Tag Archives: Politics

How to Write a Letter to an Elected Official

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Last week I talked about how I’m going to get more involved in politics. My first step was to write congratulatory letters to the 4 top officials that were elected from here: president, governor, senator, and representative. Several of you asked to see these letters, so here they are! I’d love it if you would join me in writing letters or emails to these men and women (or those that are represent you). In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t vote for any of these 4 individuals. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever voted a more losing ballot.

I addressed each letter to the office that they are currently in. The address for mailing a letter to a US senator is:

Office of Senator (Name)
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

So that’s where I sent Barack Obama’s letter. Here is what I wrote:

Click the picture to see it bigger. Sorry these are a bit blurry, but I don’t have a scanner. As you can see, I hand wrote the letter. I didn’t use their appropriate titles in the letter (though I did on the envelope) since I felt weird since none of these people have officially taken their new offices yet. If I were to do this again, I would use their titles out of respect.

I also included my last name and address, though I took the picture before I wrote them in. I wouldn’t want my mailbox would be stuffed with fan mail from you all!

The next letter I wrote was to our newly elected US senator. Her current address is:

Senator Kay Hagan
NC Senate
300 N. Salisbury St, Room 411
Raleigh, NC 27603-5925

Here’s what I wrote:


Next up was our newly elected governor, Bev Perdue. She’s North Carolina’s first female governor, but strangely, she’s my 3rd (I lived in Kansas under governors Joan Finney and Kathleen Sebelius). Anyway, this is her address:

Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue
20401 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0401

I just realized I spelled her last name wrong. Whoops. Don’t do that if you decide to write her. Anyway, this is what I wrote:


Finally, I wrote a letter to my representative, Brad Miller. He’s the only candidate here that was actually reelected, so I was able to send the letter directly to his congressional office. His address was the hardest to find; I guess they think that you just need to email your representative. It took me several tries, but finally Google helped me out:

The Honorable Brad Miller
United States House of Representatives
1722 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3313

Here’s what I wrote him:

I hope you find these letters helpful as you seek to be an encouragement for your elected officials. Feel free to use any/all of my letters you find useful. Let me know if you decide to this!

This post is a part of Works-for-Me Wednesday. For more great ideas, stop by Rocks in My Dryer.

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I’m thankful for all those that work for the public good. It’s such a blessing to have reliable emergency services!

My New Role in Politics

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What do I write today? Of course I’ll write about the elections, we’re all thinking about it anyway. But what do I say? I thought I might just write what I wrote in my journal last night, but I don’t feel like today is a day for being divisive. I believe that God has His sovereign hand over the elections, so I fill work with these elected officials, even if they weren’t the ones for whom I voted (and let’s face it, I don’t think I’ve ever voted for such a losing ballot).

I’m more determined than ever to be involved in politics. Sure it’s a mess, but there are things I can do. I can commit to pray for elected officials more than I have. Let’s face it, praying for the president every couple of weeks isn’t praying on “behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

I also can write to my elected officials, encouraging them to do the right thing on important issues. I actually got this idea from a book I was reading yesterday for school, but I’m going to write congratulations letters to each of the major elected officials yesterday (president, senator, governor, and representative). These won’t be you’re-my-elected-official-now-do-what-I-say type of letters, but a genuine congratulations and a commitment to pray for them. Why should I only write to them when I think they’ve messed up?

So no, this isn’t the outcome that I would like, but it’s what our sovereign, holy, and just Lord has ordained. And in Him I hope.

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Oh, sorry about forgetting this. Though it is implied in this post, I’m thankful that I have an all-knowing, all-powerful God. When things seem to be falling apart, I know that the Rock is always standing firm.

I Have a Sticker on My Shirt

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Well, I voted. I went first thing this morning and had to wait about 40 minutes in this battleground state. This was the 2nd presidential election I’ve voted in; I was 6 weeks shy of 18 in 2000 (hey, I guess that means that my birthday is coming up, yay!).

This was the first election that I carried a cheat sheet in with me so I knew who I wanted to vote for (and who I didn’t want to vote for). I don’t know why that’s never occurred to me before. I completed my ballot as quickly as I could fill in those little bubbles.

There were no surprises this time, either. This was my second time with paper ballots so I was more comfortable with them (in Kansas it was always machines). I was at a different polling place this time which was much bigger, so they had tables you could fill out your ballot on, not just the booths. This means that the pens weren’t tied down which was a huge help to this lefty.

