In anticipation of Texas Impact’s Houston Faith Votes Kick-off Events on 8/20, 8/26, and 8/27 (register here), I am speaking with several faith leaders across Houston. Through these dialogues, faith leaders explore why voting is vital for their community, and why it’s a matter of faith.
Each week I’ll share how different leaders understand the connection between their faith and participation in democracy and why they feel called to mobilize their communities to engage in civic processes.
This week, I spoke with Kim Mabry, a United Methodist and the program manager for Interfaith Relations at Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston. Kim shared her thoughts on the importance of voting and how her faith has shaped her view of civic engagement.
Kyle Riley: How do you express your beliefs through voting?
Kim Mabry: There are so many elements of my faith that voting is a manifestation of from my understanding of powers and principalities to looking out for the oppressed, to really just an active form of prayer. And I summarize it all by thinking of it as a kingdom mission.
When I’m in that voting booth, that is a time…where the rubber hits the road for my faith. Am I going to vote in a manner that serves my self-interest, or will I have that lens of the kingdom on that my faith teaches me and think about those who don’t have as much power and privilege as I do?
I vote–or try to make sure that I vote–according to…which vote or which person or which thing will create and be a catalyst for the greatest good for those less fortunate than me. So I think this is where the rubber hits the road for your faith because no one will know what you do in there; which direction will you go?
Riley: What from your faith tradition do you point to when talking about the importance of participating in democracy, and specifically about voting?
Mabry: For me it is…this idea–or the difference between–justice and mercy. Our faith calls us to do both mercy and justice. However, when you really dissect those two words, mercy is done individually, one-on-one. Justice is bigger than that. It is what you can participate in or be a part of that you can’t accomplish as just one person.
I always look back to, everybody’s heard this story – you give a man a fish, and you’ve helped him, but you teach a man to fish, and you’ve helped him for life. Both of those acts are mercy. Justice says, but what if the man doesn’t have a fishing pole? How does he afford the fishing pole, where is he gonna fish, what if the water is contaminated…does he have the supplies to cook with? It asks all the other questions.
So when I’m trying to explain how that’s connected, what is my talking point? It’s that distinction between mercy and justice. To me, voting is an act of justice. When done freely, fairly, and to its full extent, it is a collective expression of equity and equality if we all participate in it.
That’s what I love about what Houston Faith Votes is doing because it’s not emphasizing voting one way or the other. It’s just saying vote. Because again, if it is done freely, fairly, and to its full extent, voting is an expression of equality. We all have one vote. And we all get the same chance and the same representation. And so that is how I express it. It goes back to the difference between justice and mercy. And voting is how we facilitate justice.
Riley: What from your faith tradition motivates you to participate in democracy, and, more specifically, to vote?
Mabry: From my specific tradition… The United Methodist, our founder, John Wesley–social justice was such a huge part of his ministry. From his prison ministry to his health ministry, such a large part was giving free access to so many people. On Fridays, he would turn his church, Aldersgate, into a pharmacy and medical clinic.
So reaching out to the poor and the oppressed is part of our tradition. Again, it goes back to justice for me, and our tradition as United Methodists is to realize the actions of John Wesley and Jesus Christ, the great Physician.
Riley: What do you wish people understood about the connection between civic engagement and your religious tradition?
Mabry: I love a quote from Pope Francis…“First you pray for the hungry, and then you feed them. That’s how prayer works.” So, I want people to understand that civic engagement is getting the prayers out of your head and putting them into action in a way that looks at things bigger than any one of us can do.
I have so many friends who say, “Oh, I can’t watch the news. I can’t watch the news, it’s too much. What can I do about it?” If you don’t watch the news, what do you pray for? And if you don’t watch the news, how do you know which way to vote? So to me, voting is putting your prayers into action for justice.
Kyle Riley is Texas Impact’s Houston Civic Engagement and United Church of Christ Fellow. He is a Master of Divinity student at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado.
Texas Impact’s Houston Faith Votes (HFV) campaign is bringing together mainstream Houston faith groups to build faith-based civic participation throughout our region. HFV mobilizes diverse faith communities across the Greater Houston area to engage their members and neighbors in elections in 2023 and 2024. This is a non-partisan effort, and any policy discussions will focus on voting rights and our current voting regulations and processes.
The HFV initiative provides resources that are developed by people of faith, for people of faith, with the support of more than two dozen partner institutions. These resources will help faith communities explore the faith-based call to civic engagement and provide tools for faith-based voter engagement activities that help faith communities scale their impact and get out the vote.
To learn more about our Houston Faith Votes campaign, visit our website, houstonfaithvotes.org.