October 3rd, 2016

Seemingly every week brings new lows to the political conversation going on in the United States. We see candidates show less and less concern with (inter)national issues while growing more and more embroiled in personal attacks. The conversations I hear--and more often see on social media--reflect this too. If there ever was a time when people engaged in respectful discourse about opposing viewpoints, it feels long gone. Too often people seem more concerned with proving the opposition wrong than with promoting their own views, and I cannot think of the last time I've heard anyone with the humility to admit they might be wrong, or at least acknowledge that their opinion may not be the only valid one out there. I know I certainly have been guilty of all these things, and more, and I sincerely apologize for any conversations I've been a part of in which I have been less than gracious.

Lately the combination of the unprecedented prevalence of political conversations and their unpleasant tones has begun to really grate on me. More than anything though, I am saddened by the deep discord among Christians. I've seen articles about both major party candidates stating that they are the only right or moral choice for true Christians, come election day. More disturbing is the fierceness with which Christians have begun defending their chosen candidate and attacking both the other candidate and their supporters. I can only shake my head in sadness and disappointment, and, if I'm honest, feel myself agreeing sometimes. And I hate that.

I want to promote peaceful and respectful dialogue, though I find myself sucked in to the mire of political arguments at times; I cannot claim perfection by any means in this area, try as I might to stay respectful. I know as well as anyone how difficult it can be to keep a civil tone, for there are very important issues and serious consequences at stake. But when we stoop to personal attacks, stating our own views as facts or stating facts haughtily as if knowing them makes us better humans somehow, Jesus is not proud of us for being right. When we seek to show we are right and others are wrong, rather than gain a better understanding of other views and respectfully share our own beliefs and the path that led us to hold them, we do not show the rest of the world what it means to follow Christ's teaching and example. When so many Christians spew so much hatred at one another over politics, it makes us a vale of shadows to be avoided, not a light on a hill to be sought.

Yes, there are important differences between the candidates running for office. Our world will likely be rather different with one or the other as President. I have about as much at stake as anyone else, given that my cancer, now a "pre-existing condition," would cost me my health insurance coverage if the Affordable Care Act is repealed, as many politicians want. I do not take lightly the fact that I am alive today thanks to more than a million dollars of medical treatment over the last couple years. I care deeply who gets elected and what they do once in office. But that still gives me no right to yell at anyone about politics, to declare that I am right and that to disagree with me is to be a misinformed idiot who wants to kill cancer patients. No matter how much I might want to at times. One thing cancer has taught me is that you never know what someone else might be going through. If someone posts an inflammatory Facebook status about their political views, answer their anger and frustration with kindness and love. It may not change their mind, but it might be just what they need.