that is at fault, but the way people engage with politics. For all its pitfalls, politics is a vital sphere of human activity where critical moral contests are waged. It is the concrete expression of our communal and national lives, and Buddhist values should play a crucial role in guiding our decisions about voting.
In a democracy, voting is both an act of civic responsibility and an expression of our moral convictions. In our secular age, we might even call voting “a sacred act.” Thousands of people in countries around the world, including the U.S., have sacrificed their lives to win the right to vote. In many countries today, where voting is either non-existent or an empty charade, oppressed citizens struggle to gain this precious right and to make their vote represent their genuine will.
Let’s not forget that here in the U.S. it was through political action that slavery was abolished, that child labor was prohibited, that women and minorities secured the right to vote. It was voting that ensured environmental pollution was reduced and basic social protections and services were provided. Benefits we now take for granted, like public schools, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, were not handed to us by our politicians on a silver platter. Rather, we had to win them by protests and petitions—and by voting for candidates who would enact them. If we are negligent, we may easily lose these benefits.
It was also through elections that the U.S. has abandoned its global responsibilities, cut off assistance to desperate communities around the world, withdrawn from global climate commitments, sent ICE agents into the streets of our cities to catch, detain, and deport vulnerable people, and launched aggressive wars that have killed thousands and upset the world’s economies. Our decisions matter; our votes really make a difference to our own lives and the lives of people all around the world.
Voting is our voice, the way we silently say what we think is right. It’s an act by which, as mere individuals, we take responsibility for the whole. With our vote we speak on behalf of the entire nation, we speak for future generations, and indeed—given the momentous role that the U.S. plays on the world stage—for the future destiny of humankind. We can’t abandon this responsibility from some imagined ideal of saintly detachment. To do so would be to shirk our moral duty.
In just two weeks, on November 3, the U.S. will hold an extremely important election. The results of this election will have an impact on the lives of everyone in this country and are likely to reverberate across the planet for decades to come. The election is just too critical for anyone with a sense of humane responsibility to sit out. If we truly esteem the values of good will, loving-kindness, and compassion, we must express these ideals in the simple act of voting.
Though the actual Election Day falls on Tuesday, November 3, many states offer the chance to vote early and to vote by a mail-in ballot. Rules governing the voting process differ from state to state. To find out how, when, and where to vote, you can go here. Make sure you accept only accurate information coming from reliable sources, not the kind of disinformation floating around on malicious websites and mischievous Facebook pages.
In this year’s election all seats in the House of Representatives are open to the vote, and 35 seats in the Senate are at play. There will also be contests for state and local positions. While these may seem minor compared to congressional elections, we should give them our attention too.
For whom should one vote? While BGR does not endorse any candidates, bringing the right people into office is deeply relevant to BGR’s mission. The team at BGR looks upon compassion, justice, and solidarity with others as our fundamental values. We affirm the intrinsic dignity of every person as the inspiration behind our work. We regard these values not merely as abstract ideals but as guides to action, and the policies adopted by our elected representatives have a potent impact on our ability to transform those values into action. These policies determine whether hungry people will receive food, whether children in remote regions will get to attend school, whether sick people will have access to medical care, whether our organization will have the resources to provide assistance to the most needy.
Though formulated centuries ago, the Buddha’s teachings offer clear principles that may help us make the right decision when we enter the polling booth. A useful text in this regard is the Kalama Sutta. In this teaching, when the Kalamas ask the Buddha what spiritual path they should follow, he does not tell them to follow his own path. Rather, he tells them to put aside their biases, emotional preferences, and uncritical beliefs, and instead carefully consider whether a teaching encourages greed, violence, avarice, and lying, or instead promotes such values as non-injury, generosity, honesty, and truthfulness.
With this teaching as our polestar we can evaluate the candidates running for office and investigate their personal qualities. We shouldn’t be misled by their charm, oratory skills, wealth, and fame. Instead, we should look into their moral integrity and carefully consider their proposals. We should take into account not only whether their proposals will benefit us personally, but whether their ideas spring from a wide sympathetic outlook that addresses the major problems our country faces and the challenges facing the global community today.
Don’t expect any candidate to be perfect. Don’t expect any policy proposal to be perfect. Virtually any candidate is bound to have personal flaws. Any proposed policy or piece of legislation is bound to have shortcomings. Instead, we should compare the alternatives and then determine which candidate seems most likely to contribute to peace and shared prosperity, to uphold democratic norms of governance, and to unify and inspire the country around worthy ideals rather than incite violence and division for the sake of enhancing their personal power and wealth.
Once you make your decisions, don’t just sit quietly at home. Go out to vote, and also encourage your eligible family members, friends, and neighbors to vote. And remember: Before you can vote, you have to register to vote. To find out how to register online, simply and efficiently, you can go here.
With metta, Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
Chairperson, BGR | 
