Friday, September 5, 2008, 11:35 AM PST [
Politics]
I needed to vent and love to write, so here is my newest literary baby.
Okay, I try to keep my nose clean by not sticking it into places where I have no intention of getting caught up. But how can I not speak my mind when it comes to things that affect myself and those that I hold dear to me, not to mention the whole nation and world?
Every presidential candidate has positives and negatives, you can never find a totally perfect candidate. It has always been based on picking the lesser of the two evils out there. This year is no different, but this year has a whole new set of stigmas attached to it. This year it has come down to John McCain and Barack Obama. This is going to prove to be a monumental Presidential election between our two contenders.
John McCain, a decorated war veteran and prison camp survivor of 6 years, a staunch religious and family man, a businessman in the oil field, a Republican who stands by his values. He has been in the political arena for over 26 years as a Representative for two terms and a Senator for 4 terms. He has been known to be impatient and have a temper, and to not back down from a fight. He supports the continued war in Iraq, and has garnered some volatile remarks against him from the populous about it, and support from others. He has stood up for a research development tax credit and he wants to make the Bush tax cuts permanent instead of letting them expire. McCain also plans to freeze non-defense discretionary spending for at least a year. He has been suspect of supporting the middle and upper class, letting the lower class and small businesses to flounder and sink.
Barack Obama, a Democrat with strong Christian values, an African American which in and of itself is a "new thing". He is young, not like McCain's 76 years. He is not new to the political arena, but is considered a "newbie" by many. He has served 7 years as an Illinois Legislator, and won the Illinois Senate bid in 2004 to present. He is a veteran lawyer with strong civil rights pulls to his credit, along with strong ties to community organization. He doesn't support the war in Iraq, and would like a pull-out within the next 18 months. He has gone much scrutiny for his name, some alluding to ties to being Muslim. Some have even claimed he sympathizes with Iraqi citizens and would support them over his own country. He has fought against racism and questions about his values regarding his racial diversity. He shows support for the lower class and small businesses, while wanting the big corporations to pay their fair share instead of getting off easy.
I could go on with political sparring, but in reality, what have we heard from these two but a bunch of slander-slinging and jibber jabber about religious views? We haven't heard much about their political views, unless it is tied in with some mud slinging here and there. When both candidates attending the Saddleback Convention, the majority of the questions were regarding religious views and what each candidate supported based on religious values.
As far as I can remember, this country's current political system has been based on the "separation of church and state" since . The term is often credited to Thomas Jefferson from a letter he wrote to the Danbury Baptists in 1802. The following is what he wrote in that letter over 200 years ago:
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."
Another user of this term was James Madison, the principal drafter of the US Bill of Rights. The separation of church and state is the First Amendment in the United States Constitution.
Reading this, you can't help but wonder how this campaign season has become so solely based on religious views. I can give you one word that will sum up my views of the reason: BUSH. He has come out of the gate at both elections that he won, touting his strong Christian views and wielding them in front of him like a sword. He has used them to defend many of his actions, not necessarily with words but by his actions. Many of the laws that he has supported or defeated were based on his religious principles. He is ruling our country and our lives based on his own religious doctrine.
The right to choose who we would like to have as our next U.S. President has become a burden that many had been losing interest in over the past elections. With this election, more attention is being paid on the issues that concern the citizens and the world. People are bringing their eyes and ears out of their little worlds to listen and watch what is going on. Youth have become politically aware at a young age, all because this election has proven to be a monumental and groundbreaking time in our history.
How will you decide who to vote for? Will you base your choice on the issues that affect us like the economy, gas prices and oil companies, educational issues, the war in Iraq, and the constant struggle against illegal immigration. Or will you base them on your religious views and beliefs? Will you be like the many who will mix and mingle their religious values with their political ones? It has been shown that more and more people are not following their "political party" anymore, but instead voting for the candidate, be it male or female, who more closely follows the values that they do.
Now I can tell you firsthand that my religious views are vastly different from either candidate, and from many who live in our Nation. I look at my children and my visions of the future and try to picture which candidate can make my visions a reality, or at least get my vision closer to fruition. I am not interested in WHO they believe in, but I am interested in WHAT they find important and necessary to help sustain our way of life to the best of the Nation's interests, not their own political agenda. I want to know what they are going to do to better our lives, and I want them to follow through and JUST DO IT.
