May our differences unite,
not separate us

Vote Your Ideals!

Why Principles Matter

Some visiting this site may say, "I like your message, but want to vote for another candidate with a greater chance of winning." However an election is about much more than simply picking a winner. It's more important to vote your conscience than to vote to win. Here's why.

The ultimate purpose of an election is to help build a better and more just, democratic and happy society. How you vote has more effect on this, for better or for worse, than whom you vote for. Candidates and elected officials come and go; but moral actions have enduring effects.

When you vote according to conscience and your ideals, two important things are accomplished. First, you help engrain in American society the principle of voting honestly and virtuously. This makes life better for everyone. It also builds good faith and trust among citizens. Good faith is, by far, the most important ingredient of a happy and successful society.

Conversely, insincere, tactical voting is a form of bad faith, and diminishes trust. It leads to tactical voting by opponents and others, until the entire election process degenerates completely (as it mostly has today).

Second, honest voting is a means by which the great ideals of Justice, Truth, Peace and Love, latent in the human heart, begin to manifest themselves and affect the real world. An election can be seen as a public referendum where each citizen has the sacred duty to convey to others what he or she truly believes and feels. Once we express our ideals, they are introduced into the public consciousness, achieve a new kind of life, and may then become incorporated into our institutions, government, culture and daily life.

If, for example, only 10% of voters vote for a peace candidate, that is still far more valuable to society than if nobody votes for peace. In the latter case nobody is even aware that others want peace. If 10% vote in good faith this election, next time we may see 20%, and so on until the majority vote for peace. Someone needs to take the first step.

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