THE GAMBLE OF THE MAJORITY VOTE

Politics has conditioned us to believe that democracy is an issue of numbers. We are so inclined to believe that WHAT IS RIGHT is determined by HOW MANY, not by WHO. I have to confess that when I was at the University, I benefited from this confusion and the MAJORITY VOTED me in to be their Guild President.

The opportunity was that this time round, the Majority Gamble was right on me since I was the right candidate, comparatively speaking. I wasn’t right because of what I did or did not do. I was right because 97% of the entire population of the university participated and I emerged the winner by 15 votes.  But chances like this are one out of a hundred.

Majority vote is a very dangerous vote to our countries. It is very dangerous to subject a DECISION to numbers (QUANTITATIVE) instead of deciding based on WHO (QUALITATIVE). Unfortunately, we have set a procedure to get to the truth through counting heads instead of critically assessing each head. So we make a conclusion based on how many as opposed to WHO.

In the past elections of the United States, I was a Hillary boy and we won the MAJORITY VOTE. One of the things I loved about the American system is that after the majority decided it was Hilary, the qualitative sober minority decided it was Trump and that was it. To me, this is true democracy, the rest are details. We need such electoral colleges in Africa where a sober few analyze the raw mindset of the majority vote and help direct the course of the country.

It is because of the rampant gullibility in our societies that sometimes we assume that there is something like a natural consent free of influence. The so-called majority consent is one which is CULTURALLY GUIDED, ECONOMICALLY INFLUENCED and MILITARILY COERCED. So, sometimes what we call MAJORITY VOTE is POWER PLAY after all politics is a business of influence and advantage. Politicians will tell you that there are types of Majority votes but the underlying principle that they are all about numbers. A majority vote is mere gambling, fraudulent and risky venture.

God is not interested in numbers (quantity) as he is interested in who (quality). TRUTH IS NOT QUANTIFIED BUT QUALIFIED. God is not interested in numbers because he can always provide them. What God is interested in is people who soberly have chosen to think, choose and do right.

I live in Uganda where politics dictates that we shall follow the law not what ought to be done. Let me give you an example, there is a paranoia surrounding the probable amendment of article 102 of the constitution that affects the age limit of a presidential candidate. It directly affects the incumbent president’s chances in the next election.

The opposition have intentionally ignored what the law says and have resorted to blackmailing the incumbent and misrepresenting him to the populace. For something that is supposed to be solved by the parliament, the opposition has decided to bring it to the market place to incite the gullible society against the incumbent.

The opposition members of parliament have no other alternative, they are running away from what made them and that is: THE GAMBLE OF THE MAJORITY VOTE. They know that the constitution says that this article can only be amended exclusively by the parliament. It can only come to the populace if there is controversy in the house over the issue. Unfortunately, the age amendment bill has less personal interests to raise such controversy in the house as the Land Amendment bill has. So these brothers have no option but to cause alarm to another majority.

The problem with this, however, is that the incumbent will invoke all its demons in the Finance force and the Military Force to neutralize the mob. This is the predicament of the majority ladies and gentlemen. Look at it again from this angle. Let’s say 13 people are stuck in a faulty elevator, and only 2 have expertise on the situation. So the two experts advise on the situation, but the 11 frightened laymen contend that the 2 want to kill them all, and after too much contention, the victims decide to vote numerically. Do you think the status quo will ever change? This is how Galileo died, the Pope and his illiterate majority Catholics had numbers against the scientist.

Kenya has over 44 Million people, and today, politics tells us that because 8 Million people voted for their favorite, MAJORITY Kenyans have decided who is to be the president of all. Really? Let me ask, of the 36 Million and the 8 Million people who voted in the next president? Who is the Majority? Having been in this ruckus of politics, I have discovered that sometimes what we know as the MAJORITY metamorphoses into what we know as POWER. I will show you how.

Since Uhuru has been declared as the winner of the systematic (prepared, controlled and guided) elections, if the 36 Million people oppose this decision, the government (power structures) will bring out all the soldiers and machine guns, and soon, bullets and tear gas will outnumber the majority. Kenya is a country of almost 50 tribes, and we all know Kenyan politics to be strongly ETHNIC. Political parties do not matter in Kenya as much as tribes do.

What surprises me is that, according to my poor history of the country, ever since the nation politically set off, it has always been only ruled by two tribes the KIKUYU and the KALENJIN. If we are about the majority, why only two tribes every time we vote? Why have only two tribes been well-off and other majority tribes surviving? I will tell you why; the majority 8 million always decides and the majority guns sides with the so-called majority.

In Uganda’s last election, only 9.7 million cast their vote to decide who was to become president and Uganda is over 30 million people. That is to say 20 million people, did not participate in this business. This trend is 90% consistent in most countries. My question then is, HAS THE MAJORITY EVER DECIDED IN POLITICS? Isn’t this a political fraud, a deception, and a gamble?

One of the differences between God and Satan is that while the Devil (Satan) is about numbers, God is about individuals. There is nowhere in the Bible that God teaches us this truth about him like in Luke 15. As a theologian, I have to mention that the context of Luke 15 is about sin and not about the majority vote, but we cannot fail to be inspired to see how the three characters (the Shepherd, the Widow and the father) in each story value the minority over the majority.

In the first parable, the shepherd leaves the 99 majority and goes searching for one.  In the second parable, the widow, throws everything out and sweeps the entire house searching for a coin, one wonders what the worth of this coin was. In the last parable, the father ignores the obedient hardworking son and all the resources and leaves all this behind as he runs to meet the returning pig-like prodigal son.

