With few exceptions, every adult citizen of the United States has the right to vote. But most of the adult citizens are not registered voters, and most of the registered voters will probably not bother to vote in the election. People argue about the reasons for voter apathy, but no one disputes the fact that it exists. Our forebears fought and died to win for us the right to vote. And yet many of us ignore that right entirely.
Voter apathy is a definite reality in our time.
But our society also shows strong evidence of apathy about other things besides voting. The Balkans and the Middle East regularly make the news, but hardly anybody mentions or notices the dreadful slaughter of thousands in Africa in the name of ethnic cleansing. Apathy is not unique to our culture, however. Nor is it unique to our time. Today's gospel is about apathy.