Dipping my toes in the political fray

Over the summer I mentioned a comment to my father-in-law that a republican friend had made about how creating new gun laws would restrict the God given agency to bear arms. My father-in-law frowned slightly, nodded his head, and said "hmphf" in his thoughtful way. After a moment he augmented his response by adding, "Agency is meant to serve others."

My dad, also over the summer, began sharing a podcast he had heard on the idea of redemptive violence. To give a brief generalization, yes - God does permit violence but "most violence, even divinely assisted violence, sows the seeds for future violence." If we want long term results, assertive compassion is more effective. Love is better. 

I used to follow this blogger named Brad McBride back when he used the pseudonym Middle-aged Mormon Man. But with the addition of kids I don't have the time (or desire) to read his lengthy blog posts. He recently posted on how he decided whom to vote for in the 2020 presidential election. Even thought I hadn't followed him in awhile I was interested to see his thought process because I normal find his spiritual insights uplifting and provoking. This post was provoking - but not in an uplifting way. It did, however, provide insight into how a good percentage of my friends and those that I go to church with think. When reading, I felt strongly that he nit picked policies and doctrine that would fall in favor of the sitting president. It is unlikely that he did so with an open mind (whether consciously or not) but rather a desire to justify his choice. To highlight one of the examples of doctrine McBride provided, he wrote:

I can't vote for candidates or a party who feel that the founding of our Nation is illegitimate and immoral, and condones the defaming of those who did that heavy lifting...

...unless I distance myself from the Lord's involvement: "And for this purpose have I established the Constitution in this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood." (D&C 101:80)

By "heavy lifting" I am certain that he was referring to early white male property holders, not those in the south who actually did, you know, heavy lifting.  

There are several NPR podcasts that I enjoy listening to, one of which is called Hidden Brain. Two of the more recent podcasts that I have particularly appreciated because of how they approach the times we are living in and what I am experiencing in my life were on implicit bias and moral combat. In summary, every one is biased. Understanding that you are biased and recognizing what your bias(es) is/are is important. Moral convictions are important however there are "...intense emotions that accompany them, [a] disinterest in evidence, [a] distrust of authority figures who might challenge them." People will make decisions based on the evidence of their feelings. People will disregard information that contradicts the conviction even if provided with peer-reviewed evidence from a leading expert. 

And I think that sums up American politics. The polarization, the strict moral lines that have been drawn. To compromise or listen to someone with a different conviction is to show weakness. 

In February a man named John Pavlovitz posted an article that summarized my feelings. In 3 Nephi 11:29 it reads: 

For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. 

In Matthew 22:37-39 it reads: 

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

There is a story in the Book of Mormon about a group of people that called themselves the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. They were a group of people who delighted in war but after learning about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ they decided to bury their weapons in the earth as a symbol of their devotion and change of heart. They recognized that their weapons, for them, would lead to contention. Their love towards their brethren led them to be willing to sacrifice their own lives rather than the life of their enemy. I aspire to have that form of love towards others. The most recent General Conference highlighted the importance of caring for each other and working to be united (despite our differring moral convictions and biases).

And that's how I decided whom to vote for. I picked the candidate that I felt would encourage the most peace, compassion, and understanding of the diverse community we are fortunate to live in.

Tangent (I wasn't sure how to fit this in): I am not much of a socialist but I think it's a better form of economy than capitalist greed. I also feel that many people in the US associate capitalism with democracy - that to have a good democratic government we need capitalism. That is not true.