Tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams aren’t voting for Barack Obama.
Venus just doesn’t get involved in politics. Serena wants to vote for Obama — she says she’s “excited to see Obama out there doing his thing” –but she won’t.
Why not?
They’re Jehovah’s Witnesses. And voting is forbidden in the faith.
“I’m a Jehovah’s Witness, so I don’t get involved in politics. We stay neutral. We don’t vote,” [Serena] said. “So I’m not going to necessarily go out and vote for him. I would if it wasn’t for my religion.”
Because we all know God hates people who have a sense of civic duty.
Amiable Atheist says this might be a good thing, adding:
… maybe if less religious people voted, we wouldn’t be having all these problems allowing gay people equal rights, giving women the right to choose, letting evolution be taught in schools, and giving scientists the freedom and funding to find cures for diseases. And we probably wouldn’t be in the middle of a war.
In all seriousness though, I find it incredible that a religious group would encourage their followers not to have a voice or opinion about important matters. I guess they really are just waiting for the afterlife.
[tags]atheist, atheism, Venus Williams[/tags]