Rob's off on an investigation today, so this entry is written by Tom.
This week I read a post to a friend's Facebook wall written by a man that was a friend of my parents. I won't mention his name because my Mom will read this blog entry and know this person. The man's posting was just extoling the virtues of Mitt Romney. Well, it made me pause for a moment because this very same man had to have sat through all of the sermons that I was made to endure while sitting in those hard oak pews at Riverdale Baptist Church. He had to have heard sermon after sermon about how Mormonism is a cult and how dangerous Mormons were. Has all of that flown out the window now that the Republican Party is very close to nominating the first-ever Mormon candidate to run for and potentially win the priviledge of holding the highest office in our country? It made me wonder how many other Christians, rather than voting for the best candidate regardless of party affiliation, will be holding their noses and pulling that lever in the voting booth this November exhibiting one of the biggest stunts of hypocrisy that I've witnessed in my lifetime.
When I was growing up, I don't ever remember my parents talking about politics in our household. I knew that my Mom was a staunch Democrat, and came from a long line of Democrats. My Dad, well, I think he was a registered Democrat simply because my Mom was, and not because of some educated decision on his part. But I would like to believe that, in spite of a familial history or association with a spouse, my parents voted their conscience, regardless of party affiliation, and pulled that lever for the best candidate out of the field of candidates running because they felt that the individual they were voting for was the best person to lead our country at that particular point in time. I'd like to know when that sentiment changed.
My sense is that all seemed to change in the 1980s when religion began to enter politics, and we began to see the influence of right-wing groups like the Moral Majority led by Jerry Falwell. With the election of Ronald Reagan, the great polarization in this country began and likewise the evaporization of compromise.
While an undergrad attending the University of Maryland, I can recall sitting in one of my 300 level elective classes one day and looking around the room filled with several hundred of my classmates goofing off and joking around before the professor entered. A thought hit me as I witnessed the juvenile behavior of those around me: how ill prepared we were as a generation to inherit this great country of ours. As I looked at the faces, I remember saying to myself that there was not one individual in that room that could run anything with some modicum of success, let alone become the President of the United States. Well, as sad as that observation was, and how true that thought said to myself might have been, my generation is now stepping up to the plate. And the best that the Republican Party has to offer is Mitt Romney, and now his running mate announced today Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin).
I hope that the readers of this blog will join me this fall, and begin anew the spirit that I'd like to believe once existed in this country. Vote for the individual that will be the best person to lead our country. Read everything that you can about what each candidate stands for, what their background is, what do they believe in, what their qualifications are to hold office, and most importantly, who's backing them financially. This is a very tenuous time, and some really hard and difficult decisions will need to be made in the next four years. We don't need a person with a secret, hidden agenda that will only elect to serve a select few, but rather someone that will represent the biggest cross section possible of our country's population. Someone that will raise their right hand and swear next January to uphold the words and true intent of the Constitution that begins with these immortal words "We the people..."
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