Holy Hannah. I am so glad tomorrow is Election Day. Anyone else completely over the political war that this 2020 Election has imploded onto its people? I don’t get into public politics. It’s not my jam. Mostly because I don’t consider myself a strong force for either side. I have a few issues I like to vote on, but I don’t have a consistent party I tend to stand with. And guess what?! THAT’S OKAY. I don’t let other people bully me into feeling one way or the other. And, neither should you.
I have friends/family who lean far right. I have friends/family who lean far left. And, I have a whole lot of friends/family who are sitting ducks right in the middle. No matter where they fall on the political spectrum, I would never consider “unfriending” or cutting them out of my life based on their views. But, the intense intolerance for the other side? That might make me reconsider. When someone I follow on Instagram posted their absentee ballot with their candidate marked and captioned it with “if you vote anything else, please feel free to f@*% right off and never speak to me again”, that’s when I decided this country is more hateful than I have ever seen. The vulgarity didn’t impress me and the intolerance was ugly. Every vote counts. Every vote matters. But, if someone doesn’t vote the way you want them to, is it really necessary to act with such contempt? IT BLOWS MY MIND how disgusting people are when someone disagrees with their point of view. Give me all the passion, but leave the disregard at the door.
How does a country such as this recover from all the punches being thrown? Because all I see right now is the bruising, the battered, and the beat up. Peace is not when we all agree. It’s when both sides can respectfully disagree and still play nice. Aretha said it best. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Just a little bit. That is what much of our country fails to do. There is pretty much ZERO tolerance for anything these days. No grace. No compassion. And NO respect. I thought the 2016 campaign was awful. However, 2020 has made that one seem like rainbows and unicorns. The worst part hasn’t even happened yet. No matter which side wins tomorrow, it’s safe to say neither will graciously bow to the side in defeat. No matter who wins tomorrow, there will be haters. Vocal vomit. Riots. Protests. All the ugly side of losing. It won’t change the outcome, but it will continue to drive a deeper divide. I don’t think that’s what we’re looking for. So, even if your candidate wins, our country still loses.
Are politics a make or break for your relationships? Do they constitute a legitimate line in the sand that forces you to pick a side or pick a friend? Because that’s exclusivity at its worst. And contradiction at its best.
Weakness for Words 