Wednesday, October 05, 2005
typical
Even though I'm an atheist, I was raised Jewish in an overwhelmingly Christian (but mostly moderate) community, so this kind of crap really pisses me off:
The election in question was today's primaries for the California 48th Congressional District, the seat vacated when Rep. Chris Cox was nominated to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Voter turnout was only 20% in the district today, which is low even by special election and primary standards. Did it even occur to Orange County elections officials to change the date of the primary so it didn't fall on one of the holiest days of the year for Jews, when many of us (yes, I still identify as a Jew, even though I don't practice) take off work and spend the day in synogogue? Even if it would have only helped increase the turnout a little, it's still a step in the right direction.
I'm sorry, but scrambling to organize early voting in a pathetic nine locations is not even close to a reasonable accommodation, especially in sprawling districts. Not only that, but it's deeply disrespectful.
For a bunch that whines louder by the day that they are persecuted even though they control just about every political body, these conservative Christians - who control this district too, by the way - sure have a funny blind spot for actual religious persecution.
I remember years of my mom sitting on the local school board back in Jersey and enduring irate phone calls and name calling and dirty looks simply for insisting that the high school football team not play games on Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur. Those neighbors were mean and ignorant and obnoxious, but they taught me the value of standing up for my beliefs, even when they may be unpopular. And that was just football. This is democracy (in theory).
This is so typical of the self-centered, self-absorbed Christian majority, especially in conservative Orange County. It would not have been difficult to change the date of the election, either by a day or a week. It was a special election anyway, so the date was more or less arbitrary.
Honestly, didn't anyone bother to look at a calendar before selecting the date?
Because the race fell on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, Orange County election officials hurriedly organized five days of early balloting at nine locations, including four synagogues.
The election in question was today's primaries for the California 48th Congressional District, the seat vacated when Rep. Chris Cox was nominated to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Voter turnout was only 20% in the district today, which is low even by special election and primary standards. Did it even occur to Orange County elections officials to change the date of the primary so it didn't fall on one of the holiest days of the year for Jews, when many of us (yes, I still identify as a Jew, even though I don't practice) take off work and spend the day in synogogue? Even if it would have only helped increase the turnout a little, it's still a step in the right direction.
I'm sorry, but scrambling to organize early voting in a pathetic nine locations is not even close to a reasonable accommodation, especially in sprawling districts. Not only that, but it's deeply disrespectful.
For a bunch that whines louder by the day that they are persecuted even though they control just about every political body, these conservative Christians - who control this district too, by the way - sure have a funny blind spot for actual religious persecution.
I remember years of my mom sitting on the local school board back in Jersey and enduring irate phone calls and name calling and dirty looks simply for insisting that the high school football team not play games on Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur. Those neighbors were mean and ignorant and obnoxious, but they taught me the value of standing up for my beliefs, even when they may be unpopular. And that was just football. This is democracy (in theory).
This is so typical of the self-centered, self-absorbed Christian majority, especially in conservative Orange County. It would not have been difficult to change the date of the election, either by a day or a week. It was a special election anyway, so the date was more or less arbitrary.
Honestly, didn't anyone bother to look at a calendar before selecting the date?
