Elections: Your side won, now what?

So, the election is just around the corner - mere days away.  In a week or less you will (we hope) go to bed knowing who won, or you will wake up the next day and find out.  (Unless it's really close.  I sure hope that doesn't happen!)

So  - your side won!  Congratulations!  (Maybe!)  Now what?

First, no gloating.  I'm writing this first draft about three weeks before the election, but I'm betting that at least 40% of the population will vote for the loser in the presidential election.  That means that four out of every ten people you might meet are delusional idiots - right?!  Hopefully not.  They may have different values than you, or be less informed, but their hopes are being dashed.  They are fellow Americans.  They are people you should care about.  Some of them even hold their views as a result of intelligent thought.  (Imagine that!)

Second, your candidate(s) won't solve all (or perhaps any) of the problems we're facing in this country.  Our problems are huge.  Support your candidate(s), but be aware that given the need to get laws through legislative bodies, special interests, changing circumstances and so on, that many of those hopes and promises will be modified or left unfulfilled.

Third, be humble.  Your ideas and values may be wrong.  You may be able to learn from those on the other side of the political spectrum.

Fourth, be loving toward those who lost.  Your turn to lose will come; I can guarantee it.

Fifth, don't forget to continue to support those who are newly elected.  Let them know when you support them and disagree with them.  Let them know why.  They are our servants, not our bosses.  Pray for them.

Sixth, don't write off your side if your candidates have to go against what they said they would do when they ran for office.  Sometimes politicians change their points of view or actions because they want to get political favors.  But sometimes the necessities of governing mean that they must do things they didn't want to do at one point.

Lastly, we must decrease the amount of distrust we Americans have for people who hold other political views.  "We must all strive for unity, peace, and a re-examination of how we can learn to live with each other better at both a national and international level."  (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/adrianwarnock/2012/10/us-presidential-elections-a-nation-divided/

As we pray for our leaders, let's also actively work toward being understanding and kind toward others.

Elections: Your side lost, now what?

So, the election is just around the corner - mere days away  (Won't you be glad when it's over!).  In a week or less you will (we hope) go to bed knowing who won, or you will wake up the next day and find out.  (Unless it's really close.  I sure hope that doesn't happen!)

So  - your side lost!  I'm sorry!  (Maybe!  Depends on whether I won, right?!)  Now what?

First, no nastiness toward the winners.  I'm writing the first draft of this about three weeks before the election, but I'm betting that at least 40% of the population will vote for the loser in the presidential election.  That means that four out of every ten people you might meet are delusional idiots - right?!  Hopefully not.  They may have different values than you, or be less informed, but they are fellow Americans.  They are people you should care about and treat with kindness and dignity.  Some of them even hold their views as a result of intelligent thought.  (Imagine that!)  Also, about four out of every ten people agree with you (more or less)!  Maybe next time your side will do better!

Second, your candidate(s) wouldn't have solved all (or perhaps any) of the problems we're facing in this country.  Our problems are huge.  Some, perhaps much, of what the winning side wants may not get done.

Third, be humble.  Your ideas and values may be wrong.  You may be able to learn from those on the other side of the political spectrum.

Fourth, be loving toward those who won.  Your turn to win will come; I can guarantee it, even if I don't like it.

Fifth, don't forget to continue to support those who are newly elected.  Let them know when you support them and disagree with them.  Let them know why.  They are our servants, not our bosses.  Pray for them.  Governing well is difficult.

Sixth, be glad that we live in a land where rulers and governors at all levels come and go and no one has to go into exile or is shot or imprisoned because they were on the losing side.

May that long continue.

Political Concept Group

Recently I've been having several discussions on Facebook with different people about politics, truth in politics, public policy and social issues.  Some of the people agree pretty closely with me, others are very (almost uncomfortably for me) liberal.  Once we get past the sloganeering that many (most?) of us are at times prone to do, we have some interesting discussions.  I learn a lot about how others think, and why they value what they do.  I learn that many of them share my concerns and that we could work together.  And then some idiot politician says something stupid, and I feel like we're back to square one.  So, I’ve been thinking about forming a new group on Facebook.

What I have in mind for this group is that we discuss truth and facts in the political and social realm and their implications for public policy.

