And, call me a rebel here, I disagree. In my mind, there's lots of gray...because we're voting between two imperfect candidates, just like we always have. I agree with some stances of each side. I strongly dislike some things about each of the candidates. I don't know that I see much black and white in this whole mess.
But I will tell you that I try my hardest to keep in mind my Christian beliefs when thinking about casting a ballot. And if you ask me one thing I do know, it's that there is not a Christian party. Jesus isn't running. Neither party aligns completely with what I believe. And the next person who tells me that a person has to vote one way or the other in order to be a "good Christian," may get sucker punched. (Though that's probably not something Jesus would approve of; but he was known to flip over a table or two in his day, so maybe...)
We have the right to go into that ballot box and vote the way we want. Not the way our parents want. Not the way some evangelical pastor on tv wants. Not the way the national parties want. Our ancestors fought and died to ensure we have this right. And that's something that matters to me.
Because of this, I don't have any time for people bullying others about how to vote. Threatening me (or anyone else) with the line of crap that if we don't vote for a certain candidate we are a bad person or a bad Christian or a bad mother is just not acceptable. It's not what American blood was spilled for. It's not the dream upon which this country was founded. This country is made up of those with different viewpoints and beliefs and priorities and I've always thought that is what makes us so strong.
So come November, I'll vote the way I see fit. And I'll pray for the future of our country, regardless of who lives in the White House. And, most importantly, I'll go home and love my husband and my kids and my neighbors and do my best to raise the next generation to be better than our own. Because if we're honest, that's where we can really make a difference anyway.
4 comments:
Standing alone in the gray area is... Gary Johnson!
;)
So true!
Amen to all of the above!
I'm reading The Bully Pulpit, which focuses on Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft's time. During that era, the bi-partisan battles were just as fierce and perhaps even more corrupt with party bosses, lots of "bought" seats in the Senate, etc. It is both sad and reassuring to me that politics have always been messy. Sad because, well, is it always going to be that way? And reassuring because it's so easy to feel like we live in the WORST time, because it's now.
I don't really have a point here. You're right that we're more likely to make a difference through our day to day living and loving than by how we vote.
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