Please don’t misunderstand me. When I say that political ignorance is a sin, I am not suggesting that I have found God, or that such ignorance is a sin in any religious sense.

I am, however, convinced that there is such a thing as sin and in my view, political ignorance is a serious sin.

I watched a couple of vox-pops recently in which people in the CBD were asked about their knowledge of the politicians leading the major parties into the WA election. The outcomes were nearly as frightening as those arising from similar exercises in the United States.

They give rise to two alarming findings:

The bizarre conflict in these two findings will be lost only on the intellectually dull.

It has been my experience that almost everyone knows, or thinks they know, how the country should be run and what action is required. But those same people have little idea of who should be doing it, what they are doing now, what the facts are now and who is most likely to do what they want most – or indeed, what they want least.

Then there are those morons who say that voting is not God's way and that the country should be left for God to run. Quite apart from the notion of believing in a being of which there is no evidence, these people are suggesting that we should all just cross our fingers and hope God will step in – something that the evidence of dictators littered around the world suggest will never happen.

I believe in compulsory voting because all people in a nation have a right and a responsibility to have a say in how their country is run. I also believe that all people have a right and responsibility to get involved in the political process where they feel there is a need.

No getting involved, or worse still, not understanding the political process enough to at least vote for the lesser of the available evils, not only says 'I don’t want to get involved in determining the world live in', but also 'I do not want to get involved in the world my children live in, or the world that will be left to my grandchildren'.

To suggest that all politicians are the same not only reflects ignorance, but reflects stupidity or absolute laziness. They may all be bad (although clearly most are not) but they are most certainly different. At the very least, citizens have a responsibility to understand that difference and then vote for the party or candidate that best represents their aspirations – or is least distanced from those aspirations.

Failing to vote is ignorant and lazy. Donkey voting is not lazy, but it is ignorant and cowardly. If you do not care, at least have the moral courage to not vote and pay the fine.

I am not a fan of many politicians in Australia. I see good and bad on both sides of the political divide, sincerity and insincerity. Many of these people I would not invite home for dinner, but they run our country and we have a moral responsibility to understand them - and at the very least, nominate those we believe to be the best of the available bunch.

Lives depend on it!

To be ignorant about politics is a sin against your community, your children, your grandchildren, the homeless, the destitute, the disabled – and all of the people outside of politics trying to help them.