This is who God is. He is not a God of the majority, or one of the minority, but he is a God of the individual. He does not run corporate relationships. He is not an organization or institutional God, he is a God of you as an individual. He loves you, it doesn’t matter whether you are like Joseph and all the eleven family members have voted against you, the vote of God is with you and he has chosen you.

God is about individuals, not institutions. In a worship service, God is not about the whole congregation. Forget about all the liturgy that you do in unison, God is right there for you as an individual. Many people are like Mary of Magdalene, they are misunderstood and judged as sinners by the whole city.

Jesus, however, on the other hand wants to attend the party with you my dear sister as his date. Jesus in John 7 entered the pharisaic party, the party of the majority pure, with the sinful Mary and she got to anoint his feet in the presence of her majority enemies. At that party, only Jesus and Mary were right but the odds were against them.

My dear sister, my brother, forget the majority. Focus on what is right. Do your thing, don’t make conclusions based on HOW MANY, decide what to do and what not to do based on WHAT IS RIGHT and WHO. In John 8, the Pharisees decided to kill Mary for what she did with Jesus at their party in Simon’s house in chapter 7 and they accused her of adultery. It was her word, against the word and the intention of the mob, and when she was brought to Jesus, Jesus did not consider HOW MANY voted for her death, but WHO THEY WERE.

Friends, I don’t care how many demons and legions of spirits are opposed to your salvation, God knows they are devilish anyway. Truth is not quantified, it is qualified. Something is not true because of the numbers standing behind it. In Numbers 13 the spies that were sent were 12 but only 2 of them were right, guess what, the entire mob, in paranoia, almost stoned them.

In Judges 7, Gideon was faced with a tough numerous army and when he thought of numbers, the Lord told him, he didn’t need numbers but 300 qualified men. Even before these God had proved that he works with individuals but not with masses. In Genesis 6 population, he only had Noah and only 8 people survived the floods.

In Sodom and Gomorrah only Lot and the daughters survived the fires. Numbers do not matter, what matters is how right you are and how wrong they are. A mob was incited to shout ‘CRUCIFY’, ‘CRUCIFY’ ‘CRUCIFY JESUS AND GIVE US BARABBAS’. In other words Jesus the savior, by numbers, lost to Barabbas the murderer. Today, we have nothing in the name of this murderer but JESUS is everywhere.

Don’t do things because the majority is doing the same, do not fear to be different. You can be in a group but lonely and there are moments when you are alone but not lonely. Do not gamble your conscience with the mob. The thing we know is as mob Justice is always wrong justice. Don’t be represented by the majority. You have a special DNA. You look like no one else. You are special. Jesus loves the world but the cross was specifically for your salvation. Your wedding does not have to fit the standards in magazines about popular weddings. You do not have to be part of the fashion and style trends unless you have individually chosen to.

Just because everyone is doing it, does not mean it is right but rather it means that many people are doing it. It is okay to be the guy riding a bicycle in a group of friends driving. Do not gamble your reality by jumping unto the Majority Vote. Stop appreciating who you are based on sameness. We live in a world where you buy a piece of land and the community dictates the kind of house they want you to build in that area. If you ask why? They tell you that it is the standard that has been set by the majority residents.

In essence don’t do what you want but do what the majority here wants. Abide by the standards you have never set. You man and lady, you are not marrying for your community or your clan or your parents, you are marrying for yourself. Don’t let the community run your marriage, advice is welcome but be in charge of the decisions.

I wish I could continue but the Bible says in Luke 12:32 that: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”. Jesus commands you by these words: FEAR NOT LITTLE FLOCK. This imperative preposition acknowledges that you are minority and encourages you not to fear because of the numbers. “Fear not.” What is it that true believers are not to fear?  Here is it is:

• They are not to fear the majority power (people and disease) that can kill the Body but can’t kill the Spirit (Mathew 10:28; Isaiah 57:11)
• They are not to fear the instruments (industrial, political and religious) of human cruelty (Isaiah 54:17).
• They are not to fear suffering under affliction (John 14:33; Job 5:19-22; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Romans 8:10).
• They are not to fear Satan (Romans 6:20).
• They are not to fear death (Romans 8:38-39; 2 Corinthians 5:5).

A little (mikros) flock is:

• The true Church of Christ is small (mikros) at its commencement.
• It is small (mikros) at every geography, when compared with the great bulk of mankind.
• The Church of Christ has tiny (mikros) glory and influence comparatively

The flock of Christ is:

• A purchased flock (1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Peter 2:1; Acts 20:28).
• A flock washed in the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7; Revelation 1:5).
• A chosen flock (Matthew 20:16; Mark 13:20).
• A marked flock (2 Timothy 2:19; John 13:35).

The reason you shouldn’t is because God who is your father. And God is our Father by:

• By right of creation (Malachi 2:10).
• By right of preservation (Acts 17:28 )
• By right of redemption (Galatians 3:13; Job 19:25).
• By right of adoption (Romans 8:15-16). It is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom. It is not a debt but a gift–a free gift.

This father, even though you are outnumbered, he is willing to give you the Kingdom anyway. God is with you. Jesus himself said: For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Mathew 18:20 RSV).

Real power is not in numbers but in truth. However many you are and however powerful you are, if you are wrong, it will still be wrong. Don’t gamble with numbers, believe with your heart and trust God alone.

God bless you, I invoke TRUTH, REASON and KNOWLEDGE

Am Pr. I.T.WHITE

The Gospel Hawker