Facebook makes for some fascinating political watching. The elections bring out the absolute worst in people. Seriously, I'm not sure why people that I find to be kind, reasonable, and intelligent people in real life go and post inane, ill-thought out statements in a feed that all of their "friends" will see. I make no secret as to my political stance. I also have been very clear about our responsibility to be balanced and kind. That being said, there are a few things I wonder that perhaps the cybersphere could clear up for me.
I wonder if my culturally LDS friends really believe that President Obama is a great evil, and that his re-election will really speed up the second coming. I'm fairly certain that the scriptures have been clear, no man can know, speed it up, or slow it down. I wonder, every time they post something like this, if they realize they are engaging in the hype and rhetoric rather than thinking about the doctrines they love. I wonder if they truly believe this is something they need to worry about, or if they can have faith that their personal covenants and choices are what truly protect them from negative eternal consequences, regardless of the timing of the second coming. I would ask my friends who truly believe this election was a "sign of the times" examine their scriptures and read the true revelations, know that the signs are and have been present regardless of political climate, and choose to be grounded in their faith and covenants based on priciples that are true across all political platforms.
I wonder if I really am friends with people who can see no good whatsoever in a man that has led our nation for 4 years, and can see only good in a man they hardly know but share a faith with. I wonder if they recognize that they are being fed biased information from a biased media, or if they truly believe everything the news stations say. I know that (particularly in Utah) we are constantly fed skewed data that needs to be weighed and balanced. Along with this wonder, I am concerned that people I love do not realize or consider the fact that half the nation sees things differently from them, and that it is mighty difficult to completely hoodwink so many people to vote for what they are declaring to be "pure evil". I would ask that they not allow the lies of the media to bind their agency, but that they rise above the misinformation and make a choice that includes acknowledgement that these men are both good men, that their policies differ only slightly, and that their friends who choose differenlty are not evil by association.
I wonder if anyone recognizes that the biases in the media, the judgements and name-calling between friends, and the attitude that "I will just move to _____" (or otherwise generally not support our nation's president) are in fact the most un-American stances to take. I wonder if those who make such ridiculous and inflammatory statements can see how unintelligent they look, how cruel they sound, and how much more "socialist" it is to manipulate and hate those who disagree than it is to offer welfare and healthcare to those in need. I would hope that we can come together to honor a constitution and land that has in place checks and balances, that we can participate in a process that many people in the world do not have the priveledge of enjoying, and most of all, that we can move forward doing good in our own lives without the judgement so callously tossed around in the name of politics.
I wonder if anyone else is even a little bit excited about the good that an incumbant president can do without the worry of re-election politics. I honestly believe that politicians (while they do lie and manipulate to gain the offices of power) have a certain passion for doing well. They can't all be into it for the money and power, because let's face it, the money's not great and the power is checked and balanced. More than a few of those men and women truly love this nation and the people that they serve. More than a few of them are spending their lives and their earnings to be in a position to do what they honestly believe is best for their families and friends. While it admittedly takes a measure of narcissism to run for president, both candidates were evenly matched in that arena, (and incidentally on much of their policy), there is no way they simply acted out of desire for "phneomenal cosmic power". I would hope that we can see the potential for real action and truth in 4 years unburdened by the possibility of re-election.
Finally, I wonder if people will eventually come to "see things as they truly are" (myself included) and find some good in the people they have vilified and ostracized. I have Republican friends that seem to have forgotten that "Obamacare" is based on "Romneycare" and I have Democrat friends that seem to have forgotten how the birth control debate is as much about freedom of religion as it is about women's rights. I wonder if the polarized platforms will eventually reveal themselves as the actual evil in this process. I hope that as we educate ourselves beyond media biases and dangerous rhetoric we will rediscover our friendships and learn to value the common grounds that brought us together in the first place.
There you have it. My political musings, my questions for the world, and my hopes for my friends. This is not an attempt to sway people towards my way of thinking, it is an invitation to think, to study, and to say things that reflect truth rather than hysteria. If you would like to comment, please know that if you say things that continue the thoughtless hysteria, I will delete you. But if you have some insight, or some perspective beyond doomsday or delight, I am happy to hear it.
On my end, I like healthcare legislation because insurance companies are wholly evil (see, I have my unreasonable perspectives too!) and they needed to be told that pre-existing conditions were a dishonest cop-out. I like welfare legislation because it helps many of the people that I know and love out of the rough parts of life, and those people have all become functioning and contributing citizens as a result of the welfare they recieved. That's right, they used it, and now they pay it forward. I like platforms that support healing and rehabilitation rather than punishment, because ever dollar spent on mental health saves us $36 dollars in the proson system. I like pro-choice platforms and I like birth control that comes through insurance companies, because the two are statistically healthier for the population. Pro-choice does not mean pro-abortion. (And while we are on it, my faith declares that agency is as integral a gift as life itself, so I do not see how one can claim religious reasons for being more one than the other.) I don't believe that government should define marriage AT ALL, regardless of the definition being debated, but I believe that civil rights of every individual should be protected by the government. This means that gay couples should have the same financial and legal rights as straight couples, but religions should not be forced to adopt a definition of marriage that does not reflect their belief system. Finally, I believe that Kristen Stewart should be banned from acting, Stephanie Meyer should be banned from publishing novels marketed for teens, and and the CIA should use their top secret erasey-tools to obliterate the Twilight franchise from our minds and culture.
Sigh. Now you know.
