NOTE: Everything said below is my writing and is solely my opinion. I have written this article in hopes that you’ll have a different perspective on people who think differently than you and in turn be able to respect their decisions.
I’ve been wanting to write this post ever since political memes and derogatory statements and videos towards each party started flooding our Facebook pages. I’ll be the first to say that I hate cannot stand politics. They make me sick. I hate how it divides people up, it starts arguments, and unnecessary quarrels. And the real low was when people started posting stuff on social media like, “Delete me if you’re voting for so and so!”
Why? Why do we have to be like this? Why are we getting so tangled up into politics that we’re shutting friends out and deleting people off of our social media? I’ve had lots of time to think about this and my question to everything lately is why? Maybe you’ll be able to help me understand.
Let’s go back into time a little bit, shall we? I was raised in a Christian home, I was homeschooled from the beginning, and I was raised to vote for the Republican. And to some degree that has stuck with me through my adulthood. Nevertheless, I have not voted since being out from underneath my parents roof. (Okay, let the criticism begin.) And let me tell you one of the main reasons as to why: I firmly believe that the government chooses who wins the election. I am not convinced that by showing up to a library to cast my vote will do anything at all.
I recently watched a video of a guy sitting in front of a judge who said that in order to get a CORRECT count, every ballot would have to be read by hand and even then you would have to fully trust the people who read the votes are being honest and counting the votes correctly. I think this is absolutely true, but my opinion doesn’t just follow through for political votes. I think the SAT’s, or any form of test for that matter, that has to be evaluated through a machine is not always right. There’s no absolute guarantee that a machine/computer will be 100% correct 100% of the time. That’s just one of the many reasons as to why I haven’t voted in awhile.
I will say that I think more like a Republican than a Democrat and I’m almost positive it was due to my upbringing. Kevin was raised to pick the best candidate to be in office therefore he’s more of an independent than anything. I will not go any further than that as I do not want to start a war. A lot of people ask us how are we even together? How do we make our relationship work? Well, it’s the same prospective as any friendship I have. I know people who are voting for Sanders, Trump, and Clinton. To be quite frank with you, I won’t vote for any of them for specific personal views.
Think of it this way, we live in a country that’s free. Right? We have the right to vote for who we want in office. Right? I would like to believe that I am mature enough to have respect for each of my family member’s, friends, and my husband’s points of view. Do I always agree with them? Absolutely not. Do I have to agree? No. But what makes my views and opinions any more valuable or correct than their’s? They are allowed to have a personal view as well and voice their opinions just like anybody else would. And who’s to say that I am right.
You might think that because Kevin and I don’t always agree on politics that we most likely avoid the topic altogether to not have any conflict or tension between us. That’s not the case at all. We have a lot of good conversation about politics. He likes to hear my opinions just as I like to hear his. It helps us to better understand one another and most of the time we have good and different insights that neither one of us would have thought of before.
Now, there’s a lot of people I know that wouldn’t have been able to marry somebody who doesn’t see their views in the same way especially when it comes down to political topics, and I think that is completely okay. Some people stand so firmly in the left or right wing that they refuse to back down or hear differently, and once again, that’s okay. If it’ll bother you throughout your whole marriage that your spouse disagrees with you, than it most likely won’t last, so make sure you’re definitely okay with marrying somebody who has a difference of opinion in the political area.
I tend to think that Kevin and I are sort of a rare couple. Let’s be honest, if you know each of us as an individual, we are completely different people. Usually when couples get married it’s because you share almost the same likes, hobbies, or important views where as we do not. We don’t like any of the same music, our movie preferences are on opposite ends of the spectrum, and he prefers eating a giant piece of cake for dessert whereas I’d rather have salty fries. (That could be because I can’t eat cake. Ha!) As well as all the important views that we’re “supposed to agree on” we don’t. We’ll listen to what each of us has to say and sometimes we agree. Sometimes each of us portrays our views in a different way, that we become more open to the opinions of each other. However, sometimes we don’t and we’ve agreed that it’s okay.
Kevin and I have never fought over political views and I think that’s one of the many reasons as to why we get along so well. I think it’s a combination of personalities, being mature enough to have respect for one another and our personal views, and because we choose not to argue over things we can’t control. Let’s face it, most of us are stubborn in nature and our tendency to vote for somebody we think is correct in all their thinking is usually very strong. So when somebody has a difference of opinion, we naturally want to argue and personally attack people who see things differently. Stop. Stop saying you’re going to leave the country if so and so gets in office. Let’s be real, you’re not going anywhere. Stop telling other people to delete you if you’re voting for somebody opposite your political views. What is all of this creating? Tension. Arguments. Battles. Sometimes I don’t even like going on social media because of all the nonsense that gets posted anymore.
I encourage each of you to try and respect other people’s views and opinions. There’s so much hate and tension in the world that creating more would be useless. I am not encouraging you to force yourself to marry somebody with different views. This was simply meant to be an explanation on how Kevin and I get along as we “stand firmly” in our political opinions. Be proud of who you are as an individual and who you’re voting for, but there’s no need to bash people who go against what you personally believe. All I’m saying is showing a little respect for one another goes a long way.
And let’s face it, God is in control no matter what happens.
