What to think about politics and stuff


All the politics...man, it's a lot of stuff.  It's crazy, isn't it?!  Wow.

You have some who speak a "Christian message" but push a "Caesar agenda".

And then you have a whole other group that does *exactly the same thing*.

Each of the "sides" has a Christian message, one emphasizing a different POV than the other, both calling on "Caesar" to be their enforcer.

__________

One side wants to do good by painting Jesus into a corner of always giving everyone a pass on any kind of life, behavior, or condition - but he never, ever calls anything wrong except not accepting all people and not helping everyone.  He's the life of the party and the freebies never stop flowing.

And he's 100% on board with taxing people to pay for it - he doesn't call individual believers to do anything much about it - just "Rome". In fact, you don't even have to "believe" in him. He's just there if you need his teaching or the pop culture version of it to blackmail or force others into doing what you want.

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The other side wants to do good by protecting organized religion, specific versions of most all the other institutions, and a basic morality or philosophy of life that mainly benefits those who are already not doing too badly in life and who benefit from the use of those who are not doing too well in life.

They see Jesus as someone who calls for good and right living by protecting the borders, language, and culture they're most familiar and comfortable with. Their money math is complicated and relies on you having been born into the right place and time in order to be successful.

__________

I could spend all day painting negative (or positive) pictures of each "side".  

It's really easy to do. I've been on both sides at different times in my life. I have friends on both sides.  

I have days where I can "switch sides" based on who is telling the most recent story.  

I have had days where I've tried to engage someone from a certain side, gently and with genuine interest, just to unpack their logic and to understand their point of view and how they got there, only to be told to "Go f _ _ _ myself" when I didn't quickly agree with what they were mad about and who they were against.  

By the way, they were not encouraging me to find myself.

I have friends who are not on either side and pretty much don't have a clue - they're just surviving off the crumbs both sides happen to have fall off their tables when they pound their fists in self-righteous anger about the other.

Most people just know what they know. Most pay attention to who they have learned they ought to pay attention to. A lot of people have never listened to or examined "the other side" because that's not something they've ever seen demonstrated - actual discussion or dialogue.

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Studies have been done over the decades - at least I remember reading them from back in the 80's and 90's - that showed that most people don't know what they're voting for.  

Specifically, if an election for a person or cause came down to their vote, they couldn't tell you with any depth what it would mean in the long run. They could tell you what they've heard or feel, but they've usually not read up on it at all in any helpful, informative, and non-partisan way.

So politics are just off base for me for now.

I love people from all backgrounds and I get, to some degree, why people believe, feel, think, and act as they do around certain topics.

People have opinions and they always will.  

It used to be Ford vs. Chevy. 

Now it's just anything and everything you can imagine and the main point is usually how someone else is the devil for not believing what you believe.

I'm done with that.

__________

There's nothing more destructive to a country than when people find additional ways to divide up.

There's also no better way to control people and benefit from them than by keeping them divided up.

So, for now, I just pray for all people everywhere - high and low.  

It's so easy to assume the worst about people I've never met and know nothing about other than what someone with an agenda has tried to sell me.

If you need to pick a side and proclaim it, that's your calling and may the Lord bless you in that.

If you don't - same thing.

Peace and goodwill.

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