I challenge you.

I challenge you to stop and think. To possibly change your perspective. To hear these words, but not let them roll past your ears. To read this not with the depressed apathy many of you feel when social issues arise, but with a conviction to take an interest and a responsibility in shaping modern events. I am writing to those who may have preconceptions, beliefs, or traditions of thinking that tend to shape your decisions more often than a careful consideration of our present reality. I’m going to be speaking to our current political and social climate, and the gloves are off — don’t run away just because you’re afraid that something in this article might impact you personally. Allow yourself an open mind, steel yourself, and dive in with me in the hope that we’ll all be better for it.

What if we, the people, us ordinary citizens, had the power to set events in motion that could begin to repair this wounded nation, this country that has sunk deeper and deeper into crisis for at least the last half decade? We do have that power, but many have to re-evaluate their decision making process when it comes to placing their support and casting their vote. There are far too many preconceptions — on both sides of the isle — that are literally ruining this country.

I have had the pleasure of being well acquainted with people in just about every direction of the political compass. I have family members and close friends who are bleeding-heart liberals who wouldn’t blink at taxing the wealthy 80% and giving it all to the poor, and others who would throw out the entire Constitution and replace it with the Bible if they could. I personally can’t identify with either end of that spectrum, but since political conversations were never taboo in my circles, I have certainly heard most of the arguments.

While the number of people who believe in those radical measures are truly in the minority, it is the pull they effect on the general, more centered population that influences our society the most. And as I have discovered, the loss in rationality as we approach the far left or far right is truly frightening. Because our greatest issues in modern society are arising from the right, that is what I am going to address.

Where to begin? Well, inevitably when you criticize the right you’re labeled a liberal. First of all, that shouldn’t be true because when an institution you once supported has fallen into shambles you should be allowed to criticize it without being declared an enemy (at least that’s the theory with free speech). Second of all, it is appalling that conservatives have managed to make “liberal” a dirty word. In defense of true liberals, we wouldn’t have a functioning nation (as dysfunctional as it is right now) if it weren’t for the courage of people who were willing to take the risk of change. If it weren’t for liberals, there would still be slaves and women still wouldn’t have the right to vote. The whole country would still be controlled by the Crotchety Old White Man’s Club. In defense of conservatives, too much change too fast can destroy a society, and traditionally the Republicans were the ones who were more responsible with the nation’s coffers.

Notice I said “traditionally.” I think we have arrived at the meat of my argument. When I was young, I remember seeing an Introduction to American Politics book that had a nice little chart outlining the conventional differences between our two primary political parties, the Democrats and Republicans. If I recall, it listed Republicans as being strong on national defense, in favor of small federal government and responsible spending of tax dollars, typically in favor of tax cuts, and strong defenders of the original Constitution and Bill of Rights as our founding fathers wrote them. Democrats were described as more socially responsible to the poor and needy, usually spent more money in pursuit of such social programs (hence requiring higher taxes), and generally more progressive in terms of writing or refining laws to meet modern needs.

The typical registered Republican will tell you that they are a member of that party because of one or several of the following things: low taxes, small federal government, and family values (or some variation thereof). Let’s consider these things for a moment.

This is the part where conservatives think I’m about to attack them, and if you are one your eyes are likely beginning to glaze over or you’re about to hit the Back button. Hang with me, because I’m about to reveal the underlying problem to all of this. Are you ready? The Republican party is not really Republican anymore.

Think about it. Remember what we just mentioned as “traditional” Republican values? Low taxes: nope, hasn’t helped anybody except those who make a ton of money already. Small federal government? Absolutely not, the Republican-controlled Senate, House, and White House have passed more federal laws than any administration in recent history, and many of these laws (for brevity I’ll leave you to look them up on your own if you’re so in the dark that you don’t know what I’m talking about) are frightening in the degree to which they limit personal freedoms or benefit large corporations — these are the laws that in the good ol’ days would have had our stereotypical gun-totin’ defenders of freedom from the old South banging on their Congressman’s door with rifles. Family values and moral responsibility? What a joke with the current Republican party. Outright lies, rampant and unfounded blame games (no one in the party acts like an adult and takes responsibility for anything anymore), and now gay congressmen who molest boys and get it covered up for them by their other party buddies. I’m not even going to get into that one, other than to say I have never felt more betrayed by my government in my life.

So here’s my question to people who still walk into the voting booth and pull the “Republican Party” lever: WHY are you so blind to this? Why are you rewarding people who have lied and cheated and dragged us into a horrible war that has not made us safer and who have trampled on the Bill of Rights!? I’ll tell you why: religion. I’m a Roman Catholic, a Christian who believes in God and Jesus, and it makes me sick to my stomach that conservatives have perverted Christianity into a tool — no, a weapon — to get people to vote for them. It trumps the blatant fear-mongering that is a favorite practice of the Bush administration, the finger-pointing that both parties inevitably engage in, and even the issues of money, race, and social status that affect us all. It disgusts me that the majority of the Republican party subtly yet consistently propagates the notion that they are the only party who believes in God. That Democrats and everyone else are automatically atheist. That if you vote against the Republican party, you are voting against Christianity. It is moral fear and bandwagon politics at its worst.

