We live in difficult times when it comes to politics and elections. I am certain that people have always disagreed when it comes to politics, but I believe the level of discord has reached levels we have never seen in our country. There is not just disagreement, but belief that if you are disagree, you are a horrible person for not agreeing. We have seen the political parties move to extremes in the leadership, even though many of the people who belong to the party are not nearly so extreme.
While I still agree with many items from the republican party, I no longer consider myself a republican, I really consider myself an independent. I think our country would be better served by finding the middle ground in so many circumstances.
Shantel and I have both felt that this year we need to do more to not just do our duty with voting, but share our thoughts with others. To help support some of the candidates we truly felt would be the best. Shantel in particular took the lead in posting some of our thoughts on Instagram.
We shared a couple of people we support:
Spencer Cox (Republican) for governor.
Ben McAdams (Democrat) for congress. We really feel like he is one of the few congressman willing to vote across party lines.
We also supported Prop 9 to update the form of government for Utah County.
One thing that we have been careful of is that we don't want to use faith to push political agenda. Your political party is not representative of belief in God or related to your religion. In society today, many try to use religion to manipulate how people should vote.
A couple of other challenging things: 1) Social media has such a negative effect on elections. There are so many things "shared" that are not true. However, these things more than anything else shape people's views. Shantel has a good friend who is so impacted by these things posted on social media, but without regard for whether they are true. They often end with such hateful opinions of those who disagree. 2) Many of the political campaigns are based on negative campaigns. Candidates try to tear down the opponent rather than just explaining what they will do. These are often led by 3rd parties from out of state who are simply trying to control things. Unfortunately, these tactics work as people believe the negative adds, even when they are typically 1/2 truths or misleading.
It is a sad circumstance that leads to people in power, who seek power, rather than the well being of our city, state or country.
It was heartwarming then to see Spencer Cox and Chris Peterson who are running for governor put on an add to tell people that you can disagree with your opponent without hating them. It was a beautiful ad.
Shantel and I did a significant amount of research and did our best to choose the best candidates. Some of them won, although most of the candidates we picked, did not end up winning, which was disappointing. The presidential race receives the most attention. Donald Trump (incumbent- republican) and Joe Biden (Democrat) were the main to two candidates. We do not believe Donald Trump has the policies or character to be president. We don't believe Joe Biden is capable of leading a country and disagree with his policies. We carefully considered and voted for Jo Jorgensen (Libertarian) and felt really good about our selection. Other selections included Spencer Cox (won), Ben McAdams (lost), Prop 9 (lost). Our votes included votes for people part of the following parties: Republican, Democrat, and Libertarian.
Since I was younger I have enjoyed watching the election night coverage and seeing what will happen. So we watched the election coverage. We will try and support the leaders selected and encourage them to make choices that will help our city, state and country.
We pray that people will be kind and practice civility with each other. Even when you disagree you can be kind.
