What a week!!! This is hard. Observation? IT seems like if you are on one side of the isle you have posted something to the extent of "we are still friends no matter who you voted for." OR the opposing side is more of a "delete me if you voted this way." Politics are hard. I mean hard. I remember when I was younger it was not proper to ask who you had voted for. Now with social media and the instantaneous news and information delivered to our hands constantly, it is a different world. Sometimes I want to pretend it doesn't exist. Sometimes I WILL just pretend it doesn't exist. BUT ultimately, curiosity kills the cat and I get on... and cannot help myself.... I have always had strong views. They have changed over time. I was surrounded by one side and felt that ultimately if I did not follow certain ideas I would be punished eternally. Eventually reason won, and I was able to grow and have the courage to think, meditate, and choose my own belief system. That comes from life experiences, spiritual beliefs, family and the environment you were raised, money and tax system, what issues personally affect you and your immediate family... and of course what kind values you hold and are important to you.
As I have gotten older, spent time working on issues on the ballot, working in different professions, had my own family, come into my own personal belief system ect. the issues that are important to me have changed, and I have seen that politics are much likes games. You vote this way for me and I will vote this way for you. OR you do this with party line or get punished. GAMES. AND then there is the issue of human rights... those should not be political. It hurts to see the opposite AND what some people consider human rights or not. It bothers me when I see people comment about or make light of different situations. Especially when children are involved. OR a family has the chance to be broken up or nullified because a group does not have the same belief system. Belief systems are and should remain separate from politics that make decisions about other people's lives. Just because YOU do not believe someone should be allowed to love someone else, or support a candidate who would choose to remove their right to have a family or actively make choices for their family is just plain wrong. You know what I am saying. If you choose to vote based on LGBTQ rights, it is just plain wrong. Sit down and think about someone who you know, you need to personalize it. Can you look at their face and tell them their family should not exist? Or that you believe that they are wrong and their nature is rooted in evil? Can you tell T child that? With male/female marriages the rate of divorce in the ole USA is 50%. HALF OF EVERYONE married will not remain married. BUT we focus on laws and people who would CHOOSE to break up a family that WOULD NOT BE a statistic? A happy, loving family simply because you have a different system of belief? As a mother who has a child who would ultimately be punished by this, it literally hurts my heart AND head to even think about. That he would not be allowed to fall in love, commit and perhaps have a family of his own one day because of a belief system that oppresses many. The straight face test does not get passed here. AND while we are at it (and I will see if my blog disappears after this hahaha) PLEASE stop using the term LOVE THE SINNER HATE THE SIN.
It is NOT a loving statement. IT is condescending. It is mean. It is veiled hate. I know social media gives us a place to be keyboard warriors... myself included. IT not only allows us to keep in touch with friend, family and information that we would otherwise go maybe years without seeing, it also gives a voice to ANYONE who wishes. I have a lot of people of faith in my feed. I love many of them. I admire many of them. I enjoy many of them. BUT sometimes, with some, I wonder if they would recognize the Jewish Jesus they quote and worship. Would you?
Blogs are fun. I can say anything I want. I can write about anything I want. I will make some clap and some block... some will appreciate what I say, others will be so pissed. BUT I will always have to look at myself in the mirror and live with what I put out there. I ALWAYS tell my kids... and some of them have not quite mastered this, EVERYTHING you put on the internet is kept. Somewhere. AND you can delete anything you want but it can and will still find a way back. Maybe that is a post for another day?
SO as we await results of our most recent presidential election, and some very much are (and have every right to be worried) about what will happen with all of this, PLEASE take care of yourself. If you need to, and are not a glutton for punishment, take time offline. HUG your family. TEXT your people. Call your people. Eat the extra scoop of ice cream. It is a lot. Some feel, and have every right to feel, that elected officials hold the future of their personal rights and the rights of their family in their hands.... be kind to them.
Parenting with the access to information that is available to our kids- even at very young ages is tough. Schools do not gloss over things anymore. THANK GOD. Many are starting to teach REAL history. FINALLY. AND with all of that comes hard questions. SO be kind to yourself too. 🙏🏼