Polarizing

Ok, so when is it cool to absolutely try and polarize people to the point where they have to be on one side of the fence or the other? And I say this referring to politics, nowadays.

I was watching some of CNN's coverage of the DNC while at work and John Kerry came on the screen. And in the first phrase out of his mouth came blame pushed at the Republicans. And I just know that when the RNC comes along, the same thing will happen with some well know Republican will just out and out blast the Democrats for all the problems we are having as a country. And then, what really gets me, is that there are those who say all the fault lies with the President! What!?!

Ok, I'll give you that the President is the representative of the country to the world and that he helps drive policy. But that one man, just a human person, is not solely responsible for all the policies, programs, laws and the such that have brought us to this point. Heck, sometimes the blame should go to Congress. They're the people who have to pass laws too! That's what the Constitution is there for. It makes sure, by rule of law, that no one person is responsible for the country and that way no one person can take over the country and hold that kind of power over the American People. And in that light, Congress isn't fully responsible either. They are there only because we told them to be there. And we did that by electing them! So, who's directly to blame for all the stuff that's happening. All of us.

We each have a say in our collective destiny. We control our actions and inactions that drive the lawmakers to make laws, that influences our President's decisions both domestically and internationally. It's all on us, America. And we screw up. A lot.

Now I could get into the facts or details about how we screw up, or why it is this way, but I'm not going to. It would be too heated and I don't think I could stand it. I think it's this way because we find it way too easy to put the blame on someone else. And when we do that, it becomes less of our responsibility. So, I'll just leave it at that.

To get to my conclusion, here, we do have to stop polarizing ourselves. It leads to the blame game and we feel less responsible for our actions. We need to depolarize. We need to stop factioning off. It's cool to have your own opinions and beliefs. I think everyone should. It would suck if we all agreed on everything. We need to act civil with each other and just grow up already.

It's because of polarization that we have the political parties, and the party system is broken. If you want to belong to a political party, you "have" to agree with what the party says. To take a cue from Stephen Colbert, it's just "wikiolitics" - a belief structure of a political group based on a general consensus of ideas of its members. It's lame. I shouldn't have to want a better public education system and then as a result only be able to vote pro-choice. That's not cool. The party system is broken. Especially for the middle of the road-ers. Polarizing is bad.

So, you can see how I feel about that!

New Blog

So, I thought I would begin another little blog site. I have one that logs my life and adventures in the Air Force. I will be using this new site as a blog with more musings on various subjects I have.

Today's first subject, prayer.

I'm going to start out by saying that, in my opinion and observations, prayer works. But, you have to be open to God's interpretation and His solutions to your prayers. This kind of reminds me of a line from Evan Almighty (bad title for a decent movie with a decent moral/lesson). Morgan Freeman, as God, is talking to Evan's wife and asks, "When you pray for patience, does God give you patience, or does He give you the opportunity to be patient?" I may be paraphrasing, but you get the point. Now, I agree with this, in a way. We know that God doesn't always come in the burning bush or as a break in the storm clouds in a great big booming voice granting prayers exactly as we ask for them nowadays. I'm not going to say that it doesn't happen, because I'm sure that it can. It just hasn't happened that way with me. But, I have been seeing the opportunities that God has given me to act on what I have prayed for. And I know I've asked for a lot, and I have been given a lot. I have so much to be thankful for, and so much to look forward to. I am excited for the situations and opportunities that God is giving me.

Ok, so, as some of my friends may know, I have been impatient in some areas of my life that I have fervently prayed for. But, opportunities are always coming up and showing themselves everywhere. So, I just need to find those opportunities, evaluate how God is answering my prayers in them, and then accept them as God answering my prayers.

So, to sum up: I fully believe that prayer works and have many examples in my own life.

I ask that you freely post any comments or just let me know what you think! Oh, and I should mention that not all posts will necessarily involve religion or religious views. There may be many of them, as I am feeling like now is a time for me to grow in that part of my life. But I do promise some ranting and raving on fluff as well ;)