Should churches be used as polling places for elections

But you're generally asympathetic. He's not wrong to point to the studies showing the presence of church symbols can affect people's decisions; the thing is that where he's hung up on the point that common does not necessarily mean appropriate, similar questions exist for other circumstances—such as the behavioral economics of voting at home, within eyesight and earshot of one's spouse or children—but the practical question is how else we're going to do it.

My guess is that we'll settle the question of unsullied polling stations without solving the problem, but, rather, circumventing it; we'll run mail elections before we get churches and other potentially problematic locations out of the voting process.

 

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Yeah, I didn't mean you. Clueless did.
That's 1 - but I interpreted it as a very large value of 1.

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As is Clueless. He self-identifies as atheist.
So why the revulsion to churches, unless they can harm him?

It was his comment primarily that I was addressing.

 

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They can harm him by influencing others - that is how political harm is done, and the reason the Founders so carefully separated Church and State in the first place.

 

By his physical presence in the church for the ten minutes it takes to vote?

 

No. By influencing others, as emphasized.

 

OK, this horse has been pretty much beaten, but it all stemmed from CH's post, here:

i.e., physically being in the church caused some sort of immediate revulsion.

Let's move on.

 

There's a point here: that politics is not merely or shallowly a reaction to direct injury to oneself. The political is not merely the directly personal, the personal can be a witnessing or experiencing of the political as it injures. One can feel the need for a wash - or what some political blogs call a "palate cleanser" , say, when posting a random video of good music or heartwarming news snippets - without having been touched oneself, and especially when one's presence alone carries implications of complicity in witnessed events.

 

Did you ever see 'Being There' with Peter Sellers?
A simple man, who had no interests except TV. "I like to watch.". But people around him mistook his simplicity as deep wisdom, to much hilarity. "So, what you're saying is..."

Pretty sure CH's point wasn't complex, but you sure ran with it. And that's OK too.


I have nothing further to contribute here. I've derailed this thread enough.

 

it appears to be more soo a cultural issue.
the culture that accepts churches posing as proxy political leadership partys are hardly a fair and balanced place to call middle ground.

i personally do not mind walking into a church to vote.
it is always possible to use a different voting booth if you wish.
would i walk into the Westboro Baptist Church to vote ? no https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church
any cult that poses as a church i would not cross their ground unles driving a 25 ton bulldozer.

i would quite happily drive one of these up the isle to lodge my vote in that church

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Thanks alot Dave

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... now the cats out of the bag

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Some perty slimy stuff went on in all the services i went to... but the worst was when the preecher healed a little boys short leg by givin it a quick tug - an everbody hollered Praize the LOrd.!!!
No... i thank the worst was at my father in laws funeral when the preecher made it clear that the guy was goin to hell an the same will hapen to the rest of us it we ant right wit God.!!!