If we wish to maintain our democratic republic, voting is crucial. Understanding the issues and the candidates is important for each of us if we want to be responsible citizens being governed by the same principles we hold dear.
Like most of us watching the news recently, I was shocked and horrified by the shootings in the Uvalde school on May 24th. In a country numb from hundreds of shootings, I was surprised I could still feel anything about them at all.
There is a trend of nominal Christianity in America. Many people adopt the label of a Christian and align themselves with others who are vocal about their same label. It’s as if employing the words “Jesus,” “Bible,” or “God bless America,” demonstrates a political candidate’s validity. This claimed identity then acts as a shortcut for voters who don’t want to research a candidate’s values or platforms.
I aspire to counter that prayer-posturing, however, with halting words and with stuttering silences that actually compete with March Madness for our passions.
I remember the riots of the early ‘60s Civil Rights movement — the late ‘60s antiwar movement — and yet today’s politics of fear, racism, hate, and disrespect are beyond anything I remember in the past.