I really didn’t want to vote straight Republican. But when I got all done, every partisan office I had chosen a Republican for on the issues, not the party. There was only one where I was on the fence about, but I realized it would be as stupid to vote for the Democrat just because I could say I didn’t vote all Republican as it would to be to vote for the Republican just because he was a Republican. So I voted for the one that I was slightly more in favor of, who happened to be the Republican. There was one other partisan office where I didn’t vote for anybody as both candidates were running on a pro-big government platform, and I didn’t vote for many of the judges. If they don’t reveal their judicial philosophy, I’m not voting for them!

If you voted today, what was the experience like?

And yes, I ate my donuts this morning.

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I’m thankful to live in a country where I can vote. Representative government sure has it’s faults, but I think I prefer it.

Election Craziness Syndrome

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You may be suffering from election craziness syndrome if:

  • The various campaigns are resorting to buying advertising during football. This weekend was the first time that I really felt like the political commercials put a damper on my football-watching relaxation. I have found it interesting that there is a much higher percentage of political advertisements during shows such as Jeopardy than in sports programming. Hmm.
  • You receive 10 messages on your work phone, and 6 of them are messages from various political campaigns. Hey, it’s great to be remembered, right? (Since I don’t have a home phone I no longer receive these types of incessant phone calls that I received during the primaries.)
  • You finally get tired of ignoring the election coverage and start paying attention again.
  • You have almost completely determined your ballot. You can no longer wait until the last minute, because it IS the last minute.
  • You start craving donuts. (I’m SO going out for donuts after I vote tomorrow morning, just like we always did growing up.)

No known cure. Symptoms are anticipated to be relieved come November 5th.

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I’m thankful to live in a country where I can voice my opinions on public policy.

Counterpoint: A Christian Cannot Vote Pro-Choice

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This is the second post of the series. The first post can be found here:

Point: A practicing Christian can, and sometimes should, vote for a pro-choice candidate.

Tomorrow I’ll wrap up this series with a conclusion, giving you my take on the issue. Thanks for your grace; this may very well be the hardest posts I’ve ever written.

Counterpoint: A practicing Christian cannot vote for a pro-choice candidate.

It has been assumed by many that if one is pro-life he must vote for one party over the other. However, choosing to be pro-life is not the same as choosing to be a Republican. A Christian may choose to not vote for a pro-life candidate because of other issues, but the point at hand is that they cannot rightfully choose to vote for a pro-choice candidate (regardless of the candidate’s political party).

Assumed in our discussion here is that abortion is wrong according to the standards laid out in the Bible. Briefly, abortion is murder because it is killing and unjustly taking another life. The baby growing inside of the woman is not an extension of the woman, but another growing, human, living being created in the image of God with its own DNA and more importantly, soul. Just like other types of murder, abortion can and should be legislated by the state.

Most certainly we are all held accountable for our decisions by a holy, sovereign God, but that does not mean that there should not be some judgment and punishment here on earth. As a society we have rules, some of them are of a moral nature (ex: one cannot lie in the courtroom or about someone in the press, nor can one steal or defraud – the 9th and 8th commandments, respectively). Laws against murder are moral in nature, yet no one is crying out that it should not be punished. Human beings inherently know that life is sacred and it cannot and should not be taken from one individual by another. Proposed or existing laws cannot be deemed unworthy simply because they have a moral component.

The argument that one can be personally against abortion but yet pro-choice (or voting pro-choice) is a weak one. Either abortion is wrong, or it is not.* Right and wrong are moral absolutes (though this is debated in postmodern culture, remember here that we are talking about a Christian who has already agreed to the moral standards set forth by his God in the Bible). If one would not choose to have an abortion because they believe it to be wrong, they should not willingly allow (and complicitly approve) another to do the same.

Another factor to consider is that the victim of an abortion, the baby, has no voice of his own. Abortion is a type of oppression as the the more powerful gets her way simply because she is stronger and more able to assert her will over the dependent child within her that looks to her for all his nutrition and protection. Not sticking up for the voiceless victim is either an issue of ignorance, inability, laziness, or selfishness.

A Christian’s responsibility in voting does not end by simply determining which (if either) candidate is pro-life. This is not the only issue that matters. Many other issues should be considered when determining whether to vote for a candidate or not. However, the candidate’s pro-choice stance on abortion should be a dealbreaker for a Christian because supporting/allowing abortion is agreeing to the taking of innocent human lives created by and in the likeness of God.

