for the past couple of years, i've been writing in this blog and having a lot of fun, and making fun of my self and my family and our good and bad times. rarely do i bring up controversial subjects, such as politics. i don't feel that this is the place for it, and there are plenty of places for people to read about that stuff, written by people who consider themselves experts on those subjects.
why would i bring this up? because i do worry a lot about our world. i worry about the economy, terrorism, the war, clean air, clean air scams, religious radicals, apathy, poverty, child abuse, spousal abuse, our wasteful society, intolerant people, thoughtless people, unhealthy lifestyles, gun control or lack of it, our broken political process, rich versus poor, job outsourcing, the global economy and what it means, immigration, health care...the list goes on and on. and like most of you, i have views on most of the things i worry about.
some of my stances are liberal, and some of my stances are conservative. i have never in my life taken a side because it goes along with "liberal" or "conservative" idealogy. i try to learn about things that worry me, and take a side based on what has been presented. in the absence of full truth, one can only go on what information can be gathered. sometimes, i can't take a side. other times, i have to take a side based on my feelings, which i'll admit can be dead wrong.
which brings me to my point....
it is very hard for me to identify with the presidential candidates. it is very hard for me to identify with the political parties. hell, if i do try to identify with a particular issue, the world would have me stand on one side of a line or another and label me as a liberal or a conservative with no hope of being saved by the other party!
what if i support some type of gun control? i'm labeled as a socialist liberal who wants to take away peoples rights.
what if i'm a christian? the i MUST be a conservative.
...and if i'm a liberal then i MUST hate God.
what if i support upholding the immigration laws to secure our borders? then i'm a right wing conservative who is probably a closet racist.
what if i support our soldiers? i'm a war mongering conservative.
what if i'm against the war? i'm a hippy who just wants to lay down and let the terrorists take us apart.
hold on...what if i support our soldiers but am against the war?? i must be an idiot.
what if i supported the first gulf war and afganistan, but am against the current iraq war? i must be a flip-flopper.
i don't know about you, but i hate being painted into a corner. life is not black and white. it's grey. there are two sides to every story, and i think it's worthwhile to learn about both rather than blindly follow some stark, hardline ideology. i start cringing when i turn on the radio and listen to both ends of the political spectrum tear into the other. and each side is convinced that the other is leading us down the path of doom.
the kaiser calmed me down the other day during one of my rants by reminding me that, no matter who is elected this coming fall, the world will not come to an end.
i worry a lot. i sure hope he's right.
4 comments:
I think there are three sides to every story: yours, mine and the truth.
TK, you say you go to church all the time, if someone asked you your faith, would you just say "I just go to church, I'm not a Catholic, I'm not a Lutheran, I'm not a Christian, I just go to church". Nothing wrong with choosing a side. With Faith your either on the right side or the wrong side. Faith is not Grey. Your Faith plays out in your decision to be a Rep or Dem or a Conservative or Liberal. I'm not a doomsdayer or a bible thumper but Kaiser is wrong the world could come to an end anytime. Revalation is a good book to read.
your comment is noted. i do, however, follow the christian notion that there will be a judgement. taken out of context, perhaps the comment that the world won't come to an end sounds contrary, but it is not. i also believe in the seperation of church and state, and that social issues should not take priority over political ones. i do not support any type of theocracy.
...and that whole "there is only black and white" thing? THAT sort of thinking scares me more than anything.
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