My fate is in your hands

I am young, not useless. I am a minor, not a fool. My experiences in the ‘real’ world cannot be compared to those of my elders but I know how to make decisions. Just like you elders, I have rights. I have privileges. However, there is a great difference that sets apart your privileges from mine. Your privileges allow you to vote. I say privilege and not right for there are requirements voters must fulfill before they become such. These are requirements I cannot accomplish, thus my voice is among those which are not heard. I am reduced to standing in the side lines, in the silence, waiting for the outcome of an election wherein some of the votes can be bought with a little amount, wherein a part of the voters opt to vote for people they know personally despite the bad record of those people, wherein a part of the voters trust what they hear and not what they see. I am not among these voters, yet, all the same, I bear the consequences for this is the kind of election that will give birth to the nation’s leader – the man whose power is to bring about a change in today so drastic, it will affect tomorrow. Now, I do not wish to be ruled by a man who stains his hands with blood to get what he wants. I do not wish to be ruled by a man who believes he is above the law. Nobody wishes for these kinds of people to be put into power. Yet they still are and for that reason, I am stepping out and speaking up. We cannot be entirely certain whether that drastic change our nation’s leader makes will be for the better or for the worse. Fortunately, we are not completely out of control. There is something we can do for there is a choice to make. This choice lies in the election.

In Exodus 18:21, Moses’ father-in-law says the men who are to be appointed as officials must be God-fearing, trustworthy, and honest. These are the qualities we must look for when voting comes around. We cannot settle for less! What we deserve and what we need is someone as passionate for independence and peace as Mahatma Gandhi, someone as moral as Pope John Paul II, someone as dedicated to equality as Martin Luther King. Now, don’t get me wrong. Not finding someone as great as these people does not give you the right to say, “Vote? But there’s nobody to vote for!” Voting is a privilege, yes, but at the same time, it is also a responsibility and as such, must be taken seriously. Furthermore, Romans 13:1 says that the existing governing authorities are instituted by God. This means that we must participate and cooperate with the election and the government’s activities in the same way we do in church – with our whole heart, mind, and body. Lastly, according to Proverbs 28:12, when the crooks and the wicked gain power, we’d best hide. Who’d want to go into hiding? We don’t want to and we don’t have to. That’s why we – you – have to select your leaders carefully. Scrutinize each candidate. Don’t make room for regrets.

And the next time you vote, before you shade that little circle, before you drop that slip of paper, think of me. Remember this: You are not the only one affected by your decisions. I am the product of your choices and the future of this nation. My fate is in your hands; my future in the choices you make.

This my voice. This is the voice of the youth.