"Elevate your guns a little lower"

I have been thinking about how to approach this topic, it has been much in the news and, unfortunately for those of us who spend any amount of time in the car, much on the radio. The current voter referendum question about school vouchers has seemingly taken over any and all political talk in the state of Utah. Millions of dollars are being spent on both sides to convince people through 30 seconds of, at best, half-truths and misleading statements. No ones hands are clean, no one on either side will come away from this fight with their integrity fully intact.

Now, I'm not making this post about vouchers themselves, I frankly don't care that much. I don't see it as a big deal on either side, and believe it to mostly be about getting voters to think something is being done, but that is a different argument. No, this post is about political discourse itself. The title is a quote from Andrew Jackson as he led the defenders in the Battle of New Orleans, but it was used in a talk by Elder Robert S Wood in the April '06 general conference. For anyone who doesn't remember this talk, you can catch yourself up here.

The main theme of the talk can be summarized in his statement:

Have we who have taken upon us the name of Christ slipped unknowingly into patterns of slander, evil speaking, and bitter stereotyping? Have personal or partisan or business or religious differences been translated into a kind of demonizing of those of different views? Do we pause to understand the seemingly different positions of others and seek, where possible, common ground?

We hear on the news all the time how the "people of America" are sick of politicians fighting and slinging mud. Do you believe that? I don't. If it were true there would be some sort of consequence for such activities. If it were true that we as a people truly were incensed by the use of insulting rhetoric and blankent generalizations then we wouldn't use them ourselves.

Why do we assume the worst motives and intentions from those who disagree with us? Why is it that we feel that we can have our political opinions, and our religious opinions, and its okay if the way we conduct ourselves in those two lives is completely inconsistent? Why is it that we can become so quickly offended when someone else spells out what our opinions or stances are without asking us, but we are very quick to say, "He must believe _____ because he's a democrat, or he must be corrupt because he's a republican."

As members of the Church, do we assume that people who believe differnt religiously from us are evil or stupid or the avatar of all things dark and unholy? Usually not, we have a desire to share with them what we think is true, to try to show them truth so they can discover it and change. But, if we disagree with someone politically, how often do we try to have a calm, in depth, reasoned discussion of the differences, in an attempt to find truth?

Elder Wood goes on to say this:

On the other hand, we need to raise the level of private and public discourse. We should avoid caricaturing the positions of others, constructing “straw men,” if you will, and casting unwarranted aspersions on their motivations and character. We need, as the Lord counseled, to uphold honest, wise, and good men and women wherever they are found and to recognize that there are “among all sects, parties, and denominations” those who are “kept from the truth [of the gospel] because they know not where to find it.” 11 Would we hide that light because we have entered into the culture of slander, of stereotyping, of giving and seeking offense?

This talk was one of the most enlightening and personally touching talks of this conference, rarely do I remember very specific aspects of conference talks for long periods of time, but this one is still burned into my mind. Its probably because its something I have such a hard time with, I'm stubborn, and more than a little pompous.

It is, however, also one of the things that most bothers me. I have found in the last few years that my interest in all things political has waned quite a bit. I still like discussing political views and current events, but I don't have the drive or desire to follow them as closely as I used to.

I would think, that as you have read this, it has been very easy to see how others really need to follow this counsel and better follow the ideas contained herein, but thats the easy part. Now I would challenge you to actually look at how quick you are to judge others political stances. How often you judge the motives or intentions or righteousness of others political stances.

Remember, both the Dems and the Repugs think that they are the ones who engage in meaningful discourse, while the other resorts to name calling and obstructionism.

Its easy to see it in others, but harder to temper your own responses, especially since so often political things come near closely held beliefs.

This is why the current voucher debate has so sickened me. There is little to no discussion about the actual issue. There are 30 second soundbites about the evils of the idea, or the evils of those supporting the other side. There is condescencion and pandering. Lots of rhetoric and little to no information or attmepts at convincing. Its a sad state.