
Spanish: 
¿Deben los ateos dejar de votar
el día de las elecciones?
Parece una pregunta tonta.
Debemos votar.
Claro que debemos votar. Si queremos tener alguna
influencia en nuestra sociedad y en nuestro gobierno,
tenemos que elegir candidatos
que apoyen nuestros intereses.
Pero, ¿qué sucede cuando todos
los candidatos elegibles
parecen comprometidos
con la derecha religiosa?
Hasta los demócratas liberales tienen la costumbre de
doblegarse ante la religión cuando llega el momento de las elecciones.
Y tienen una buena razón para ello.
Hay más votantes religiosos. Es estratégico.
Es raro ver que, incluso los liberales,
se dirijan específicamente
a votantes no religiosos.
Expliquemos las razones de por qué
los políticos podrían empezar a escucharnos
si se enteraran de que todos los votantes no religiosos
no participarán en las elecciones.
Necesitan de nuestro apoyo y nos han dado
por sentado por demasiado tiempo.
Tal vez, si no votáramos
y dejáramos claro que no obtendrán nuestro apoyo
a menos que tomen posiciones firmes

English: 
Should atheists stay home
on Election Day?
I mean, that seems like a dumb question.
We should vote.
Of course we should vote. I mean, if we want to
have any influence in our society and our government,
we have to elect candidates
who support our issues.
But what happens when
all the candidates available to you
seem beholden to
the Religious Right?
Even liberal Democrats have a habit of bowing down
to religion when it comes time for elections.
And they have a good reason for doing that.
There are just more religious voters out there. It's strategic.
It's rare when even liberals
reach out specifically
to non-religious voters.
So, there's a case to be made that
maybe politicians would start listening to us
if they knew that all the non-religious voters
were going to sit out the election.
They need our support
and they've taken us for granted too long.
Maybe if we didn't vote
and we made it clear that they're not going to get
our support unless they take strong stances

Spanish: 
en temas que importan
a la mayoría de ateos,
como los derechos LGBT,
los derechos de la mujer,
la separación entre iglesia y estado,
no vamos a votar por ellos.
Pero dicho esto, creo que es
un argumento confuso el no votar.
Sabiendo que se pueden contar con los dedos
de una mano los ateos postulados a cargos,
es muy probable que tengamos que apoyar
a un candidato religioso,
incluso uno
devotamente religioso,
con quien estemos de acuerdo
en gran parte.
No tengo problemas con eso.
Hay muchos grandes religiosos
en el gobierno en la actualidad.
Y si podemos empujar al gobierno
un poco más hacia nuestra dirección,
quizás sea la mejor opción para votar. No es que
los políticos harán una fiesta para los ateos pronto,
pero al menos, si votan de la manera correcta,
la que nuestra mayoría quiere,
eso no está mal.
Si no sales a votar,
los políticos no van a prestarte atención a menos que
seamos una población suficiente para marcar la diferencia.
Y conseguir que los ateos hagan algo juntos
es como querer reunir gatos.

English: 
on issues that matter
to most atheists,
like LGBT rights,
like women's rights,
like church/state separation issues,
we're not going to vote for them.
But all that said, I actually think
that's a messed up argument not to vote.
I mean, considering we can count on one hand
how many atheists are even running for office,
we are very likely going to have to throw
our support behind a religious candidate,
even a devoutly religious one,
who agrees with us
most of the time.
And I have no problem doing that.
There are plenty of great religious
people in government right now.
And I think that if we can nudge the government
a little more in our direction,
that's probably the best we can vote for. It's not like
politicians are going to throw a party for atheists any time soon,
but at least, if they're voting in the right way,
in the way most of us want them to,
that's not a bad thing.
If you're staying at home,
politicians aren't about to cater to you unless
they know there's enough of you doing that to make a difference.
And, you know, trying to get atheists
to do anything together is like herding cats.

English: 
Politicians pay attention to people who vote,
they pay attention to how they vote.
They don't care about people
who sit out during elections.
Because those people are generally apathetic,
they don't care about politics in the first place.
So, why bother
even pandering to them?
So, don't sit out
during the election.
Not this week, not next year.
You have to vote and you have to vote
for someone who represents your values.
Even if that means
voting for a third party,
even that means essentially
throwing away your vote.
Sitting out isn't the way to protest. The way to protest
is by casting your vote for someone you want to see in office.
Politicians would pay attention to that.
Part of the problem
is that we're just like kryptonite to a lot of politicians.
They don't want to be seen hanging out around atheists.
But another part of the reason is that a lot of
politicians don't even know we're really out there.
They don't pay attention to us because they
don't realize we're actually a pretty influential voting bloc
if all kind of voted
in the same direction.

