I hate politics....

Published on October 24, 2004 By Death_By_Beebles In Politics

Well, I'm hoping the title brought you in... I do hate politics, but not entirely.

What I hate is the fact that there aren't any black-and-white issues anymore. How can a person be a staunch pro-life advocate when there are women with tubal pregancies? No problem is black-and-white, there is not a single issue that doesn't have a "fade to grey" area, and you know it.

I'll try to put something in perspective for you...

The other day, I was at a friends house for a study group for Edith Hamilton's "Mythology". Well, said friend's grandmother came over, and she is a strict Liberal. Well, my friend is a liberal, and knowing that I'm conservative, tells his mom about it, and so, for kicks, they got her to try and shove her political views down my throat. I believe that his mom said really loud, "Hey Alex, I can get you tickets to see Cheney when he comes into town if you want them." His grandmother overheard and said, "Who would want to go see that @$$hole?"

So, as soon as she zeros in on me and starts spouting off about how Bush is the worst thing since peanut butter and jelly in the same jar, she asks me why I'm conservative. I said, "Well, ma'am, I'm a conservative Christian. I don't want high taxes anymore than the next person. I want little business to prosper, but I know that big business provides plenty of jobs for middle class America. I'm pro-life. " She then attacks me with this excuse.

"What if there was a mother with five children who was on a minimum wage with another child on the way who was severly mentally handicapped and that she could not afford to take care of that child?"

Now, in the back of my mind, I want to make some snide remark about how they created birth control for a reason, and this woman probably didn't understand that, but I didn't. I just sat there and took the abuse, and left shortly thereafter.

The thing is, even though the example isn't the best, the fact remains that there are grey areas of each politcal view and I'm sick of it.

If everything was clean cut, things would be a lot simpler. *Sigh*

Why is it that if morality resides over the decisions you make, that there is always an exception to the rule? Why does common sense not make sense? And why do each of the parties twist each issue until it is something horrid and mutated, not even the real issue just to make a jibe at their opponent?

I wish I had answers. The sad thing is....

I don't.

Peace,

Beebes

Comments

Texas Wahine

on Oct 24, 2004

Here's a little piece of wisdom that never fails: Some people are just jerks.

Death_By_Beebles

on Oct 24, 2004

Here's a little piece of wisdom that never fails: Some people are just jerks.

It seems that way, doesn't it , Tex? It never fails to amaze me how some people act.

thanks for the comment.

Beebes

apdelong31

on Oct 26, 2004

That is ridiculous, I'd like to know who that is so I could give them a piece of the five man army. I, for one, can't take a joke at all now. I invest too much into every little comment, and see it as an underhanded jab.

For example, I went with a group of people from our church to a Messianic temple (I don't know if that's the right name for it, but they are Jews who have accepted Jesus as the Messiah basically). The service was fine, but when we were getting a group picture or something innocent like that, it seemed like it was getting a little tense. Somebody was too tall to be standing in front and the photographer was like "Don't worry, those people you're blocking aren't too important." Understand, it was in a jovial tone and meant to be all in good fun, but that came across to me as a kind of nasty offhand comment.

I'm with you all the way, I cannot WAIT until this election season is over. I can have my friends back, and not have to worry about being a closet Democrat.

citahellion

on Oct 26, 2004

If someone got in my face like that, I would be severely torn between being nice (as you were) and countering with equally extreme examples, such as "Well, why stop at killing her unborn child, then, why not kill the mom too? That way you'll make sure that she doesn't need any more abortions later on either. Plus being retarded and on welfare, she's just a drain on society, so you're really doing the country a favor by getting rid of her. If her child has to die to benefit society, why shouldn't she have to die too? Is that your liberal viewpoint?"

If nothing else, hopefully you can at least shock her into shutting up and going away.

Bungy32

on Oct 26, 2004

What I hate is the fact that there aren't any black-and-white issues anymore.

So I'm getting my morning news fix with some Headline News this morning and I catch a short piece by that crazy British correspondent they've got covering the lighter side of political campaigning. He was doing a story on all the political talk radio in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. As is the wont of contemporary journalism, he has a representative example of a liberal shock jock and a conservative shock jock. He did, at least, note that the conservatives outnumber the liberals on the talk radio air waves. When asked to speculate why, the conservative shock jock said sometheing to the effect of: "Liberals see the world in shades of gray rather than black and white, and that's just not as entertaining." The liberal shock jock responded to the same question with regret: "In my soberer moments, I realize that what I am doing on the radio is probably not good for the country. It reduces complex issues to shouting and infotainment."

It would be too sweeping of a generalization (black and white, even) to claim that all liberals see the world in shades of gray and all conservatives see it in black and white. I know you write this article from a place of "despair" about the loss of clearly black and white issues, but I take heart that one can, in fact, remain conservative and Christian and see the world in shades of gray. And yes, your story provides clear examples of the fact that self-proclaimed liberals can be quite emphatic in their authoritative assertions of the "way things really are!" Unfortunately, though, politics is the art of compromise...and compromise, by definition, is a gray zone.

As a liberal, I would have been interested to hear how the woman who accosted you would have responded to the following questions:
1) Do you also believe this woman should be sterilized so that this doesn't happen again?
2) Shouldn't the state take her children from her since she is making such bad decisions and is mentally incompetent?
3) Should the man who impregnated her be somehow held accountable?
4) Should we use the stem cells?
5) Would you allow the stable gay couple next door adopt the child instead of aborting it?
etc.

Zoologist03

on Oct 26, 2004

Uh...that's why I hate politics.....everyone attacks eachother....technically I'm a "Democrat"...but I think I'm going to be in Independent waters for awhile....its safer....I'd like to answer your question, but I too have no idea...

~Zoo

Death_By_Beebles

on Oct 26, 2004

Thank you all for your insightful responses.

Bungy, you especially bring up some good points. Compromise is what life is about, but, in retrospect, it seems to me that things just don't have a certain value to them. Nothing is right or wrong. That there are no absolute truthes.

Peace,

Beebes

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