I’ve been a congregation member at Friendship-West Baptist Church, 在达拉斯, 德州, 20多年来. 我在这里工作超过16年，指导我们围绕社会正义威尼斯真人的倡导和行动. We believe that the right to vote is sacred. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about our governor and legislature.
In early September, Gov. 格雷格·阿博特签署了一项反民主和非法的投票法案，试图破坏新德克萨斯的出现, where no racial group unfairly holds a monopoly on power. 该法律使得有语言障碍和残疾的选民在投票时更难获得帮助, bans drive-thru and 24-hour 投票, 并鼓励投票观察员恐吓选民和选举官员(同时限制选举工作人员阻止这种不当行为的能力). Black and brown communities will bear the brunt of this new law.
我们不能对这种对我们的教众犯下的不公袖手旁观, 其他德州选民, and potential 德州 voters. That’s why our church 正在起诉州政府 to stop some of the law’s worst provisions from taking effect.
这个案子远非我们第一次参与保护投票权和投票权. 在某种程度上，它可以被视为我们几十年来所做的事情的顶峰. 我们超过了12,000名强大的成员谦卑地通过选民参与努力服务我们在达拉斯的社区. 我们举行选民登记活动，回答会众有关选举的威尼斯真人, produce 投票 guides, hold candidate forums, help recruit election judges and clerks, and organize rides to the polls. 去年, our church was one of Dallas County’s several “super-投票 centers,” so called for their capacity to take in a large volume of voters. We also partner with local, 全州, 以及扩大德克萨斯州及其他地区投票权倡议的国家组织.
10月, I witnessed a caravan of more than 400 cars outside our church, 排队参加两个小时的“投票出去”集会和选民教育活动. The sight reminded me of the power of our ancestors. 他们努力争取获得选举权，而那些仍然坚定地保留上一代人取得的成果的人纪念他们. The excitement and urgency at the event were palpable. People were there responding to incidents of police violence, anti-Black sentiments in the news and on social media, 到已经从白宫传出的澳门威尼斯真人地址选民欺诈的荒谬言论, and because they understood that change starts at the polls. 而现在，由于这项可怕的新法律，我们必须上法庭捍卫投票权.
The congregants at Friendship-West know how much blood was spilled, 牺牲了, 以及为实现这一基本民主权利而牺牲的生命，以及为什么仇恨和反动势力在150多年来一直试图限制这一权利. 我们祈祷爱能战胜恨，祈祷我们能在一个民主的国家里达成一致，让投票变得尽可能容易. We all deserve a voice in how we’re governed. Still, many of those who govern us think otherwise. 为不受阻碍的投票和生活在没有恐吓和不公正法律的民主中而斗争是上帝赋予我们的权利.
在这场战斗中，我的偶像芬妮·卢·哈默(Fannie Lou Hamer)给了我特别的启发. She served Christ by serving her people. She knew that God was on the side of the oppressed, 为那些只希望被尊重和被当作人对待的人提供安慰. She clearly understood the intersection of faith and public life. 我们欠她太多了. As a faith institution, 我们有责任就影响我们社区的威尼斯真人和政策发言和倡导，并在公共生活中发挥领导作用. Doing anything else would amount to theological malpractice.
许多参与起草这项法律的立法者声称，他们的信仰是他们通过法律和政策的基础. The new legislation signed by Abbott is unchristian, 它还以罚款或监禁的威胁来阻止人们成为选举工作人员或选民协助志愿者. Look at the law’s rules for being a voter assistor, for instance. 如果助助者因帮助选民而得到补偿，法律将其定为犯罪, 而“补偿”可能意味着得到选民提供的小零食. When assisting mail-in voters, 违反这些规则的行为将受到最高两年监禁或最高10美元的惩罚,000的罚款. 这些法律只不过是21世纪版的人头税:阻碍投票和减少政治进程参与度的策略.
When Abbott signed this bill, he exclaimed that “election integrity is now law in the state of 德州.“选举诚信”一词的隐晦和种族主义历史可以追溯到几十年前. 这种语言向我们和其他人表明，争取权力和政治代表权的斗争远未结束, and the battle for the soul of this nation is still alive. 法律的核心, 而是要维持从德州立法机构到市政当局的白人权力结构. We cannot afford to go back. 这项新法律显然是对黑人和棕种人人口较多的城市的攻击, 试图压制城市地区的高投票率，因为这些地区倾向于某一种投票方式.
Our state should be encouraging democratic participation. 而不是, 德州让弱势群体更难投票，让那些想要压制我们教众投票的人更容易. Abbott was fixated on solving a problem that did not exist. Our faith compels us to act against injustice, 这就是为什么西友谊浸信会现在在法庭上反对这项不公正的法律.
把哈默1964年在民主党全国委员会证书委员会上的证词混音一下:如果这项法律得到支持, 我问美国. 这难道不是自由的土地，勇者的家园吗我们必须在这里行军, 抗议, 集会, and testify before committees amid a global pandemic, all because we want to save our democracy?
