Party Lines

In this day and age, we can’t afford to allow two distinctly separate political parties dictate our decisions for us. Life isn’t black and white; there is a grey area in between. A beautiful grey area, which we need to take the time to appreciate and ponder more often, because otherwise we are cheating ourselves out of understanding the true nature of reality.

I am the first to admit a tendency to see one way or the other; but on the other hand sometimes I run into disagreements with other ProU users based merely on my own lack of ability to communicate. This is the case yesterday, over a particular blog posted that was very clearly oriented along party lines.

To summarize, the blog was about an incident wherein a 12-year-old recipient of benefits from the SCHIP program gave a radio address concerning the program, and in retaliation various political groups attacked the child and his family. Clearly, the entire situation was regrettable. In my opinion, the child should not have been used as a political weapon in the first place, to gain “compassion” support for the program. However, the actions of the groups who attacked his family and his rights to receive these benefits, in order to further their own agendas, were absolutely deplorable. Two wrongs do not make a right, and neither position has won bonus points with me here.

In the argument I had with the other ProU user (who was not the original poster) I did not clearly express myself. It’s not just about what you are saying, but how you say it, when trying to get a point across, and I clearly did not do this well. This led to an embarrassing and frustrating confrontation, which extended into another blog on another topic. The point I was trying to make was that it’s easy to come up with individual examples, taken out of context or not, to prove a point on either side of a discussion, and that’s why examples are just that: examples. They can provide support and guidance, but they really don’t prove or justify anything.

When I look at an issue, I never consider what the “Republican” or “Democrat” viewpoint would be, and then choose a side. My choices are made by careful consideration backed by logic and research, hopefully from accurate sources. When I’m wrong in using a particular logic or fact, and somebody proves it; I’ll admit it. The fun part about politics is nobody can be really “right” or “wrong” about an issue, because every problem has multiple solutions that each has its individual advantages and disadvantages.

I challenge each and every one of you to step out of the mindset that yourself or others are thinking like a “Republican” or a “Democrat” and instead just consider the issues we discuss here with a clear mind, without predispositions or biases. It’s much harder than it sounds, isn’t it?

If we each make this effort, and think with our hearts and our minds regardless of our affiliation or our upbringing, it will make the world a better place for everyone.