I don’t want posts straight from either of the major parties.  I don’t want sloganeering, but rather questions and discussions about what is true and what isn’t true about what the candidates and parties claim.  I want us to discuss the implications of these truths and falsehoods related to such issues as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the debt, the deficit, defense spending, cultural values, (abortion, homosexual marriage) and so on.  I hope that even though we may disagree with each other we will at least understand where people we disagree with are coming from.  Most Conservatives and Republicans aren't evil or stupid.  Neither are most Liberals and Democrats.

I’m hoping that we can call out politicians on either side when they make stupid claims, statements, or utter falsehoods.  Or when they stretch the truth.  I hope that we can do it in such as a way that we aren’t playing “gotcha” with each other.  I would like us to link to articles that are thoughtful and fair.  We will try and present others’ views as fairly and accurately as possible and then discuss them.

One of my online Facebook friends/debaters suggested that we call such a group as this the “Concept Party”.  I ended up with “Political Concept Group - A Via Media.”

You may still believe that your party is better than mine, your candidates more ethical and better than mine.  Fine.  But let’s realize that we have many of the same goals for ourselves and for the country (for those in the USA.  For those who aren't there are still lots of common areas such as debt, poverty, abortion, homosexual marriage and so on).  We’ll treat each other with respect, and not be nasty about each other as people.  And we’ll try to not be nasty about positions that we disagree with.  We won’t call each other racists, Nazis, fundamentalists etc unless it’s really warranted.  If you think a policy has racist implications, then spell out those implications without assuming that the person is a racist.  Maybe the person who holds that view is a racist.  Maybe you see something he’s missed.  Maybe you’re missing something.

Some of us will be Christians, some not.  Let's all remember to treat each other as we would like to be treated.  Let's be up front about our own biases and positions.

Interested?  Know someone else who holds some of these same values?  Let me know.  I’ll moderate and control the group for a while at least.  People who engage in name calling or simple sloganeering will be gently admonished and given a chance to moderate their statements and/or apologize and interact with the group before being blocked.  Those who persist in acting this way will be blocked at some point.

Here’s an article that got me to sort of wanting to do something.
http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/lies-damn-lies-and

Book Reviews: Still the Best Hope & The Brief Against Obama

I'm getting a bunch of reading done this summer!  Some of it's fiction, but I'm also doing some political reading.  Specifically, I'm reading The Brief Against Obama by Hugh Hewitt and Still the Best Hope by Dennis Prager.




I've listened to both men for years on their radio programs and read several of Dennis Prager's books.  Nothing against Hugh, but I really like Dennis.  Both write well.  If you are interested in knowing more about why you should support Conservatives rather than Liberals, read one or both of these books.

The Brief Against Obama is primarily presented as a legal brief against Obama.  There are twenty-five chapters.  Each chapter is a topical brief against Obama.  These briefs are reasons not to vote for Obama.
The twenty-five chapters are divided into three areas.

1. Domestic Policy Failures
2. Foreign Policy Failures
3. Leadership Failures

Each chapter is fairly short and easily read.  Some are more interesting and compelling than others, but together they make a compelling reason not to vote for Obama.

Still the Best Hope is longer and summarizes Prager's thoughts on America, her values and their roles in the world.  The sub-title is: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph.  Prager believes that there are only three futures for the world.  Either the world will embrace Leftist values, American values, or Islamist values.  He believes that only American values will give security, prosperity, and  freedom to the people of the world.  This book explains at length why.

Part 1 explores Leftism, which is the most relevant to our situation in America today with the election coming this Autumn.  

Dennis describes why Leftism is a religion and describes what Leftists believe and why they believe it.  He then describes what the consequences are of these beliefs  The Left is Utopian, believing that in this life and world we can have a perfect or nearly perfect life.  The Right realizes that the best is often the enemy of the good and that in the search for the best the Left destroys much that is good in society.  Why is the Left so successful in putting forward their ideas when their ideas are so destructive to society and so often don't match reality?  Dennis explores this at length.  The reasons include: the emotional basis for much of Leftist thought, sloganeering, pursuing self esteem rather than accomplishments, the wide-spread dissemination of Leftist thought in universities and the media, the demonization of the Right, and the creation and propagation of crises such as heterosexual AIDS, second hand smoke, swine flu, global warming and so on.  The last chapter of this section deals with the moral record of the Left.  Prager concludes that the Left does not recognize evil, and that whatever it touches, it has made worse.

Part 2 explores Islam and Islamism.  I'll have to comment more on this part later, as I haven't read this part yet.

Part 3 describes America and her values.  Again, more later.