Hard Questions About the 2012 US Election

Okay, I admit, I took this from my response to my cousin’s Facebook post about the US election coming up tomorrow!  But I think I need to say what I need to say, get it off my chest, and share this with the world.  I believe it gives you (my readers) some insight into who I am and what I believe in (which is important for a blog in its infancy).

<beginrant>

There is separation of church and state in the USA.  What people should be more worried about than which presidential candidate likes God more is how the person they are voting for or support can run the USA.

Do they want to build relationships with other countries and strengthen them, or do they want to tear them down and isolate the USA again?

Do they want a world of peace, where their children and children’s children can live side-by-side with people of many different cultures, ethnicities, religious beliefs, sexual orientations, and so on, without conflict or strife, or do they want a world decended into war once again, where hundreds of thousands or even millions of innocent people are killed in the name of oil, money, cultural differences or religion, one where more problems are created than solved through gunfire instead of diplomacy?

Do they want to fix the financial mess the world is in (yes, the world, not just the USA) by doing their bit to fix the USA’s economy, or do they want to go back to a free-for-all system that caused the problems in the first place?  (interesting analogy: it takes a lot longer to clean up a glass of spilled milk than it does to spill it.)

Do they want to help the poor and heal the sick and educate everyone to an acceptable standard through governmental agencies and laws providing equal access for all, or do they want to let people fend for themselves?  (The game of life does not have an equal playing field, and this is becoming more and more unfair as the years go on.  The deck is being stacked against people like you and me by an ever-smaller growing group of people.)

Do they want to ensure two people in a loving, stable relationship (regardless of gender) have the same legal rights as their neighbours in all aspects of their relationships, or do they want to continue to follow the mantra “all people are equal, but some are more equal than others“?  (I pay the same taxes as my straight neighbours; why should I be denied the right to visit my dying spouse in the hospital because he and I are both men? Should we allow that for gay veterans who have served the USA with honour as a thanks for their service? Because some parts of the USA do do that.)

Do they want to ensure that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, free of religious or cultural influence or religious or cultural persecution (which is what the USA was founded on) is something that can once again be in the reach of all Americans, or do they want to restrict that vision now to a few who happen to earn the most money?

There are a lot of conflicting messages, and these are only some of the choices as I see them; my perspective is only one of many.  I don’t claim to always be right, but I try to live my life as best as I can to help out my fellow man.

When I think about these things, I think about people like my Grandma, or my brothers, or my parents, or my friends, or my family, or my nephews.  What sort of future do we want for them?  If one of my nephews or my friend’s children or a child you know ends up in a gay relationship, or unable to afford healthcare (and suffering as a consequence), or not being able to get the education they need (through lack of education or money), how can I look them in the eye and say, “I’m sorry I didn’t fight for your rights to face a world more equal and fair than mine”?  How can any of us do that?

I want a world where the USA works with other countries to make this a peaceful world.

I want a world without war and where we can all co-exist in peace, and if we have a disagreement, we can talk about it instead of shooting one another.

I want a world with financial stability for all.

I want a world where we look after those whose luck is less fortunate than ours.

I want a world where we can love the person we love (regardless of gender) and have that relationship treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our peers.

I want a world where “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is more than a phrase.

I want an equal playing field for our future generations.

I want a world of solutions, not of making problems.

I want a world where we think about how what we do impacts other people before we act or talk.

(A lot of this, incidentially, is how Jesus wanted us to live our lives.)

Life is full of change, and the world as we know it is changing; it started changing the minute it started spinning.  We may not always like or understand the change; change can be frightening or scary because we don’t understand it sometimes.  And when it comes, sometimes change isn’t as bad as we feared.

In my opinion, we (as a species) cannot continue looking after a select few while turning away from the increasing amount of people who need help.

</endrant>