Thursday, July 21, 2016

This Is America

We all have parts of our personality that on closer inspection are clearly signs of mental illness. Whether it is my orphan spirit or someone else's obsession with Pokemon Go it seems that all of us have our quirks. I certainly can't understand the millions who are following imaginary critters around with their noses to their phones following these Pokemon characters. But likewise, they wouldn't understand my obsession for finding a Princess beanie baby a decade ago. Some of us get all decked out in our team's garb to scream at our TVs like it will actually help them score a touchdown or get that interception. Ronnie B's pursuit of stone calendar petroglyphs only makes sense to his archeology buddies. Most of us think it is insane to spend time out in the hot sun scrambling over rocks to take measurements and DO MATH to better understand the workings of a scribble on a rock. To Ron this is a passion. For the most part we accept each other's preoccupations without judgement on hobbies, activities, and various pursuits.

Life unfolds for each of us differently. Our families, upbringing, and all the daily happenings in life lead us to and away from interests over the years. Likewise, how we feel about politics shifts and changes over time. In this season of conventions and elections we don't and won't agree with each other's positions on candidates and issues. But like our obsession for video games and sports teams, it is possible to not understand and agree without judging and condemning. I know living through the adoption of my children, our families loss through a suicide, and struggles with addiction have directed what issues are important to me. A friend who went through the hell no mother should go through with the after effects of immunization makes that a most important issue for her. Those families who have children with Autism or those struggling with cancer heartbreak will surely look more closely at the positions on those when deciding how to cast their vote. We come to this election, this moment with different hearts and thoughts simply because we are different people with varying experiences.

In America, we try to help others around our globe obtain the right to vote.  In Peru, their citizens have to pay a fine if you don't vote. There are slogans to encourage our citizens to vote and campaigns to get out the vote. This year a record number of people voted in the US. That is something we should be celebrating. Instead, the rhetoric is how did we end up with such horrible choices. Clinton and Trump are our choices because Americans took the time to vote for these 2 candidates more than any other. We don't have to be thrilled if neither is our choice but we DO have to respect that voters decided based on their visions of what will be best for our country. When we are through this process and have our next president we all need to accept the people's choice and unite behind the leader of our country. Let's focus on the positives in this election cycle and stop condemning each other and our candidates. There is more at stake here than who wins the Super Bowl. What is at stake is that we are judging each other for the views that they have come to honestly through the life they have lived to this point. It is their right to vote those views. This is America.

In Him,
Joyful
7-21-16

1 comment:

  1. Wait a minute, so my wearing Packers garb and yelling encouragement during games does not affect the results! LOL. I wish it did. I think it is true that we get the government we deserve.

    ReplyDelete