Spanish: 
Los políticos prestan atención
a quienes votan, a cómo votan.
No les importan los que se
abstienen durante las elecciones.
Generalmente es gente apática.
No les importa la política.
¿Para qué molestarse
en complacerlos?
No dejes de participar
en las elecciones.
Ni esta semana,
ni el año que viene.
Tienes que votar, y hacerlo por alguien
que represente tus valores.
Incluso si implica
votar por un partido bisagra,
incluso si implica
tirar tu voto.
Abstenerse no es la manera de protestar. La manera de
protestar es echar tu voto por alguien que quieres ver en el cargo.
Los políticos le prestan
atención a eso.
Parte del problema
es que somos como kryptonita para muchos políticos.
No quieren ser vistos compartiendo con ateos.
Pero la otra parte es que muchos políticos
ni siquiera saben que estamos aquí afuera.
No nos prestan atención porque no se dan cuenta
de que somos un bloque votante bastante influyente
si todos votáramos
en la misma dirección.

English: 
Do you really think they'll start paying attention
to us all of a sudden if we all sit out?
Of course not.
Religious Right, by the way,
would never do anything as stupid as
tell people to sit out during an election.
They might threaten to do that;
they might threaten to not vote,
but they've had too much success
electing politicians who kowtow to their positions
to make not voting
a strategy.
What atheists need is influence.
And the only way we're going to get that is
if we make it clear that certain issues matter to us.
And no politician's going to get our support
unless they're with us on those issues.
And we're not asking them for anything crazy.
We're not asking them to, like, promote atheism through their government.
We're asking for things like church/state separation,
which is something that benefits Christians
as much as it benefits us.
The more of us who make that clear,
the better off we all are in the long run.
Even if that means supporting a candidate
who isn't with us a 100% of the time.

Spanish: 
¿Crees que de repente empezarán
a prestarnos atención si dejamos de votar?
Claro que no.
La derecha religiosa,
por cierto,
nunca haría nada tan estúpido como decirle
a la gente que deje de votar durante unas elecciones.
Podrían amenazar con hacerlo,
amenazar con no votar,
pero han tenido demasiado éxito eligiendo
políticos que se arrodillan ante su posición
para hacer del "no votar"
una estrategia.
Lo que los ateos necesitan
es influencia.
Y sólo la conseguiremos si dejamos claro
que ciertos asuntos nos importan.
Y ningún político va a conseguir nuestro apoyo
a menos que esté con nosotros en esos temas.
No les estamos pidiendo una locura,
ni que promuevan el ateísmo a través de su gobierno.
Estamos pidiendo cosas como la separación entre
iglesia y estado, algo que beneficia a los cristianos
tanto como a nosotros.
Mientras más lo dejemos claro,
mejor estaremos a la larga.
Aunque eso signifique apoyar a un candidato
que no está con nosotros un 100% de las veces.

Spanish: 
Aunque signifique apoyar a un candidato
que quizás es el menor de dos males.
Sería genial poder votar por un ateo que ya sabe
cómo estamos en estos asuntos. Pero hasta que eso suceda en todo el país,
votar por un candidato religioso que sea progresista,
tal vez sea lo mejor que podemos esperar.
Tenemos que apoyar
a esa gente.
Recuerda: si nos abstenemos durante
las elecciones y la derecha religiosa vota,
el gobierno no va a mejorar,
ciertamente no va a mejorar nuestros problemas.
Sé que suena cliché,
pero lo mejor es votar
y hacer saber que estamos votando
basados en nuestros valores humanistas.
Si hacemos eso, si bastantes
de nosotros hacemos eso,
los políticos no tendrían más remedio
que prestar atención.
Me llamo Hemant Mehta y escribo
en FriendlyAtheist.com
Deja un comentario debajo
y seguro que lo revisaremos.
Y no olvides suscribirte.

English: 
Even if it means supporting a candidate
who may be the lesser of two evils.
I mean, it'd great to be able to vote for an atheist in office
who already knows how we stand on these issues. But until that happens across the country,
voting for a religious candidate who happens to be
progressive, may be the best thing we can hope for.
But we got to show our support
for those people.
Keep in mind: if we sit out during an election
and the Religious Right votes,
the government isn't going to get any better--
They're certainly not going to get any better on our issues.
I know this sounds cliché,
but our best bet is to vote
and make it known that we're voting
based on our Humanist values.
If we do that,
if enough of us do that,
politicians would have no choice
but to pay attention.
My name is Hemant Mehta
and I write at FriendlyAtheist.com
Leave a comment below
and we'll be sure to check it out.
And don't forget to subscribe.