*There can be a reasonable exception in cases such as ectopic pregnancy which, if allowed to continue, would kill both mother and child.

The concluding post in this series can be found here.

Point: A Christian Can Vote Pro-Choice

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This is it, the controversial subject that I’ve mentioned for weeks. Sorry for all the suspense. It’s not an easy thing to talk about so I didn’t want to treat it superficially. I’d love to hear comments, but I ask that you be civil and respectful, as you always are.

Other point/counterpoint discussions can be found here, and my original post about these series can be found here. Tune in tomorrow for the counterpoint view.

Point: A practicing Christian can, and sometimes should, vote for a pro-choice candidate.

There are several reasons why Christians should not be so quick to condemn pro-choice candidates for local, state, and national offices. The issue of stopping abortion has been so associated with Christianity in recent times that it can be hard to seperate the faith from the issue, but it is necessary to do so.

First of all, Christians limit their potential impact on an election if they simply choose a pro-life candidate for that reason exclusively, regardless of the other issues. This is further compounded when they exclusively vote along party lines. Neither political party corresponds directly to Christian values as laid out in the Bible.

A major point to consider is that while Christians should not be pro-abortion, they must realize that God judges morality, not the state. We shouldn’t expect or want a government body that regulates morality. This means that the Christian should not be willing to have an abortion herself but should allow others to stand before God for their choices rather than judge them here on earth. It is a matter of personal choice, but that does not mean that choosing to have an abortion and choosing not to have an abortion carry the same moral value before God.

This means that rather than focusing so much time on issues like abortion and gay marriage, Christians should fight for other issues that are also thoroughly biblical like justice and helping the poor. In these things they can be like the one they claim to follow, Jesus Christ. If Christians spend too much time fighting against abortions and changes to the understanding of marriage, they will neglect the serious issues that Jesus attended to.

For these reasons, a Christian should judge a candidate not exclusively on the issue of abortion, but take the candidate as a whole. There can and will be times where the pro-choice candidate will be the proper and more Christian choice.

The counterpoint and second post on this subject can be found here.

An Appeal for Sensible Voting

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Y’all know that I like politics, and there is some crazy stuff going on in that world right now. I’m also learning more about the economy and personal finance, and there is certainly a lot going on in that world, too. But have you noticed the lack of political posts around here lately? I don’t think I’ve written about politics since I wrote about voting back in JULY. That’s a long time ago! Before I forget it, this serves as your friendly reminder to register to vote if you haven’t already done so. The deadlines to register in many states are coming up next week, so get cracking!

I guess the reason why I’ve been so silent about the political and economic turmoil is the lack of personal impact. That’s not a good reason to be apathetic or uninvolved, and I’m really not, but it is a good reason to keep my opinions to myself. The stock market uncertainty? Has no impact on me directly. I don’t even HAVE a retirement account nor any investments. I’m only 25, and still a student. Besides, I just got my letter from Social Security in the mail. I just know that they’ll have money for me when I’m ready to retire in 45 years.

I’ll admit that if I saw my own retirement and investments start to go down the drain, I would have a lot more to say about what should be done about this mess. But really, I’m sick of us Americans voting and choosing our political opinions based on what is best for ourselves, and I’m including myself in on this one. That’s why what a candidate says about taxes or health care benefits is so important; we’re tempted to vote for the candidate that promises to be the best deal for us. “This dude’ll lower my taxes? I’m voting for him!” or “This gal will offer me free health care? Where do I sign?!” is just not going to cut it. This country is not just about me, and it’s not just about you.

I encourage you to seriously consider the candidates you have before you for national, state, and local races. I encourage you to choose between them not based on what they could do for you, but based on which one better matches your values and political ideals. I’m not here to tell you who to vote for (I haven’t even figured out who I’m voting for myself), but I am here to ask that you vote with wisdom and integrity. If you are a Christian, this would mean praying for wisdom and seeing what the Bible has to say about these issues.

I Am, I Want, I Have, I Wish I Could

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Following a trend (AKA a meme), but I felt like it would be interesting. If not, sorry.

I AM … a daughter of the King.

I WANT… to get married and have children.

I HAVE … probably 4 times as many books now as when I came to seminary.

I WISH I COULD … go back and tell my teenaged self to get it together. There’s more important things in life than boys and academics.

I HATE … sin in my life. Or I wish I did more.

I FEAR … being single the rest of my life, but this is less and less of a big deal to me.

I HEAR … thunder. (Actually, I wrote “lightning” at first and realized that wasn’t quite right.)

