Citizenship: The Right Stuff, Part 3

I had been contemplating citizenship, in general, and the importance of being an American and of voting, specifically, a lot recently, what with next week’s presidential election looming. I’d wondered if I have what it takes to become an American citizen by naturalization and decided to establish whether I have the right stuff to become naturalized American citizen.

As a result, this column has been devoted to citizenship over the past two weeks in an effort to determine whether we are living up to our responsibilities as citizens. First, we covered the naturalization process, from establishing our eligibility to apply for naturalization to completing the application. Then we addressed the interview and reviewed the civics test materials. And the naturalization process ends successfully with the Oath of Allegiance at a formal naturalization ceremony.

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Let’s take another look at the oath: “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”

The oath lists several responsibilities of citizens: renounce all allegiance to foreign nations, swear allegiance to the U.S., support and defend the U.S. Constitution and laws, and, when required, serve the country. Yet, the United States is pretty accommodating. A modified oath, omitting “bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law,” is available to those who qualify by providing adequate evidence that their religious beliefs and training prevent them from bearing arms for the U.S. For those presenting sufficient corroboration of religious beliefs and training preventing them from carrying out any type of service in the U.S. Armed Forces, the oath may be amended by eliminating “perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law.” Additionally, if one is unable to swear using the phrase “on oath,” s/he may “solemnly affirm.”

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American citizens have other responsibilities in addition to those noted in the oath. It is our obligation to tolerate the differences of other people. It is our duty to serve on juries when called. And it is our responsibility to register and vote in elections.

And that last responsibility was the catalyst for this little experiment. Voting in our federal, and state and local, elections is, it seems to me, more than a right or a duty. It is a privilege.

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I’ve heard several excuses why people are not going to vote in the presidential race: My vote doesn’t matter. My candidate is going to lose anyway. I can’t decide between the candidates. I don’t like either of them.

I flat out tell them that I will not tolerate any complaints regarding the election outcome (and/or any of it’s bi-products, such as tax increases) from them for the next four years. Period. But that’s just me, and they may not want to talk to me at all after I say that, but I hope I’ve caused them reconsider their decision, even if they don’t change their minds.

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The point is to exercise your right to vote. American history is abundant with people who fought, both physically and intellectually, formidable foes so that we may cast our ballots next week.

If you are registered, and did not vote early, I urge you to flaunt your citizenship on Tuesday by voting. Though the for-whom-to-vote decision may not be easy, the ballot process is.

I can’t think of anything more patriotic that I could possible do on Tuesday.

–oOo–

Now, about my score on that civics test… I took the 100-question version found on uscis.gov last Friday without studying and scored 78%. After feeling the relief of just passing, I was then disappointed that I’d not performed better. But who doesn’t study for such an important test? I took it again on Thursday after reading through it once more. The second time I scored 98%. How did you do?