A couple of weeks ago, I attended church away from home. My wife and I were on our way home from our latest hike and we stopped in a town long enough to go to church before continuing on our way home.
The bishop there (in our faith, that’s basically the equivalent of a catholic priest or a pastor) gave one of the most inspiring messages I’ve heard in a long time. He started by saying that, at the pulpit, we do not endorse candidates or parties. We don’t preach different political platforms. But it IS our responsibility to make our voices known (not at the pulpit), both in voting and in other forms. But as we make our voices known, we are required to love those who do not agree with our platform. We are not required to accept their views. We are not required to believe that their party is best for this country. We are not required to promote their positions. We ARE required to love them!
I’ve written in the past that the biggest problem in this countries political environment is the extreme divisiveness between the two parties. I am going follow that bishop’s counsel to voice my opinion; and I’m going to agree with the requirement that he says we need to follow.
I’m reminded of the parable of the good Samaritan who found an injured Jew on the road. Samaritans and Jews were intense political rivals who hated each other to an extent that is very reminiscent of today’s blue vs. red hatred. And yet, when the Samaritan encountered the injured Jew, he recognized the requirement of the law to love your neighbor… and he did.
We are in the process of voicing our opinions now. That’s good! That’s what we need to be doing as we prepare for an election where we will elect people that will have the opportunity to find solutions to the problems we face as a country. We need to be very careful about how we voice those opinions. Hatred, derogatory memes, violent protest, name calling, and similar voices have no part in this process! When we use these voices, we are part of the problem. Stop it! We need to voice our opinions respectfully. We need to listen to what the other side has to say; and try to understand it. We don’t have to agree with it… but we DO have to listen. We DO have to be respectful. That’s what you do when you love someone.
In a very short time, we’re going to have a new president. That president is surely going to be red or blue. On that day, we need to be especially cognizant of the fact that we are ALL neighbors. If your side wins… you need to respectfully sympathize with our neighbors who feel that they have lost. If your side loses… you need to respectfully and peacefully acknowledge that, and move forward, looking for ways to continue to voice your opinions and concerns.
I will also say, to the side that wins, no ideas that come from only one party will ever serve to truly address the problems this country faces. Realistically, all single-party ideas serve to do is to continue the divisiveness. If the parties would truly talk to each other, and come up with solutions which addressed concerns from both sides; even to the extent of making some concessions for concerns that are real, even if they are less widely held than your own; if this type of cooperation could occur, then we would be on our way to healing the divide that our nation is experiencing. Then we would be on our way to making America great. That will NOT happen as long as hatred continues; as long as the divide is not healed.