I SEARCH … for the truth.

I DON’T THINK … John McCain has a real chance come November.

I REALLY … love my life, in spite of all the “I want” statements. I’m greatly blessed, and am learning to be content not in circumstances, but in Christ (Philippians 4).

I REGRET … several things I’ve said to people throughout the years.

I LOVE … my family more the more time we are apart.

I ACHE FOR … “the one.” Okay I don’t know if I believe in such nonsense, but I do desire a godly man to walk into my life in God’s timing.

I ALWAYS CRY … (wait, how am I supposed to finish this? it looks complete the way it is!) when someone else is crying.

I AM NOT … a procrastinator.

I DANCE … when no one’s looking.

I SING … to the radio at the top of my lungs when I’m driving home from work.

I NEVER … expect of others as much as I expect of myself.

I RARELY … go to bed early (I’d much rather sleep late!).

I CRY WHEN I WATCH … Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, AKA the crying movie. I haven’t even dared to see the second in the theater.

I AM NOT ALWAYS … obsessed with boys! Really!

I HATE THAT … I’ve mentioned my desire to marry so many times in this. It makes me feel vulnerable (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly isn’t a comfortable thing). I don’t want to be THAT girl who can’t live without a man.

I’M CONFUSED ABOUT … how to balance my desires and plans for the future.

I NEED … a hug now! Too many emotions!

I SHOULD … thank God more for His abudant blessings.

An All-American Activity

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On the 4th, I joked about a few of the things I enjoy about our country, but today I’m going to write about something serious that I enjoy about the United States. This is prompted by an excellent message from my pastor on Sunday. I love going to a church where the pastor is not afraid to challenge us to apply Biblical truth to ever area of our life.

In America, I have the right to vote for whomever I want. Okay, that’s not a real shocker. Though democracy is still rather new in the history of the world, you and I grew up with it, so we’re rather ho-hum about it. I happen to like democracy. I’m not saying it is the way to run a country, but I think it has a lot of benefits.

The thing is, not only do I have the right to vote for who I want, I have the right to vote for whomever I want for whatever reason I want. If I choose to vote for Bob Candidate because I think his sneakers are da bomb, I can. If I choose to vote for Cathy Contender because she promises to buy all the little kiddies bubble gum, no one can stop me. Maybe I think Norman Nominee would be perfect because his speeches always make me smile.

Of course, I don’t vote for anyone for such frivolous reasons. I choose to vote for someone because of their values. I don’t necessarily mean religious values, though I definitely take that into consideration. Rather, I look at what they value and what type of principals they stand on. If their values aren’t evident at first, what consistences can be found in their campaigning? In their voting record? If no patterns emerge, maybe that should say something as well.

So, if I choose to vote for a candidate or not to vote for a candidate because I don’t believe they value human life, that’s my choice. If I choose to vote based on a candidate’s ethical outlook, then I can. On the other hand, if you choose to vote for a candidate because he looks spiffy while what he says tickles your ears, I can’t stop you. Don’t you just love America?

So, why do you vote? If you don’t vote, what would motivate you to do so?

I Voted

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I don’t have a lot of time as today is so crazy busy. I like crazy busy, but my body just wants to sleep. The crazy thing is, I’ve gotten a good night’s sleep every night for at least a week, yet my body is so worn out from all the thinking (paper writing requires a lot of brain power) and going, going, going. I’ll write my last paper tomorrow, so I hope things will slow down after that…until I have finals and move.

So, first thing this morning I went and voted. Since I’m basically in class all day, I wanted to make sure I made time for this. The polling place was busy, but there was no line, just a lot of people coming and going. I imagine there will be a line later today, but they have about 8 different booths which will cut down on too much waiting.

It was definitely different than my experience voting in Kansas. I’ve always voted (even as a kid doing the Kid Voting thing) on an electronic system, so I was a little taken aback by the paper ballot I was handed. They had pens in each of the booths tied to strings, but I didn’t appreciate having to scower to find a voting booth with the longest string just so this leftie could use it too. I probably should have said something, but I suppose I could have used my own pen if I wanted.

It felt good voting for Mike Huckabee, even though he’s no longer in the running. I’m just glad to have the opportunity to do it. I’m so unfamiliar with state politics, that I had to memorize the names of the other individuals who I was voting for, since I hardly know them. I hope I made the right choices!

Well, I better run since the notes I was printing are done. Tell me, what is your funniest voting experience?