This is Black History Month and the theme for this year is African Americans and the Vote. 2020 marks the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment and the culmination of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. It also marks the sesquicentennial of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and the right of black men to the ballot.
Seventh-day Adventists had their own discussion on the role of people of faith and voting. In 1865, the fledging church resolved that “… in our judgment, the act of voting when exercised in behalf of justice, humanity and right, is in itself blameless, and may be at some times highly proper; but that the casting of any vote that shall strengthen the cause of such crimes as intemperance, insurrection, and slavery, we regard as highly criminal in the sight of Heaven.” Adventist Review and Herald., May 23, 1865.
Ellen G. White, a year before her death, endorsed that view when she made clear that the responsibility of every citizen was to exercise every influence within their power, including his [women were not given the vote yet] vote, to work for temperance [the social issue of the day] and virtue. This is how she expressed it; “There is a cause for the moral paralysis upon society. Our laws sustain an evil which is sapping their very foundations. Many deplore the wrongs which they know exist, but consider themselves free from all responsibility in the matter. This cannot be. Every individual exerts an influence in society. In our … land, every voter has some voice in determining what laws shall control the nation.” Review and Herald, Oct. 15, 1914.
But the actual act of voting, according to Ellen White, is not the only thing to be done. Christians must use their influence to fight for justice and equality, even as they vote. That would motivate them to be involved in working to ameliorate the ills in society. They must live for God, while working in the communities, putting Christianity into action. Like Daniel, if faithful in their daily tasks, “they will yet stand in legislative assemblies, in halls of justice, or in royal courts, as a witness for the King of kings”. (Education p. 262).
There were and are Adventists who followed these ideals and voted. Lewis C. Sheafe (1859-1938), who trailblazed Seventh-day Adventism in Washington, D.C., is a glowing example. He was an important and controversial figure who fought for black equality in the first decade of the twentieth century. ( Lewis Sheafe :Apostle to Black America by Douglas Morgan). Irene Morgan Kirkaldy (1917 -2007) sat down and stood up for justice (Morgan Vs Virginia) years before Rosa Parks and her case made it to the Supreme Court. Contemporary Adventist, Dr. Raul Ruiz, opened a free clinic to help underserved communities in the Coachella Valley in CA.
Mark 12:17 declares, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” As black American Adventists, it is necessary to vote because the ancestors were considered 3/5 of a person and could not vote. As American Adventists who believe that all people are created equal in God’s sight, it is necessary to vote for equal justice and be faithful until the Lord returns.