With Less Than 24 Hours to Go

In less than 24 hours, many Americans will be going about their daily routine proudly wearing their "I voted" stickers. While that is somewhat a terrifying thought for me, I am actually ready for this election to be over. Personally, I am quite tired of political argument. I'm sick of people getting angry with each other because they don't support the same candidate. There is nothing wrong with calm debate. In fact, I think it's a great thing; but calm debates tend to lead to heated arguments and sometimes heated arguments end in anger or hate towards a person you've always held high respect for. Apparently some people just don't know how to accept the fact that there is nothing wrong with disagreement. Yesterday Mary and I went into Rue21 and when we got to desk to pay the three cashiers were in one of these "heated arguments".(one of the people we actually knew already) Well the two girls were getting all upset because the other guy doesn't support Obama, and personally I found their method of arguing highly annoying. I don't think I once heard them say what they even liked about Obama. All they talked about was how "it's time for change" and "John McCain is so old" and "Sarah Palin is so stupid" or "she doesn't have any experience. Well, yes, maybe John McCain is old, but please tell me why that is going to make him so much worse of a president than Obama. Yes, sometimes Sarah Palin doesn't sound like the sharpest knife in the drawer when she talks, but have you listened to Joe Biden lately? And maybe she doesn't have as much experience as we would like our potential vice president to have; but the only experience Obama has is spending a little over a hundred days in the Senate. These hypocritical and highly ill-informed supporters belong to both of our candidates, but I'm just making the point about Obama because this was an argument I listened to just yesterday.

I guess I am just extremely aggravated by all of this un-needed controversy. During the Relient K concert last week, Matt Theissen made a comment about politics. He said he was probably the only one there who wasn't sick of politics because he's Canadian and can't vote. I found it interesting when he said that the thing he is sick of is all of this hatred between people, because from the perspective of an outsider that's all he notices. So ask you self, "Is this really all worth it?" Is it really worth getting so much into an argument that you find yourself fed up with the person on the other side? Is it really worth dividing up this nation, dividing up these states, these cities, these schools, these churches, and even these families? Absolutely not. Of course it's important to know who you want to vote for and why you want to vote for them, but in the end one person is going to be elected and we all have to live with that. My hope and prayer is that the citizens of the United States will once again become united instead of broken into millions of pieces. I hate to say this, but I feel like there are dark days ahead of us. With the state of the economy right now, things are probably going to get worse before they are better. I believe that the key to getting past this is through each other, and the only way it will work is by being united. Don't let us be separated by our preferred candidate! Don't let your political views get in the way of helping those in need! Love can do things that John McCain and Barack Obama could never do alone. Don't let your personal opinion take over.

I'm scared that we are going to let government take over our lives. We are going to invite elected officials into places they don't need to be. Why are we doing that? Isn't that what we wanted to get away from? Isn't that what we fought in countless wars for? We broke away from Great Britain because we wanted our own freedom and liberty. People were tired of Parliament invading their lives, telling them what they can and can't do. Part of the reason we fought in World War II was to free the people from Nazi oppression. Are we going to sit here and let thse be wasted efforts? One day, maybe several generations from now, will that happen to us? Will we be taken over by a power-hungry totalitarian ruler? If we continue to invite the government into our lives that may happen! Will a group of people become sick of not being able to live their own lives and make their own decisions that they will attempt to break away from the United States of America like was done before in the Civil War? Is that what is going to take to get things the way they need to be? I surely hope not.

I just think that the first step towards the road to success is that we put our differences aside and think about what's at stake. Just get over the fact that people have different opinions, and let them believe what they want to believe. I encourage you when we find out who will be our next president that you will just accept it for what it's worth. The voting booths may close tomorrow night, but the end is not yet in sight. Unfortunately, there are still many "I told you so"s to be said. There are still many fingers to be pointed and accusations to be made. When, if ever, will we remember that we have the privilege of liberty? A privilege that many deserving people go without. Take the opportunity to form your own opinion; but, please, don't condemn your neighbor for doing the same.

~*Elizabeth