There are 19 days left until we go to the polls and
decide the direction our country is go to go for the
next two years. If ever there was a time in our history
to do the hard work of determining which candidates
truly represent your values and the values this country
strives to stand for, it is now.
Facebook, Twitter, Fox, CNN, MSNBC; we are inundated
with all kinds of wild stories about one candidate
or the other – one party or the other – to the
point is seems impossible to trust any one person;
any one source. Scientists tell us that much of how
we approach the way we see the world is ingrained in
us from the time we were very small. We have been
exposed to rhetoric that we can come to believe is
always true and it is difficult to break away from that
line of thinking as adults.
So how in the world can we be expected to be responsible
voters? First we have to look at how we,
individually, feel about the most pressing topics of our
time. Where do we stand on healthcare and why do
we hold that belief? If we are compassionate conservatives,
how far does that compassion reach and just
who exactly do we have compassion for? As progressives,
what is the cost of extending an open hand to
those in need and who are we neglecting when we
offer that hand? We are a nation largely made up of
Christians but our country was built on the belief that
all people of faith should have the freedom to worship
as they believe. No doubt about it, these are complex
issues and determining how we truly feel about them
is the only way to begin the search for individuals that
will genuinely represent us and what we believe.
We keep hearing about fake news and then we
hear that other countries are doing all they can to manipulate
our thinking. We hear about voter fraud and
then we hear about voter suppression. A free press
is supposed to be the backbone of a free society, so
who do we trust and how do we know if what we are
being told is even true? After all is said and done, we
must look to ourselves to sort out what is true, what is
honorable, what is right and what is wrong. And that
means we must listen to all sides without judging. We
cannot be sidetracked by “shiny objects” , name calling
and baseless accusations. We
have to look deeper to find where exactly
the people who are running for
office stand on the issues that matter
to us. Words matter ….until they
are used to distract and inflame.
So much air space is given to the
politics of this age that we are often
lulled into complacency and indifference.
We are disgusted and simply
want to turn away from the noise, the
confusion, the utter ugliness of it all.
It is simply too much to bear. But we
must no turn away. We have a right
and a responsibility to be heard. If we
choose not to vote, that too is a statement.
If we choose not to vote, we
are abdicating our right to be heard.
We are saying that we don’t matter;
our opinions don’t matter; our needs, our values, our
participation in the grand experiment – none of it matters.
For 19 days, we must do the work. We must look
inward and decide where we are going to stand. Then
we must find those persons who we believe stand
with us. And we must vote. Not from a position of fear.
Not from a position anger. Not from a position of heresy
but from a position we have determined by ourselves,
for ourselves. For the next 19 days we have
no other calling more important than this. Vote. Be
Heard.
