Why Participate in the US Elections?
By Syed A. Qaisar
Walnut, CA
I have come across scores of people in the community who do not participate in the elections. Quite a few of them have not even got themselves enrolled as voters! They consider voting to be a waste of time. Their standard response is that no good shall come out by participation in the election process. According to them the members of the Congress and the Senate are not sympathetic to the Muslim cause.
Such believe that we should confine our activities to the mosques and to ethnic organizations. If the voice of the Muslims is not being heard today who is to be blamed?
If we decide to retire to our shells and refuse to interact with the would-be and the current legislators then it stands to reason that our voice shall not be heard. This is bound to be counter-productive. But if we fully engage in the electoral process and cast our vote, we can legitimately expect to make a difference. By a rough estimate, the number of Muslims in the United States is six to seven million and the population is on the rise. They are a force to reckon with and could be a balancing factor. Congressman Keith Ellison from Chicago has already shown the way.
We are in this country by choice and not by compulsion. The Constitution allows us freedom of worship, speech and association. We owe it to ourselves, posterity, and to our adopted country to discharge our civic responsibility in an honest and sincere fashion. No one is suggesting that in this process we should compromise our cultural and moral values.
It is time that the Muslim community throughout the United States should embrace this reality and fully participates in the political process. Isolation is no longer an option.
