Two Things You Never Want to See Made...

Politics is usually a subject that I do my best to avoid discussing (going along with Linus’ brilliant advice – “Three things you never discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin) but since they’ve been at the forefront of all the news lately (which is nice, for a change as opposed to Britney Spears or whoever) I thought I’d write about my political “views.”

I’m a registered Democrat, for what that is worth – though I did that mostly so I could have a say in the primaries – but I don’t consider myself a Democrat, or a Republican; I like to think of myself as an independent, and I am really not a fan of all the categorization that goes along with belonging with one party or the other. To me, that’s one of the main things that is keeping this country down right now – we’re too divided. I can’t stand people – and I know quite a few – who won’t even listen to what the other party is saying. As a journalist I know that that is getting only one side of the story, and there are always two sides, even if we don’t want to see them. People who think Republicans are all backwards thinking Evangelicals or that Democrats are all atheist anarchists is total bunk on both sides; to be sure, I’ve met people on both ends of the spectrum who fit those respective categories, but I don’t think that describes the bulk of either party. Anyone who immediately discredits someone because of their political party, to me, is just as bad as someone who immediately discriminates based on race or religion.

What really sends me off the deep end when it comes to politics is when God gets dragged in. I love the bumper sticker that says, “God isn’t a Republican or a Democrat.” I think one of the smartest things that our founding fathers did was create a separation of church and state, and it drives me up the wall to see that barrier crumbling more and more. When you go to religious services and have your priest/pastor/minister/rabbi/imam or any other leader tell you how to vote, that’s a bad sign, just as it’s a bad sign when a leader uses his/her definition of “God” to justify their political actions. If it were up to me, candidates wouldn’t even be allowed to say what their religion is during the election season; it just shouldn’t be a factor. This is what probably scares me most about the way the American government seems to be heading; history has shown us time and time again the death and misery that comes from using God to justify wars, and I worry we will fall prey to that trap. God is above any political classification, and should be treated as such.

Right now, I’m firmly in support of Senator Barack Obama. I think he is a revolutionary leader in the vein that would have made the founding fathers proud. He’s young, charismatic, one hell of a speaker, and seems totally sincere and willing to devote his all to serving his country. It sickens me that people are circulating rumours about him being a “closet Muslim,” because not only is that not true, but even if it was, so what? I don’t remember anything in the Constitution saying that the President must be a Christian. I think he’s going to change the country for the better, and cannot wait to see him elected into office.

Here I’ll give a few bullet points on some “hot issues” and my stance on them:

Gun control: I’m all for this, but I certainly don’t think guns should be banned. I own a shotgun to go hunting with my father and brother, and I see no reason why I should be forced to give that up. I’m all for more restrictions and procedures to make sure guns don’t fall into the wrong hands, but I certainly don’t think they should be banned.
Death penalty: This is a tough one, which I struggle with a lot. On the one hand, I think that death is a pretty easy release for criminals, and if you really wanted to make them suffer, than a life sentence would do the job far better. On the other hand, I understand that if the crime stole away a loved one or someone dear to you, I can understand how the desire for vengeance would be present and how one could want the murderer to suffer the same fare. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but I don’t think I have the right to tell anyone “no” if it could assuage their grief.
Abortion: I put this issue with the death penalty category, in that I can see both sides of it. I was raised Catholic – though I’m so liberal, that most Catholics wouldn’t consider me one – so I do understand the importance of the child as an individual in a woman, and if I were to ever come up against that situation, I would only leave abortion as the absolute last resort. That being said, again, I cannot justify forcing my thoughts on the population of the women in this country as a whole. Who am I to tell a woman who was raped that she has to keep a baby, or that she has to carry this load that she is not ready for. I – and the government – has no right to do either, and I understand that.
Immigration: We wouldn’t be a country without immigration, so those who want to build walls on our borders are crazy; even if said walls were built, people would just get through another way, and besides, it is contrary to the whole spirit of our country. I think it needs to be monitored and handled better – though the details are beyond me, since I don’t know enough about the issue – but I think stopping it totally would be betraying one of the core parts of our country.
Health Care: I don’t know enough about this to write much here in detail, except to say that our country needs to change it’s health care in a big way. The stats are everywhere showing how far behind other countries we are, and as someone who has just left college and entering the world, this is something I’d love to see worked on.
Social Security: Again, something I don’t know enough about, but I know it will be important to my family and me in the future, and I know that it needs a big push as well.

I do have great hope for our country, and I know what we can achieve when we are united. I just hope we get our act together sooner rather than later…