OPINION: You may be liberal and not know it
Mothers grab your kids and get them inside the house — I’m about to cause a stir. I’d like to clear the air about a few things, and I’ll get straight to it. Just because you vote Republican and think you’re perfect doesn’t mean you’re going to heaven.
Somewhere along the line, folks got the idea that being a Mormon — or Christian of any kind — means their vote goes in one direction: to the right. Aside from the fact government is broken and politics have become some kind of masochistic way for the American public to make itself look bad to the rest of the world, I’d like to remind you that even if you’re a conservative thinker, it doesn’t mean you have to vote “conservative.”
Utah was a blue state up until a couple of decades ago. The LDS faith is not historically viewed as a conservative American institution. I’ll remind you all that the majority of people think we Mormons have extreme views — I know, being LDS myself, that isn’t true — and our religion didn’t get to where it is by supporting Republican leaders. Unfortunately, though, conservative LDS views started getting confused for Republican political ideologies.
What makes it worse is we have all these politicians in Utah who would like us to think they do what they do because they have some kind of direct line with God. Well, they don’t. The only direct line they’re worried about is their credit line and how much money they can swindle out of the system. I wouldn’t trust a single one of these Utah Republicans with 25 cents, let alone political power.
But these guys think if they can register on the moral radar of the voting public, then they’ll get the vote — and it works. Abortion is the perfect example.
Somehow along the way, after it was legalized, a candidate’s view on abortion became one of the major deciding factors in whether or not that candidate was someone we could vote for. Pro-choice and pro-abortion are two different things, and I’m sorry so many people have such a hard time accepting that.
Republican candidates appeal to our moral standards and then dismantle our integrity from the inside out, until they have us thinking minorities are all lazy drug dealers who have no right to live in the country legally and want to steal our money by raising taxes for millionaires.
I don’t personally even know any millionaires, and I’m more worried about the entire American society — including the poor and working classes, which happen to make up the majority. If politicians are supposed to represent every man and woman equally, then how do so many Americans slip through the cracks?
You can try to blame President Barack Obama, but let’s face it, you’d be foolish to think he has any control over what’s happening in America right now. I wish he did. I promise things would be a lot better if Obama had the power to override the obnoxious stalemates that occur daily within the law-making process.
One popular complaint is saying Obama is a socialist. Republicans love this word socialist — it’s got that “I’m-not-calling-you-a-communist-but-I-am” ring to it. Socialism isn’t even a form of government, it’s a form of economy. And socialism is nowhere near about to take effect in the U.S.
Since when did doing the Christian thing by providing for those in need turn into a matter of capitalism vs. socialism? The fact Republicans are so preoccupied with hording money in a bank account leads me to doubt that concern for our futures has any influence at all on what choices they make at the Capitol these days.
I’m not 100 percent convinced all those righteous Republicans out there have been reading their scriptures thoroughly, either. Jesus taught us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, attend to the sick and afflicted, and provide shelter to the homeless — without passing judgement on anyone.
So why is it so many Christians think they’re sinning if they vote liberal — especially for a Black man who wants to give equal opportunity to all Americans? I get sick of these Republicans throwing around the word “socialism” like they know what they’re talking about. If you really want to feel like you’re doing the right thing, start paying attention to what matters.
More liberals than conservatives are concerned about the welfare of everyone — not just their friends, family and themselves, but everyone.
I support my president, and I know from the gut he really does care about the American public as a whole — even those of you who have nothing better to do than make fun of him all day — because that’s the Christian thing to do.