Tomorrow is voting day, as I KNOW you all already know.
I keep asking myself, how do I feel about all of this arguing, debating, heated passions flying through cyberspace, coming out of my television, and on the radio. I have my own opinions and my husband and I usually declare them to one another, building each other up and solidifying what we already believed.
But in the end, I'm sure most of you would agree with me that I am SICK of the campaigning and ready to be done. I'm sick of the debating, name calling, hypocrisy, and divisive personal bashing that we have been berated with for a year and half. So tomorrow means an end of a very annoying era that we will see again only too soon, meaning in three or four years.
On the other hand, I would like to take a chance and reflect on the privilege it is to vote. Most of the worlds developed countries and underdeveloped countries have some semblance of democracy, but America was the first to truly implement the freedoms that God intends for his children save perhaps the Greek and Roman empires thousands of years ago. As written in the constitution, these rights are "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," or as written in the Doctrine and Covenants, "the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life" (D&C 134:2). I believe God had a hand in establishing the American government, not only to foster a place of religious freedom where the fullness of the Gospel could be restored, but also to start the spread of freedom and man's right to have what is rightfully his. So many countries in the world hate America (which is a whole discussion in itself), and yet they have prospered when they have followed the example of the American form of government and in many ways owe her gratitude.
I would like to encourage us all to exercise the right that many of our ancestors died to foster and protect, that is the right to make our opinion known. Go vote and vote with confidence. There are many intelligent people out there who may disagree with you and make you feel stupid for believing one way or the other, but don't listen to them. We have all experienced life in America and know what we in our little part of the country need to have happen in order to continue the fulfillment of the American dream. Help it continue.
I keep asking myself, how do I feel about all of this arguing, debating, heated passions flying through cyberspace, coming out of my television, and on the radio. I have my own opinions and my husband and I usually declare them to one another, building each other up and solidifying what we already believed.
But in the end, I'm sure most of you would agree with me that I am SICK of the campaigning and ready to be done. I'm sick of the debating, name calling, hypocrisy, and divisive personal bashing that we have been berated with for a year and half. So tomorrow means an end of a very annoying era that we will see again only too soon, meaning in three or four years.
On the other hand, I would like to take a chance and reflect on the privilege it is to vote. Most of the worlds developed countries and underdeveloped countries have some semblance of democracy, but America was the first to truly implement the freedoms that God intends for his children save perhaps the Greek and Roman empires thousands of years ago. As written in the constitution, these rights are "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," or as written in the Doctrine and Covenants, "the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life" (D&C 134:2). I believe God had a hand in establishing the American government, not only to foster a place of religious freedom where the fullness of the Gospel could be restored, but also to start the spread of freedom and man's right to have what is rightfully his. So many countries in the world hate America (which is a whole discussion in itself), and yet they have prospered when they have followed the example of the American form of government and in many ways owe her gratitude.
I would like to encourage us all to exercise the right that many of our ancestors died to foster and protect, that is the right to make our opinion known. Go vote and vote with confidence. There are many intelligent people out there who may disagree with you and make you feel stupid for believing one way or the other, but don't listen to them. We have all experienced life in America and know what we in our little part of the country need to have happen in order to continue the fulfillment of the American dream. Help it continue.
