I am Troubled

“I am troubled”, she said.

“I hear those of you who are not conservative calling me and people like me bad names and showing disrespect toward people of faith, such as myself.”

“But I hear exactly the opposite” I replied. “I hear progressives being called names such as “libtard” and “snowflake” but I don't believe I've heard terms like these applied to conservatives. To me, it seems that every form of disrespect and ridicule has been leveled against progressives and liberals.”

But what you must understand my friend said is that we have little choice. One candidate was openly hostile to my faith while the other one opened his administration to our voice. We found both candidates to be unacceptable but only one espoused the worldview that we hold.

Don't forget, I said, that I am a member of that community of faith and I did not find my candidate to be hostile to my faith. As a matter of fact I know her to be a woman of faith herself. A Methodist I believe. But even at that can one accept that the President can be a promoter of faith given the hateful speech we hear come from his mouth and the actions of his administration? Does that not give the lie to being a person of faith or does that not matter?

Should I then prefer a person who favors abortion and keeps matters of faith separate from his office? Should I prefer a person who is against the things that matter to me simply because of the tone of his speech?

Perhaps we are not talking about what needs to be talked about, I said. Perhaps we should be talking about the responsibility of government to faith based endeavors. Maybe we should be talking about whether or not it is the responsibility of government to intercede in cases of abortion. Should we be allowing displays of faith in our public affairs when we have so many citizens of different faiths or do we prefer a particular one?