Intro

I've mostly tried to avoid politics, but recently I've started paying a little more attention.  I can't do too much because it usually makes me angry.  Too much fighting, not enough listening.  Two sides with dramatically different worldviews, so no obvious way of coming together and agreeing on anything, so they just fight and it is ugly and getting us nowhere.  I've been thinking recently about just sitting down and writing as I explore this ugly world of politics.  Maybe no one will read it, maybe it's just a way for me to sort out my thoughts, who knows?  I want to lay out my personal thoughts, and I would love for others to share theirs, as long as it is respectful.  Civil dialogue is the only way we are going to see change. 

I believe that we each form our beliefs based on our own experiences.  What we are taught as children is of course very big in the beginning, but as we grow and experience more variety of experience in life, our thoughts can change.  How often do we really stop and think about our beliefs?  I like to talk to people who challenge me to think about what I really believe is true. 

I come from a Christian worldview.  It's not just a random set of unproven beliefs, it is an experience based knowledge of the goodness of God.  My relationship with Jesus most definitely affects how I believe life should be lived.  As a kid, I watched other people do the things I was taught were wrong, and I saw them live through the consequences of those actions.  For me, this validated the Bible's set of rules.  They made sense.  God is a good Father, and He's trying to show us how to avoid getting hurt.  As I got older, those beliefs grew even stronger.  I began to see His hand in my life, bringing me blessings and answering my prayers, and how following Him led me into better and better places.  Bad things do still happen, but I can almost always trace them to someone somewhere making a choice to go a different way than God's way. 

I enjoy watching movies that offer up an ethical conundrum.  When it doesn't seem like there is a good choice, what do you do?  The most clear example is the gladiators of ancient Rome.  Kill or be killed?  That's a pretty horrific choice.  Jesus said to turn the other cheek, so will I lay down my sword?  I don't know.  I don't think any of can really know what we'd do in such a crazy situation unless it happens, but I enjoy thinking about what would be the right thing to do in God's eyes.  That thought process colors all of my political choices. 

I have a few ideas on what way to go with this.  I could tackle current topics as the arise, or I also thought about going to the official Republican and Democrat webpages and reading through their basic platform and working though the issues they stand on.  I could also just randomly pick out big hot button issues to explore.  Or a mix of these ideas....