The following article was submitted by the Public Theology Forum, an ecumenical group of theologians and ministers of religion.

Talk to any Jamaican today about politics and there will be several predictable responses. One person will dismiss politics for being an endeavour where truth, honesty and transparency are not to be found.

Another will tell you that anybody who gets involved in politics will be tainted and will lack credibility in any area of life. A third person will scoff that politics is not about the needs of the nation but what is opportune and beneficial to those in power, their cronies and the power brokers pulling their strings.

Off in the distance, you may hear someone else whisper, "Coward man keep sound bone" - if they keep out of politics, as politics is a dangerous thing. Among such scoffers are often to be found Christians who almost see politics as a space which is far from God.

Scripture enjoins all of us, Christians and others, to be respon-sible citizens, which should be to exercise our democratic right to vote.

St Paul, in his letter to the Romans (13:7), tells us, "Pay to all what is due them - taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honour to who honour is due."

Such responses tend to stop us short as we realise there is more than a grain of truth in these responses. Our newspapers are replete with examples of the kinds of political expediency that fly in the face of the national good; political representatives often make promises and engage in questionable behaviour, including spousal battering and misappropriation of funds; in some communities, being one P or the other P can lead to death and serious injury; and the list goes on.

But, is our response simply to be one that leaves politics up to the politricksters? In so doing, do we have any right to complain when their choices do not suit us? What is our role in the political process? And why should we bother at all?

Why we should vote

Undoubtedly, many of us cannot be bothered with politics because of the sheer effort we have to make at simply surviving, and keeping our heads above water in a climate that keeps shoving our heads back down. Yet the very politics we eschew provides the framework within which we are continually treading water.

That being the case, we are obligated, for our own good and the good of others like ourselves, to pay attention and get involved. There are various ways of bothering - representational politics is just one, and that is a call that not everyone is able to answer.

The exercise of our franchise is a key area of our bothering. We need to cast that vote after having weighed carefully the strengths and weaknesses, policies and plans of those who offer themselves up as our representatives.

This will oftentimes be a balancing game, as we opt to select the lesser of the two evils. It is worse not to choose at all, and not choosing is itself a choice! There is some way in which the black dog has an edge over the monkey. Perhaps the criteria for choosing will be how well the policies and plans take into account those who are most vulnerable.

A friend tells the story of an elderly lady who lived in a garrison community (yes, a garrison community) and who religiously voted for the losing candidate. She was ridiculed by the youngsters who told her she was wasting her time. The elderly woman would simply respond, however, that her right to vote was a sacred trust and that she would be betraying the legacy of those who fought for adult suffrage if she did not cast her vote. The wisdom of age is too often overlooked. We must bother as it is part of our sacred duty! It's the sacred duty of our being citizens in Jamaica.

So, not to bother is to forfeit the right to contribute to the common good of our society. There is something about the larger good of Jamaica that each of us contributes to by democratic participation. The lives of the most vulnerable are too often disregarded in the political decision-making process and we must contribute to their well-being by letting our voices be heard in the deliberations. Politics? Yes, we MUST bother!

The Public Theology Forum comprises the Reverends Ernle Gordon, Stotrell Lowe, Marjorie Lewis, Richmond Nelson, Garnett Roper, Anna Perkins, Ashley Smith, Burchell Taylor, Oral Thomas, Karl Johnson, Wayneford McFarlane and Byron Chambers, coordinator. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com [2].