I missed a blog day yesterday. It was a day on the run and getting home late, I forgot about it.
I am trying to stay serene through the political conventions. I know what I believe and listen for similar values. It isn’t so much that I am an Independent, but rather, I ponder my country’s problems within myself first. I resist being told what to believe. I don’t expect candidates or parties to be 100% right or totally in accord with my ideas. Even when I have tremendous respect for a candidate I may dissagee with a position they have taken on a particular issue.
There are three things I hate hearing from a candidate. The first is “The American people want…” So often what they say Americans want is the opposite of what I want and I wonder why it is I am not being counted as an American person.
The second thing I hate to hear is character bashing of an opponent, that is, judging their intent as being evil or associating them with some group that would commonly be feared by American voters.
A third thing that bothers me is when candidates make the election into a religious battle. I don’t have a problem with candidates having religious convictions. Their religious communities often and should play a part in shaping their values. This is only lightly important, though. Just because a candidate worships in a certain church does not necessarily mean they hold to all its beliefs. Also, I believe that government officials in a free country must respect the diversity of its people. In America that includes people of innumerable religious persuasions as well as athiests, agnostics, or folks who just don’t associate with any religion. We can talk about values without bringing religion into our conversations. We do it all the time in our daily conversations. I don’t mind knowing what a candidate’s religious persuasion is, I just don’t like them assuming that what they believe should in some way be the norm for all.
I could go on, I suppose, but I have things to do today that are more important than politics. I have to do laundry and turn tomatoes into sauce.