Separation in America

The American political landscape is seen to be 30% liberal, 30% conservative, and 40% moderate right or left who may switch their votes from party to party or vote a mixed ticket. The 30% of liberals and conservatives have become so polarized in the last few years that the middle 40% isn't sure where to go, and they often don't want to be involved anymore. The right is suspicious of the left, the left suspicious of the right, and the center is suspicious of both of them.

Is cable news to blame for this extreme polarization? Or has it always been there, we just see it now because of so many media outlets? President Obama ran for president saying he could unite both parties and reach across the aisle, but he has not been able to do that. Instead, conservatives feel further away from him and are back to mudslinging because of the disdain for his policies. What we have now is a separation of people in America who doesn't understand each other and are afraid of each other. There is nothing wrong with being in one of those 30% categories, what is wrong is when one side ignores the other because they don't want to hear it instead of digging deeper and understanding why they think that way.

Take the idea of separation of church and state. Glenn Beck held a rally on August 28th to encourage people to get back to some fundamental aspects that our country was founded upon...God, hope, and charity. Most people from the left see this as the religious right wanting a theocracy. Beck says he wants people to correct their individual lives, focusing on God, responsibility, caring for others, and if we all do that we don't need the government to take care of us. So really, what he is saying has nothing to do with incorporating the church into the government. The left are scared of these people, believing that if they take over our government everyone will have a gun, we'll pray at every meeting, there will be no religious freedom, abortion will be abolished, no gay marriage, there will be domestic oil drilling and no care for the environment. The right are scared of the left believing they will install socialism, gay marriage will be legal, government run healthcare, no fire arms, and the American dream will be taken away.

Now the left will still disagree with Beck on his principles even if they agree that he is not trying to create a theocracy. But what the major difference, and what people have to decide for themselves is: is it the government's place to care for people or the church's? Obviously, people who don't believe in God will say that it is the government's place, but they are in the small minority in America. I personally believe that we should give through the church to help those in need and not doing it through our taxes and the government.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are asking all the billionaires in America to donate half their wealth to charity. So far, they've been able to secure about 4%. You would think that someone who has $20 billion would be willing to let go of half that, isn't $10 billion enough? But those billionaires see half their money taken away in taxes and they see that as charity. They've earned the money, now the government can distribute it among those in need. Many people of much lesser wealth, everyday middle class citizens see it the same way.

When you pay taxes, you're money is going through layers of bureaucracy. All those layers have salaries that have to be paid, and there are cost above cost that are associated with getting that money to the final source. That is wasted money, bigger government, and you know the government isn't handling things as efficiently as it should be done...there's no incentive. Why not give your money to a charity and through the church so you know where it's going and more of the money you give goes to those who need it. Matthew 22:21 says "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's". Pay the taxes levied against you, and also give back a portion of the money God as entrusted you with.

Now I just spent four paragraphs on one topic, separation of church and state. And really, I just got into the charity aspect of it and nothing else. I could expound upon that topic and write a thesis, as you could for any of the issues we face. If you are in the middle then I urge you not to discount either side of the aisle because you think they are just a bunch of nutcases. There are reasons people believe certain things and it is important in dive deeper into the issue at hand to gain a proper understanding. Find out what makes the most sense to you and have a solid opinion, give the issue the research and thought it deserves and become an informed voter.

JB