Divided Country

[LDSGator]

Ironically I always thought third party voting was childish and nonsensical. But after all the Trump drama I can see myself doing it. Even if I still think it’s childish and nonsensical. 

[mirkwood]

14 hours ago, LDSGator said:

Ironically I always thought third party voting was childish and nonsensical. But after all the Trump drama I can see myself doing it. Even if I still think it’s childish and nonsensical. 

Interesting.  I always found it to be following your principles.

[LDSGator]

11 minutes ago, mirkwood said:

Interesting.  I always found it to be following your principles.

You and I have talked about this many times on FB. I see it totally differently. In the real world perfect is the enemy of the good. In politics we should vote for the lesser evil because the alternative is worse.
 

So why won’t I vote for Trump? The same reason why right leaning people stayed home or voted third party in 08’, 12’ etc. After all, if it’s okay for them to do it I can too.  

Edited August 17, 2023 by LDSGator

[mirkwood]

1 hour ago, LDSGator said:

You and I have talked about this many times on FB. I see it totally differently. In the real world perfect is the enemy of the good. In politics we should vote for the lesser evil because the alternative is worse.
 

So why won’t I vote for Trump? The same reason why right leaning people stayed home or voted third party in 08’, 12’ etc. After all, if it’s okay for them to do it I can too.  

 

Voting your principles is never a bad thing.

 

I voted for Trump because I knew the kind of Supreme Court nominees he would appoint and that he could beat Hillary (and ANYBODY was better than her.)  Supreme Court nominees was the most important issue to me at that time.

 

I'll vote for DeSantis in the primary because I think he is the best choice.  If Trump (probably) wins the primary I'll make my choice as the race progresses.  If I decide the economy is the most important issue to me I will vote for Trump again.  If not, I'll look at my other options.  It's not like I haven't voted third party before.

 

 

[mirkwood]

1 hour ago, LDSGator said:

After all, if it’s okay for them to do it I can too.  

So you're going to vote your principles?  Good for you.

[LDSGator]

2 minutes ago, mirkwood said:

So you're going to vote your principles?  Good for you.

Nope, I’m voting out of spite and to feel morally superior to those who get their hands dirty by voting for the nominee. I admit it. 

[LDSGator]

On 8/10/2023 at 8:23 PM, prisonchaplain said:

I get it @LDSGator. I wish both political sides would do the opposite--Liberals to Conservatives: We'll have Biden step down if you have Trump step down. Conservatives: OK.

Now you see why I look to Jesus, rather than politics, for my miracles. 😁

You aren’t on my FB @prisonchaplain, but I won the bet! 

[Carborendum]

dup

Edited September 21, 2023 by Carborendum

[Carborendum]

The division in this country comes from the merging of the average citizen with the politician.

POLITICS:

In any other dicussion/debate, normal human beings talk about facts, results, examples in history, etc.  Then we try to come to some solution.

But when politicians speak they don't speak of facts.  They speak of rhetoric.  They rile people up to hate the other side so that it doesn't matter what facts are brought up because the hate is all that matters.

Rhetoric, labeling, emotion, touchy-feely things were all that rule.

SOCIETY:

Historically, it was always considered polite to not debate politics & religion with your friends and neighbors.  Could we occasionally bring it up in casual conversation?  Sure.  But people tended to understand that it was about facts, evidence, and results.

The other more important factor was that it was ok to disagree.  People had good reasons to believe what they did, even if they disagreed with our position which happened to also be backed up by good reasons as well.

In the past, society had other things that we did to socialize and unite groups of people.  Virtually everyone had some "thing" they did with others.  And such things would also periodically include meeting with others who were friends-of-friends.

• Bowling clubs were among the most popular pass-times in the country. 
• Sewing clubs were among the most popular among women.
• Sports, bridge, service organizations (Rotary, Kiwanis, Shriners, etc.)

Dozens of other things that people were involved in allowed us to socialize in a dozen different ways.  And we did good in the community without government telling us how to do it.

Over my lifetime, each of these things died.  Nowadays, there are only two places where people are allowed to become friends that is common to virtually every city and every state:

• Church
• Political Activism

While Church can go both ways (divide or unite) political activism certainly has only one result-- divide.  Notice I said "result".  It has the "goal" of many different things.  And that is the problem.  Even people who are within the movement have different goals and objectives.

Churches that will isolate rather than unite are also a part of the problem. 

• Politics has historically been an effort to "win by putting down the other side."  Religion is about inviting others to join.
• Politics requires anger and hatred.  Religion should be about inviting.

I don't know if I can cohesively put together all the hows and whats of the demise of all our social institutions.  But I can be sure by observing the results, that it has been calculated and purposeful.  Get rid of everything else that we can unite under, and we'll retreat back to only two things: Politics & Religion.

That is why there is such a concerted effort to get rid of religion.  Eventually, more religions will unite on one side and government will be on the other.  Even Jews and Muslims will unite against the ever increasing oppressive arm of government.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Carborendum