Wouldn't the world be a much better place if politics were happy? And fun? And tasted like sugar? Instead they're angry, and stressful, and their aftertaste is nothing but gross. As a rule of thumb, I avoid politics as much as possible.
Well, as much as I can avoid them, what with their being EVERYWHERE. Election season on Facebook is bad, but it just so happens that Nameless Utah College fancies itself a center of social activism. Thus almost everyone from my school posts politics on Facebook out the wazoo.
Me, I don't do politics on Facebook. Every now and again I might comment on something, or like a post. I'm not interested in arguing with people, though, and I know that's exactly what I'd be sucked into should I make any political posts. So I stay out of it as much as possible, trying to respect other peoples' right to their opinions, even when I really don't like those opinions.
Of those opinions, one in particular really bothers me.
I had a classmate who was smart and tough and who managed to get to college even when all the odds were against her. I knew we didn't agree on most things, and she knew we didn't agree on most things, but out of the things we did agree on a mutual respect and appreciation had developed. I told her several times how much I admired her, and she once complimented me on how mature I am (and funnily enough, she was being sincere). Our coexistence was peaceful.
One day, my classmate posted an article on Facebook, raving about how much she agreed with it. I clicked on the article and read away.
The thesis of the article? If people don't agree with your political stance, you should cut all ties with them. Because if they don't agree with you on these most important issues, why would you want to be acquainted with them, anyways?
"Hmm," I thought when I finished reading the article, "is that really any way to live?" I guess my classmate thought so, because within just a few weeks she had deleted me from her list of Facebook friends.
The reason that politics is so unlike a funfetti cake is because people take them way, way too seriously. Having a classmate delete you on Facebook simply because they know you disagree with them is just the icing on the cake (except I just said it wasn't a cake. So it's the, uh, non-icing on the non-cake). Way closer friendships, relationships, and marriages sometimes break up over politics. Or, on the flip side, people get into tirades against total strangers in the comment sections of online political articles, swearing at this individual that they've never met and insulting everything from their opponent's education to their parents to their religious beliefs, for no reason other than the fact that they just happen to disagree.
I'm going to tell it to you like it is. How is it?
It's stupid..
Granted, politics are important. They're a way for us to express how we feel and to put our two cents into the way our world is run. Politics and morals often intersect, too, and especially in those instances there's nothing wrong with taking a political stance.
In spite of all that, though, politics are still just politics. It's an imperfect, manmade system. And when it starts getting in the way of the type of life God would have us live, well, we're in trouble.
See, God has asked us to love one another. That's not easy, of course. Not much of what God asks of us is easy. Plus, people are so, so infuriating so, so much of the time. Especially when you have a deep suspicion that your political beliefs are "right" and theirs are "wrong."
But again, politics aren't morals. Again, they may intersect (a lot of laws deal with morality), but the relationship is complicated. No matter what politics decide, morality remains intact. No matter what we legislate, God's laws remain the same. So there's no sense in letting politics be so all-defining in our lives and in our relationships when they only mean so much anyways.
When you get down to it, everyone who takes a political stance usually wants the same things. Happiness, peace, prosperity, security, stuff like that. Show me a political group who doesn't want those things, and I'll show you a political group that's never really gotten off the ground. Humans pretty much all want the same stuff. We just don't agree on how to get there.
Suppose you are on the first floor of a building with some other people and all of you want to get to the second floor. You and a few others decide to take the elevator. A couple decide to take the escalator. The rest take the stairs.
Would you start yelling at someone who decided to take the escalator, "You're so ignorant, brainwashed and deluded! Only morons think that an escalator is going to get them anywhere!"?
Would you call after the people walking to the stairs, "I can't believe you chose the stairs! This decision defines who you are, and clearly you're the kind of person I never want to associate with again!"?
If you answered yes to either of those questions, you have another problem entirely. I can't do anything for you. Sorry.
If, on the other hand, you thought, "Okay, that might be a little ridiculous," can you see why it would be ridiculous to do the same thing over a trifle like politics?
All I know is, people are made up of so many things. To think that you really know who a person is simply because you know what political party they support is an insult to both them and to you. It's no different than defining a person by wealth, race, or religion. Until you get to know someone--see them playing with their nieces and nephews, look at their baby pictures, know their disappointments, hear about all the kind things they've done for their friends and all the struggles they've had with their weaknesses--any decision you might make about who that person really truly is would be superficial and weak.
Don't define a person's value based on their politics. Don't even start. Get to know who they actually are instead.
If you do that, and I do that, more people might start doing it, too. Then politics really can be like a funfetti cake. The Democrats can be the green funfetti. The Republicans can be the blue ones. The Communists can be the weird yellow ones that seem to be there but that are pretty hard to see. All the funfetti would be in the same cake, and even though the funfetti might not agree about how the cake should turn out, it might at least make the most of the experience of being in the cake together.
Then politics would be fun. And sugary. And covered in frosting. And able to turn lemonade sour when consumed with that particular liquid.
...I think this metaphor only goes so far.
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