Here recently I've decided to become less opinionated. At least in the political department anyways. I haven't always given my opinion freely, but sometime after I graduated college, I started to become more passionate about what I believed.
As I scroll through my facebook timeline and twitter feed on a regular basis, I observe a varying amount of different opinions, which is good, but at the same time, here lately I've started to feel like I've been lumped into belonging to a certain group, whether that be political or not. In the upcoming elections, a hot button issue that is at hand is the vote for OR against Amendment 1, which is the marriage amendment.
According to Amendment 1: The measure would define marriage in the state as between one man and one woman.[1][2] Same-sex marriage is already banned in the state of North Carolina. The proposed measure, however, would add the ban to the state constitution.[3]
No matter where you stand on this issue, your stance should be respected. Every single one of us has our own certain set of beliefs when it comes to politics. One thing I've noticed is that if you are a registered Republican, you are automatically assumed to be FOR this amendment, when is most certainly not true. I happen to be a registered Republican, but that does not mean I always vote that way, or believe what my fellow republican politicians believe. The same could be said about Democrats. Just because you are a registered Democrat by no means defines you as a person and in what you believe.
We're all different.
For me personally, I do tend to be more conservative than anything else, but that doesn't mean I'm always going to vote that way, or believe everything a Republican politician believes.
Unfortunately, our country has become a country of double standards, but that's a whole other topic which I may or may not dive into one day.
It just kills me when I see groups or facebook pages such as Crusaders Against Republicans (or vice versa). When did we all become politicians and stop being Americans? This country needs to come together and try to reach a middle ground before it's doomed. Right now, it seems we just keep heading further down a path of division, instead of unity. I'm not naive enough to realize there will probably never be true unity in Washington, but if we keep becoming divided by issues such as same-sex marriage or whether or not we should pray in public meetings or not, we're never going to get anything real accomplished. These issues are certainly of importance, but our country has far more important issues at stake.
I guess what I'm really trying to ask, is to be more open-minded when you go to the polls. Both sides of the political spectrum could use some sound level-headed advice.
