When I think back to the women I've dated and the parents, extended family, and spiritual leaders that have made me the person I am today, I think about how we disagree politically while agreeing on matters of faith while they see the political disagreement as reason to say that I'm a phony on matters of faith. I think about how higher education excites that dynamic and neither the media nor the government has any idea how richly complex and extremely intimate it all is.
Evangelicals and Catholics became politically involved in the United States through Jimmy Carter and then switched parties and supported Reagan (in spite of his attempts at making divorce easier in a legal sense) because of Carter's handling of Iran. Meanwhile, in the same time period, Catholics worldwide were opposed to Communism on account of what's public knowledge of the Third Prophecy of Fatima (there is a part of it stored away in a part of the Vatican Library that only the current Pope has the key to, and only the Pope would know the specific content). In the late 90's to early 00's in the wake of Columbine, the religious left in Congress pushed for censorship while the religious right in Congress viewed that as limitations being put on freedom- arguably laying the foundation for distrust in government as a whole becoming the popular thing regardless of your given state of belief.
The religious right oppose the Affordable Care Act on moral grounds. Being primarily capitalist, they view the subsidy as a handout (in spite of the fact that not all but many of them take out federal student loans, take out loans and subsidies to make their farms profitable, and depend on the child tax credit to ease things financially). They feel that, in a way, they are being forced to pay for other people's contraception, abortions, and the general well- being of LGBT folk. If that holds true, the money follows a long and winding path. Being that they are capitalist, they prefer to invest in industries that are growing. The healthcare industry is growing, and will be a very important industry for the foreseeable future. With this shareholder power, they can persuade the board of directors in their company to divest from the Affordable Care Act on moral grounds. This has the consequence of increasing premiums while cutting coverage. Republicans use the consequences of their resistance to the Affordable Care Act as a reason in campaign ads to encourage people to encourage Obama to throw out the whole idea of the Affordable Care Act as a whole, calling it a "bailout of insurance companies", which it isn't. So, if you support politicians who support insurance companies taking the teeth out of this law to the point where it no longer benefits you, you only have yourself to blame. That's what the cold hard truth tells my mind, and I do have my facts straight. Don't ever get it twisted. I have my facts straight.
My heart tells me differently. Because we had to pass a bill to see what was in it, I'm constantly on and off various plans rather than just sticking to one plan, and with that comes the whole I have to see a general practitioner before I see a therapist, which, knowing my mental health history, is not the best situation. Because we had to pass a bill to see what was in it, my graduate studies may be in financial jeopardy. Because we had to pass a bill to see what was in it, a young woman I know (and have a major crush on) that goes to Temple is in and out of undergrad because of being in and out of the hospital because of spina bifida, and insurance doesn't cover all of what she needs. Because we had to pass a bill to see what was in it, my dad has worked for 40 years at Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and still can't retire because if he does, mom isn't covered on his plan, which forces her to find better work with limited skills.
While I hold Ted Cruz accountable for several of the instances of foreign and domestic strife that have made the news in the past six years, I respect how, during the RNC, he urged voters to vote their conscience. That's what's missing in the current political climate- the ability to vote how you feel protected from the opinions of others. Because of social media, the secret ballot is unfortunately not a secret anymore. Social media invites arguments that don't need to be. Social media causes people to not see people as people. Social media has brought to light a lot of things that in the past were kept behind closed doors, but social media causes the people closest to you the most hurt. It's sad that the people in undergrad now don't even remember a time where politics didn't determine where you stood on faith. They don't remember a time where social justice was just a natural extension of acting out your faith. Now I feel as my father did when he'd catch wind of my uncle trying to drag me into his issues with my sister via Facebook. Like I love and value you both, you know? I think it matters more to God how you personally treat people rather than whichever crook you vote for.