It is revolting that so many citizens of this country, who I believe are otherwise trying to be good people, so easily fall into this propaganda trap. Let’s face it: like it or not, religion is going to enter into politics. The real problem is when fundamentalist politicians start legislating their religious beliefs, and therefore restricting or infringing on people’s rights whose beliefs may be different. During the past few years, I have lost count of the number of times I have wanted to stand in the capitol and scream, “Does anyone remember that this country was founded on the right to practice any faith???” I would love to go and ask the Kansas Board of Education how mandating that one religion’s belief — Christianity’s Creationism a.k.a. Intelligent Design — be taught in public school science class does not trample on the Bill of Rights. No one has been able to explain that — because it can’t be explained. It is fundamentally criminal to this nation’s foundation when things like that happen — which brings me to my next point: conservatives need to stop living in denial.

Guess what: not everyone is going to be like you, right-wingers. I, a Christian, have accepted the fact that there are people of many different faiths and we will never change that. For the good of this country, it is your patriotic obligation to stop trying to force everyone to believe what you believe, by electing these crackpot politicians who want to throw out certain portions of the Bill of Rights. We wouldn’t be here, you wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the foresight of our founding fathers to grant you the freedoms that you are now abusing. I have heard fundamentalist Christians speak of love and tolerance and acceptance and equality, and it makes me want to vomit with the perversion of it all, the perversion they are associating with my own beliefs, in the blindness and hypocrisy they exhibit. It’s not the people who don’t believe in Christ who are causing strife in our nation, as these fundamentalists would have us believe, it’s they themselves who condemn and who can’t separate their own beliefs with what is best for the whole country.

What do I mean by that? Take abortion. I personally believe it is utterly wrong, because that’s part of my faith. However, I am still willing to vote for a politician who supports a woman’s right to choose. Why? Because it is her body, and she must be guided by her own faith, not mine, and whether I like it or not that is the better course for the country as a whole — to say otherwise would set an extremely dangerous precedent. Or consider other moral grounds, such as adultery and criminal actions: former President Clinton, for example, did a horrible, despicable thing when he cheated on his wife with Monica. President Bush did a horrible, despicable thing when he signed into law a declaration making himself and other members of his party immune from a law passed in 1996 (by a Republican congress, please note) that makes people criminally punishable for violating the Geneva Conventions on torture, which Bush has done. Which morally deplorable action, do you think, actually hurt the country? Whether or not the torture was justified is an entirely different discussion — Bush broke a law, and then passed another law after the fact to void it. I don’t care if the original law made it illegal to buy cabbage, if someone bought cabbage then they need to be held accountable to the law. We are a nation of laws, yet Bush, in that moment, made us less than that. He made us a nation of thugs. But…conservatives will still vote for him, simply because he’s a conservative and they can’t think for themselves, no matter how morally bankrupt he is. Those types of people are the most dangerous of all.

If you are one of those who is still, in the current political climate, automatically inclined to vote for Republicans, I beg you to take a moment to ask yourself some questions. Are you voting for that person simply because you, for one reason or another, equate “Republican” with “Christian”? If so, take a long hard look at your candidate, their history, and the people they associate with. Do they truly have good moral values, or do their actions contradict their words? Do they honor our nation’s highest values of freedom of all kinds, or do they push their own religious agenda? If someone claims to be a Christian but consistently opposes bills that would do things like feed the homeless and help the poor get on their feet, how is that morally justifiable with their — or your — faith? If a politician lies to you about an important issue, and you know he has outright lied to you, why should you place your trust in him again?

Use your beliefs to guide you — but never automatically choose someone because they claim to hold the same beliefs. Think for yourself. Be a responsible citizen and think of your country. Then make a decision — Republican, Democrat, or otherwise — and you can be respected for that decision no matter what it is. If you automatically choose one candidate or another because of deep-rooted distaste for the other, or preconceptions about what that candidate’s party should be, be it from your parents, faith, or friends, then you are contributing to the destruction of our democracy. Apathy in decision making by voters is at least as dangerous as the apathy of citizens who don’t vote at all.

Be true to the values of this great country. I implore you, with every ounce of patriotism I have, to dedicate yourself to choosing the best possible candidate not for yourself but for the country as a whole. If we can all do that, then we can all have a hand in repairing our damaged nation. America needs our help, and you don’t have to put on a uniform to serve her. Choose wisely.

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Check out voting records at the Bill of Rights Defense Committee’s web site.